Hey everyone, this is my first post over here... hopefully I'll end up with a CBR and become a regular poster. I'm quite familiar with 4 wheel vehicles and love going fast and always wanted to get a bike.

The one I am looking at is a 2001 CBR F4i. It has just over 11k on the odometer.

Pros:

Chrome wheels. They are nice.
Polished frame.
Frame sliders.
Two Brothers exhaust.
New tires.
Brakes are in good condition.
No external fluid leaks.
New radiator.
Has been maintained by the owner who has had it since 2005.

Cons:

Bike has been re-painted a non-factory color, has no decals. Paint isn't too bad in quality and there are minimal scratches.

It's been sitting for about a year, year and a half. It's been in a garage and our winters are not too brutal if it did spend any of that time outside. It has been started every few weeks or so.

It's got 11k.

It needs a battery.

The fairings are all in tact, but the inner fairing (if that's what it is) up by the handlebars and gauges does not seem to be firmly attached. It's not going to fly off the bike, but I'd like to find a way to attach it better.

There is a very minor crack in the tail plastic right below the passenger seat. Could probably be sanded, filled, and touched up and look good.

Owner said clutch has lightly slipped on the 1-2 shift if you get on it.

After charging the battery, the bike did crank right up. No smoke on initial start but a few cracks of the gas and it blew some carbon out. This is normal I know, but when my bud took it down the street, it did blow some blue smoke (oil) out a few times. Once when he first got on it, and a couple more times between shifts. Other than this, it didn't smoke.



The biggest thing I am worried about is the smoke. If it's acceptable for the bike to puff a few times after sitting for so long, then I won't sweat it much. I just don't want to get into something that's telling me ahead of time that the rings are bad, or the valve seals are going.

Aside from that, the bike SEEMS to run well. It sounds awesome, and aside from some minor issues, it will clean up really nice.


Any input what-so-ever would be helpful. I can get the bike in the sub-2k range for reference. Worth it?

 

If you ask me it is not worth it. You get what you pay for and if you're only buying it for sub $2K when the average F4i is going for about $4K should tell you something. I think they guy knows it is a ticking time bomb. Heck I'll sell you mine for $4K and it is one of the cleanest F4i's I have ever seen and it doesn't blow smoke out the pipe. If I were you I would keep looking. By the way 11K miles is nothing. Some people on the forum are over 150K miles. With proper upkeep these bikes will run forever.

 

That's kind of what I was afraid to hear. Problem is my budget is low and that fits it, but maybe I should hold off a bit and give myself a larger budget to get something that comes without the issues.

He's a good friend of two of my good friends, I don't think he's trying to dump it on me knowing it's in bad shape. Both of my friends say he's straight forward about everything (which he was, didn't find a single thing on the bike he didn't mention - good or bad), and one of my friends has ridden it quite a bit and said it's never been troublesome.

It may have developed some problems for sitting so long, who knows.

I'm glad to hear 11k is nothing for mileage, I'll keep that in mind when I'm looking.

 

I agree with keep looking. That under $2k deal will end up costing you a lot more than you think once you start cleaning it up. Before long you'll probably have $3500 into it anyway so might as well wait a little bit and get a $3500 bike without the headaches. Kinda depends on where you're at too, unless you're in a warmer climate you're getting to the end of riding season soon.

 

im not sure about the clutch slipping on 1-2 shifts, sound more like the trans itself, 2nd gear is the gear to go on these bikes especially if theyre beat on, i would think the clutch would slip all the time then

 

I agree.. and I would pass..

11K is low mileage (if it is actual). For me, things like polished frame and chrome wheels actually deduct from the sale price since those are a PITA to keep up (one of my Mustangs has all chrome and polished aluminum under the hood). Sure it looks pretty.. but I dont want to spend time polishing it up... and besides... the 01 had a nice black frame.. why is it polished now anyway? Did they sand off the coating (if you even can)? Is it actually an F4 or later F4i frame? Hmm....

The smoke might be rings..
the clutch slips on the 1-2 shift? Before long you will be above $3K
stay away... save the coin for a nice F4i or F4...

JMHO

 

That's exactly what I don't want to run into. I was giving that some thought today. Either get an older bike that's been well taken care of in the same price range, or hold out a little longer and up by budget.

I live in South Carolina, so no brutal winters. It gets cold for a month or two, but aside from that with proper gear it's probably still ride-able.

That would suck. He never mentioned it slipping any other time, but you would think that the higher (numerically) through the gears you go, the more it would slip.

Yeah I noticed the rest of the frame was black except for the polished part. So I guess he (or the previous owner, not sure who had it done) grinded it down and polished it. It's not the entire frame, so hopefully it wouldn't be a different year frame.

I have a Mustang currently... what year did you have? Mine's a 2000, 4.6 5 speed with bolt ons, gears, and some spray.

I couldn't bring myself to get a bike that's slower than it... so that's why I'm looking for a sport, quick sports touring, or fairly quick standard bike.

 

I have 2.. a mostly stockish 99 GT and nothing is stockish 88 GT.. lol
The F4i is a great bike.. on almost every level...

 

For a lower budget, you may look at an SV650s. They are way more common than F4i's so you can usually find better deals. They won't be quite as fast as the F4i, but I'm sure they're fast enough to pass the Mustang test.

 

the SV650S is a great bike.. especially with the lower fairings on it.. a great looking bike... and it was on my short list of bikes when I was looking... the only thing I couldnt get past was the Vtwin sound.... I prefer the inline four sound so much more...
Check on youtube for some great exhaust note vids... but if you like the sound the torque is great.. awesome bike...