Oh man I think this thread brought a tear or two to mine eyes. : ) I love my f4 I will never sell it. But that f4i conversion kit looks good. I have yet to see with my eyes in person an f4 with the conversion. Hell, its rare for me to even see a stock f4 rolling around. Which makes this bike that much more special. Last of its carburetor kind, single headlight front end, my first crash... too many things make this bike unique and sentimental to me. I see more 954rr's, 929rr's, and RC51's then f4's out there.

How many people do you guys know that own an f4 besides yourselfs?

 

theres a few others around here.

 

There is one orange 2000 around me. playful lives a little north of me. lol ok alot of north. I live in Douglasville, GA its a tad west of Atlanta. I always liked the single headlight and the ram air on the f4's when I was growing up, so its the bike I ended up with. I wouldnt have it any other way. I can honestly say, I DONT miss the single headlight. I ride at night and the dual headlight is superior to the single beam. I have to take the same road home anytime I ride and I am extremely paranoid of hitting a deer on it at night again. Its heavily wooded here right up to the edge of the road.

 

I agree with dfrye, I picked up my 99 f4 bike for $1100 and it was missing all the fairings and the front end. It was about the same or even cheaper to get the f4i parts rather than going back to the f4 original parts. And due lack of money cause of college tuition, rent, etc... , it would be cheaper, well in my case, to do a f4i conversion than buying a f4i.

 

i picked up the split tail because I hated the banana seat so my intentions were to just upgrade the tail until I wrecked which destroyed the front end of my bike. Came across a f4i upper fairing stay for 22 shipped on ebay. Compare that to 80+ for an f4 fairing stay and you got your answer. I wasn't going for the f4i look because I like the way my f4 looked but money was the number one concern at the time, I was in school and living on a budget. I'm not going to take my bike much further than just cleaning it up, maybe do USD forks like 954 or something on it but that's about it. It is a very well balance machine, I have to agree there, one of the best bikes you can find.

 

I think that there's something different about modifying a bike rather than anything else. Maybe it's the inherent threat of danger that goes along with riding (either from cars, or from an ignorant backyard mechanics mistake), but I personally feel a bond with my F4 that I can't say that I've felt with any 4-wheeled vehicle. All of my friends have felt at least a little sad when they have to sell their bikes. The experiences that you have on it are so different from anything else in everyday life that you start to feel a partnership with that particular machine. Sure, I'd love a brand new RR or Gixxer or whatever. They're lighter, more powerful, and more advanced than my 99' F4. But that's not the point. They're not my F4. No other bike will ever be my F4. And I hope that circumstances allow me to keep it as long as I'm able to ride.

 

Kleenex's anyone? Talk about geting rid of the old girl and guys get all emotional and crap!

 

HAHAHHAHAA!! This thread is great. I've read it at least 10 times.