Due to some legal issues it looked like the powers-that-be were going to make me give them my '96 CBR900RR - but now it looks like I will be able to keep it after all! I was seriously bummed about it and starting to face up to the fact of losing my baby - but now my outlook has changed 180!

I bought it new in '96 and have almost 40k miles on it including a 3500 mile round trip to L.A. (Hiway 1 in Cali on a weekday with almost no traffic - pure heaven doncha know) and I commute 40 miles each day to work on it.

I have never had even one single mechanical issue with this bike - it just keeps going and going and go....its never even been in a shop as I have been able to do all the maintenance on it. I did rear-end a truck on the highway and it looked pretty bad with the front end wadded up - got a punctured lung and upper body was well bruised, but with a combination of new and used parts was able to build it back up - so we both recovered okay. Amazingly I have pretty much kept the bike bone stock - but have added K&N air filter, DynoJet stage 1, Corbin saddle, and rear hugger to keep the shock tidy. Sure I'd like to have more power but why mess with a good thing? Maybe one day I will go to a 17" front and the shock could stand rebuilding.....

Compared to the '91 ZX11 I used to own which was constantly in need of something, i.e. "fragile" - the CBR is the *****. I own other bikes too, but the CBR is always my first choice to get there and back reliably, comfortably and still have alot of fun. S'funny after 11 years the love affair is still going stong!

Oh yeah, I also can wring out over 40mpg with a careful throttle hand - but it ain't easy to keep that throttle hand in check!!!!!!!

Cheers to all - and congratulations on owning possibly the finest sport bike ever built.

Bret

 

Good to hear your bike is still in mint condition man. After 11 years and still no problem is really awesome!!

It does not only shows how good is the bike but also how good you had been taking care of it. Maybe you can share with us some tips and technique too.

 

I wish I could control that throtle hand thing your talking about man the police love me. or at least my pocket book. oh well good to hear that bike is running that long thats awsome man

 

Dinez wrote: it does not only shows how good is the bike but also how good you had been taking care of it. Maybe you can share with us some tips and technique too.

I haven't really done anything special - just the prescribed maintenance as per the factory manual. I always suggest to anyone to purchase the factory manual for your bike as they are usually the most complete and easy to follow - however any manual will help greatly if you want to perform your own maintenance. #1 of course is oil and filter changes every 3000 miles - but I don't stress if I go over that. Although I have checked the valve clearances I don't believe I have ever had to make a valve adjustment!

I recall reading an article some years ago about a CBR900RR with 100,000 miles on it - and the only problem the owner had was with the starter - I believe it was a '95 model and he ran synthetic oil. So it is certainly possible to get incredibly high mileage on these excellent bikes. I think some "mechanical sympathy" is a good thing also, as much as many of us don't want to hear it. While these bikes can take quite a bit of thrashing, too much "abuse" is ultimately going to lead to more things going wrong. My pet peeve is guys who start up their bike and immediately rev the **** off it before it has time to get warmed-up - I always ride a bit gently for the first few miles or so.

All this being said - and I've worked on lots of bikes, this bike has got to be one of the easiest I've ever worked on.

 

Noted Bret, Thanks