So Iam 25 grew up on dirtbike's and ATVs. This will be my first street bike and Iam out of practice and want to make a smooth transition back to 2 wheels. Best bike for buck i have been able to find is a 98 cbr600f3. Was wondering if anyone had some input on the overall weight of the bike since its a steel frame in terms of getting the hang of street riding comfortably and safely.

 

The F3's are excellent bikes. They perform great and are very reliable. The have some known issues with certain areas, but nothing that is a deal breaker. They're around 410 lbs and my wife rides a 97 F3. I don't recommend them for doing slow speed practice turns. If you're going to do any practice with it, take the fairings off. A simple drop can do $1000 in damage to fairings on a bike worth around twice that.

Congratulations on the new F3, I think you've made a great choice.

 

Yeah i was thinking the same about taking the fairings off for awhile. Iam going to hit the msf class just cause it can't hurt and helps the insurance

 

F3s are joy to ride...sits lowered than my FZR Yamaha...you won't be disappointed, Hondas are great in handling...but approach conservatively just you're not play in dirt...it's rock hard cement, asphalt...with 3000lbs of steel torpedoes flying around you....I like to pick and choose my ride when less traffics,
Less cars....

 

Just remember that your best friend is a smooth throttle hand. Suspension travel is 30% of a dirt bike's. The carbs are finely tuned, and provide highly responsive throttle reactions.

My experience on both is that the room for "play" on a dirt machine (even one ridden in the street environment) is 2 - 5x that of a street machine. Dirt bikes are much easier to ride, and much easier to recover when the ride is going badly.