First I will tell you about the bike, what I know, and then ask a few questions.

The bike is a 1995 (12/94) CBR600F3 with 25,XXX miles on it. This was taken from someone (it was collateral) as a repossession. Ironically, I work with someone who knew the owner and is familiar with the bike to an extent.

Here is what I "know" per the guy who had it (will call him previous owner) and my friend. The bike was barely ridden last year. The previous owner bought the bike used in the spring of 2013. My friend was with him when it was bought and test rode the bike also. It ran flawlessly, and appeared (still does) to be in fantastic condition. They were told that the carbs had just been serviced and other then needing a back tire the bike was ready to go. The previous owner rode it a bit and then parked it in the garage because he bought a ninja 600 he liked better.

That is where it sat until last week when I came and took ownership of it. I turned the key on and had power, so i went ahead and tried to turn it over. it cranked, very weak because the battery was almost dead. I turn my back for two seconds and my buddy starts cranking on it, giving it gas, etc. So for all I know he flooded it, but I digress. I took the key out and said lets leave it be, load it up.

I got it to my place, installed the leads for the battery maintainer, put the seat and all back on and plugged it in. The battery charged and took a full charge, it is currently in float and showing a healthy battery. I turned the key on to check the lights and all, they all work.

I have not yet attempted to start it again. I have a few questions about the bike now if you will indulge me:

1) What is the proper starting procedure? In other words when I walk out to fire the bike up how should I go about it, knowing it has been sitting a few months and it is quite cold here in Michigan right now. I'm assuming based on the condition of the bike that the carb service was indeed done and that there should really be no reason that the bike is not capable of a starting condition.

1a) Which position on the petcock is ON? Mine is not labeled. I know that the choke is on the handlebars and "back" is the on position. So what is that little thing by the petcock that looks like a pull choke lever?

2) Is it worth it to install a HID kit from ebay? I like to see, they are fairly cheap.

3) It still needs a back tire. What is the reccomended tire for this machine? I plan to do the front tire at the same time and depending on condition, the chain and sprockets also.

4) What is the suggested oil weight for the bike?

Thank you in advance, I'm sure I will have more questions. My garage is not where I live where the bike is stored so my time physically spent with it is limited so far, so some of these questions are stupid in nature.

 

did the tank still have gas in it? or did you put fresh gas in? if its old, drain and refill with fresh gas. you might get lucky and the carbs may still be 'clean', but chances are that they arent since its sat for a while and will need taken off and thoroughly cleaned.

if you do get it started, keep the rpm's low till she warms up, no sense in causing premature wear and tear.

HID kits are great, Not sure about the ebay kits, but i got mine from DDMtuning. well worth the $

You'll get dozens of opinions and testimonies about tires. If you are doing more commuting than anything else, might look at a sport touring tire. if you regularly hit up some twisty roads or a track, then go with a sport tire, cant really go wrong with any major brand(pirelli, michelin, dunlop, etc)

as with the tires you'll get countless opinions and testimonies, i personally use shell rotella t6, But with any oil, look on the back and find this:


as long as the bottom half of the circle is empty that oil will be safe to use. otherwise you will have issues with your clutch.

and last but not least, good luck with your new bike and

 

To be honest i didnt check the tank. I planned to grab fresh gas and a bottle of murpheys this week and go put that in it and give it a shot at starting up. I cant imagine they gunked too crazy in just a few months. We used to let dirtbikes and my dads rockets sit a lot longer then that and they would always fire up.

Tire use will be all street riding, 90% pleasure. I dont plan to go on many twisty roads but should i find one i want a tire safe for having some fun.

As for oil I will be using a custom blend from BnDAutomotive.com because I use Brians fluids in everything. I just wanted to compare the suggested weight to what he suggested which was 12.5w37HP.

 

Oh and for pics see my new member post. Theres a few there.

 

oil make sure its 10W40 i prefer fully synthetic oils but thats my choice just make sure its a motorcycle one and you should be fine

tyres i have tried a few and by far the best all rounder is michelins road 3.

starting procedure-

key on
choke on
crank bike and add a tiny bit of throttle if it wont start
once it start grumbling a slight bit of throttle will keep the revs above 1k to stop it stalling then it will gain revs due to the choke being on and let it warm up a little

as for premature wear pfft ran a 50k engine up through the power every day for a few year and in the end the gear selector snapped and the rings started passing a little oil. it never went bang

cranking for more than 5 seconds at a time causes a high amount of wear on your starter, seen people sit and crank for 30 seconds at a time if it doesnt start after a few blasts drain the fuel put fresh in and add half a bottle of redex, i used a full bottle to 1 tank and that sorted my issues out but the instructions say to use about 1/6th or something miniscule like that

 

running it through the revs when the engine is at operating temps is a whole lot different then doing it when its cold, and about 2 degrees out.


but, definitely put fresh gas in, doesnt take long for untreated gas to go bad.
as for tires, just make sure its a dual compound, most are anymore, and youll be good to go.

 

Theres no reason to rev any cold engine, especially when it also happens to be cold out.

Does the bike take any specific type of coolant? And where do you check the level at? I want to make sure that is full before i fire it up. I forgot the other day.

 

glycol 50/50 mix with water i use halfords and make sure the clear pot beneath your seat to the right is up to the lower mark and that the rad itself is full, if you use just water it will rust.

and as for revving it these motors are bomb proof as i said i used to be at full chat and riding it hard as possible within 1/2 mile of setting off never warmed up. i also never warmed up my old 2 stroke and that got to 5k miles still running

 

yea i won't be revving or riding it till it is up to temp. same with my cars, lawnmower, anything with oil/rings/etc.

 

An item of note here: The choke is on when the tab is pulled down towards the ground. You should not use any throttle on cold start; the choke's actually a Starter Enrichment Circuit and introduces its own air and fuel supply to fire up the motor.

If you don't start it within like four - five attempts, take a 5 minute break. The starter motor can begin to overheat if you make too many unsuccessful starts.