Hey guys, after passing the MSF class and looking for a bike, I found a 1998 Honda CBR F3 with 20k miles. The guy that I bought it from said that he had a mechanic regularly do maintenance on his bike. He bought it from another owner and it seems as if that owner layed it down a couple of times and maybe even stunted with it? The right rear tail is cracked, and there are a lot of scratches on the side. The rear fairings don't hold by itself because the clips are gone. Maybe he tried to do a wheelie and failed?

Anyways, I bought the bike with a yoshi exhaust, new Dunlop Qualifiers tires front and rear for a total of 3700.

I've been looking for bikes on Craigslist and PNWRider.Com, I'm in WA . I let a lot of bikes pass me by but I saw this and decided it was really nice and liked it. Do you guys think that 3700 is too much for all that? KBB lists it at 3500 for it. I'll post up picks later.

On with the bike, the owner said that I might need to change the clutch in the next 8000 miles or so. The friction zone of the bike is where I'm almost about to release, about an inch or two from full release. Since I'm completely new to bikes, what tools/equipment do I need to work on the bike? Where can I learn how to do maintenance stuff on the bike?

The only experience I have with cars would be my Subaru Impreza STi. I can work on that and it's not much of a problem, but I'm a complete noob when it comes to motorcycles!

Thanks for takin your time to read this!

 

first off...Welcome! Im sure there are a lot of people here to answer any questions you will ever have.
If you want a repair manual, go to www.stephygee.com and on the bottom you will see a download link for any Honda sport bikes repair manual. If your used to working on cars, bikes shouldnt be much different. Im sure there is a section in there on replacing the clutch. You may need some "special" tools only available through honda though...but i am not sure about this.

Good Luck, and ride safe!

I do think that is way too much for what you are describing...or any F3 for that matter. I picked up mine for $2500, perfect cosmetic condition, only needed a new battery and a new R/R(so total of 2600) oh yea...and 12k miles

 

Welcome, when I got my first bike it needed a engine (EX250) and I jumped right into it. No motorcycle experience what so ever. Get the manual and you be find, if you have the basic tools you be find, but you won't now what you need until you need it. So don't worry about it, until the time arrives.

 

Congrats on the purchase of the bike! Like what was previously stated, a good socket set and metric allen wrench set will cover 97% of what you will be working on. An impact wrench would cover 2% and a couple special tools are really required for the remaining 1%. Regarding the clutch, make sure it is adjusted before tearing into the bike. As far as regular maintanance goes, oil and filter, fuel filter, clean or replace air filter, plugs, adjust and lube chain, and coolant.
Bought my bike for $7000 but it was with 1 mile and 10 years ago.

 

Nice guys!

The reason I payed 3700 is because there were no other bikes that I was interested in. Everything else was either wrecked, salvaged, ugly color, or is a 750cc+.

Red, that is a beautiful bike! I'm very jealous. Also, I saw a thread on frame sliders, how hard is that to install? I don't have any kind of cutting tool or anything. All I have are standard and metric socket wrenches, wrenches, and all the types of drivers ..

 

I dont have any frame sliders on my bike. I dont like how the fairing have to be cut to install them. My guess on the installation would that it might a little bit of a pain because of cutting the plastic and trying to make it look nice. You will be good to go with those sockets. You will want from 6 to 17 mm sockets. In addition to those, you will want a 22, 24, and 30 mm sockets. Earlier I forgot to mention that set of combination set of wrenches are essential in the same sizes. It sounds like you have the drives covered. Make sure that you at least have a 5 and 6 mm allen wrenches as well. Of course a nice array of screw drivers are good to have too.

 

I bought my 98 f3 2 weeks ago for $3300. It came with brand new V&H exhaust, new tires, and full tune up. Only 10k miles. Almost perfect condition.

I was lucky enough to buy it from a friend that I can trust.

You have to remember that buying in the summer time you pay a lot more. Every bike I saw was over KBB value and had high miles and/ or was layed down.

I think I got a good deal for the time and the bikes condition.

 

thats a good looken bike. Welcome to the forum

 

you should enjoy the ride. I bought my bike last year, as a first bike too. Got it for 2600, then put about 1500 into in this past winter and spring to make it just how i wanted it.

Ride safe, have fun.

 

Gee, and I only paid $2700 CDN for my Smokin Joes, about 3 weeks ago!There are good deals out there, so don`t be hasty and buy on emotion only! Cheers!

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