My last bike (and first) a Ninja 250, served me very well. I put about 1800 miles on it last season. It has been sold and now I am looking for its replacement.

I know what I like, but I’m also trying to figure out what I need. 80% of my riding is commuting back and forth to work and short rides in ‘city’ traffic with stop and go and lower speeds.. The other 20% is touring and nice rides on Sunday mornings/weekends. I would say a typical weekend ride is 80-120 miles of parkway/highway and medium speed (40-50mph) single lane roads. I rarely ride super fast.. I would say 70-80mph is a good highway cruising speed for me, with the occasional romp between 80 and 90 that I did on the 250.. I don’t see myself going faster than that on the roads around here. The buddy that I ride with has a cruiser, and we won’t be setting any land speed records. When we ride, we usually go out for like 3 or 4 hours, but next season we plan on going for longer rides.

My wish list:
Full fairings – definately a sport bike
Good ergos
Good gas mileage (my N250 was getting mid 50s, so I would like to be in the 40s at least)
Relative light weight (keep wet weight to 450# since it is tight in the garage)

For inline fours I have been considering:
97-98 CBR600F3
99-00 CBR600F4
01-02 CBR600F4i (tough to find in my price range)
00-02 ZX6R

For twins I have been considering:
00-03 SV650S
06-07 Ninja 650R

I LOVE the sound of the inline 4s especially with an exhaust… but the powerband of either of the twins might serve me better for what I want to do with it. I like the sound of the SV twin, but I don't think I like the 650R with any kind of exhaust on it. The stock exhaust on the 650R sounds a lot like how my 250 did, but I have never heard one in person.. just on the internet.

Keeping in mind how I use my bike, and the fact that the Ninja 250 did exactly what I wanted/needed 80% or so of the time, what do you think?

Does it sound like the F3 is for me, or should I stick with one of the twins? I would hate to finally find the F3 of my dreams and then find out that it doesn't fit my motorcycle needs.


I have found what appears to be a low mileage F3 for sale, and I am going to take a look at this week.

Any opinions are welcome!

Thanks in advance,
Adam

 

i bought my f3 4 weeks ago but was not my first. its a great bike and gets pretty good gas mileage. its got plenty of power and is a smoth ride. however, if ur into highway cruising, keep in mind it does have sportbike style bars and not the larger style bars like the 650r so you tend to hunch over a bit. it doesnt bother me any cuz i just lay across the tank. other than that its a wonderful bike and sounds like it could suit you. its powerful but it doesnt have too much. its got the one-piece banana seat which is a lot more comfortable than the rr's or f4i's in my opinion and is very passenger friendly. now the f3 is a carbuerated bike so u do have to choke it when starting it cold and let it warm up before u just take off on it. there are pros and cons on every bike but the f3 has one of the greatest reviews. superb handling, very comfortable, easy to work on for the most part, and practically bulletproof. the 2 most common problems i hear about are the plugs fouling up (which is often due to it running rich) and the timing chain tensioner going out. just be ready cuz its a lot different than riding a ninja 250. it will do what u tell it to do without hesitation and is a little heavier. the weight is about whre u said u need to be and doesnt take up much room. well i hope i have helped you in your decision and i bid u good luck on your next purchase!

 

For what its worth I've just spent 3 years commuting 130 miles a day on a 98 F3. I've chosen to live 40 miles from the nearest town and spend 80 miles a day commuting on some of the sweetest country roads in Florida. After 3 years I chalked up almost 98,000 miles and my bike has had few problems. One battery, a rectifier, a clutch at 85,000 and a bunch of tires and chains. My experience has been incredible. The bike has been reliable ,and all I do is basic stuff like changing synthetic oil every 5000, and a set of tires at 4500. Add carb cleaners and lube the chain twice a week and change pads and rotors as necessary. Nothing really complicated until the clutch, and this website is a goldmine for tutorials for maintaining and repairing cbr's. The F'3 is a solid, reliable and fairly inexpensive bike to own. Parts are readily available on E-bay. Best part is , like a 57 Chevy, its look is classic. It'll always be beautiful, no matter how hot the RR's look.Good luck, but don't buy one without using this website, its the best of the best.

 

Thanks for the comments.. I went and looked at a 96 F3 tonight.. 2200 miles on it with a LOUD *** two bros exhaust.. maybe a bit too loud for my taste... but who knows.. anyway... aside from just a few scratches it was almost showroom. Besides the jet kit and the pipe it was stock.

The price is right too.. I'm hoping to test ride it this weekend.. raining and dark out when I saw it (inside in a lit garage). The owner is the original owner.. says that his wrists cramp up after a short ride.. at least he was honest..

I plan on going to ride a 650R this weekend as well that I found for sale.. I figure the rides will help me determine the best ride to get.

Adam

 

Original owner of a 96 with 2.2k on the clock? His wrist cramping (and any other ergo related comments) may not be valid, especially if it was his first bike / sport bike. He barely rode it. Definitely not enough over 12 years to learn how to ride it correctly if it was his first.

What is your price range and where is this bike? If you pass on it, there are prolly others who'd walk halfway cross the country to ride it back if the price is right

 

It hasnt been registered since 2003... if I do pass I will be sure to pass on the info.. but you never know...

 

Ok, I'll definitely say his comments on the ergos aren't valid. Safe bet the leathers he bought back in 96 still squeak

 

Are you kidding... my last F3 came from Syracuse, NY. I've picked up 4 motorycles as a Fly and ride. I can do LI, NY no sweat at all.

 

I ride a 96 F3 and love it. I am OOLLDD and it is still very comfotable to me. I had a Harley and had to sell it. Once things turned around I got the F3. I ride (when weather is ok) 100 miles daily round trip to work around 10 of those mile are city, 20 are country roads and the rest is interstate. This bike now has 37k on it and is very fun. I also get around 50 mpg.

 

I've had my 98 F3 right at a year now and couldn't have been happier with it as a first street bike.

I've put ~12k on the clock, commuting 30 miles each day and doing frequent rides here around central FL. Only had to replace chain, tires, sprockets, and brakes and the R/R was bad when I got it. All and all, I love the bike, the ergonomics, etc.

I'm looking to upgrade to an RR now, but if keeping my F3 was an option in getting a new bike, I'd do it. Really a great bike with rock solid reliability and power. Best steel-framed bike ever built.