I'm looking at buying an F4i but I'm not sure what years I'm interested in yet. I used to ride an F2 and I', still entertaining the idea of a kawi (sorry guys) but I do like the F4i's. Can someone tell me what the major changes were over time? I've noticed that some of the seats are the ugly 1 piece and some are the newer looking rider/pass split. Which years are those and is a conversion plausable if I end up buying the one with the single. Thanks guys. Any other basic info is appreciated.

 

01-03 = Split seat.

04-06 = Banana seat.

Only minor cosmetic differences between the two, motor and otherwise is the same. What you pick will depend on if you want looks or newer.

 

Thanks. If I buy newer how hard would it be to retrofit the seat of and older bike?

 

You dont neccesarily need to go "newer". even avoid the bannan to split-seat conversion in the process.
with a little patience and classifieds scouring you can find a 01,02 split-seat with decent miles and in good conditon.
Me for example, I bought an 01 F4i with 4+ k, no cosmetic damage, almost show-room quality. a great find.

 

Doing it isn't very hard, sourcing all the parts may take you some time. You'd need basically the tail end of the bike - sub frame, fairing, lights, passenger pegs, etc.

 

The banana seat doesn't look bad at 110mph.

 

http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kuroyana/f4imain.htm

 

Patience is one thing I don't jave right now. lol. motorcycle withdrawls suck. Thanks for all the info guys (and the link). Anything else I should know before I but an F4i

 

Take a look at the frame colors from different years. I purchased an '04 with a silver frame. I prefer the black frame that was available in ?? year. I didn't do much research into the F4i before I bought mine. I would have waited to get a black frame if I had known about them.

 

01 - 03 = black. 04 - 06 = silver.