hey guys, i have an 01 f4i right now but im looking at getting a newer one down the road, or possibly rr, leaning more towards f4i as the wife will ride with me quite a bit so comfort and daily driver is there.

what year did they go from 2 seats to 1 seat? 04?
do many people take the f4i to the track? how does it do?
and besides the sticker if you went to look at a bike in person how could you tell what year it was? run the vin? or is there a number in the vin that would reveal this?
thanks

 

yes, 04 was the first year of the banana seat....as far as telling what year the bike is, theres was a writeup on breaking down each part of the vin# on an f4i, im not sure if was in the manual or on this site, ill try and find it..........the easiest way though is the sticker on the left side of the frame your talking about

 

+1 on SD12 said about the seat and production year. Best way is to check the sticker (if there is one).

Regarding the track: Let me put it this way, the F4i was arguably the most dominant 600 of it's time when it hit the tracks. Do some research on the web, search the AMA record books and you'll find that out...

Also, I believe woodyracing has an F4i track bike... send him a PM and he can tell you all about it.

 

this is all I found so far, wish i could find the full breakdown of the vin# but it is what you were lookin for

JH2PC2502NM****** The 10th character- Identifies the model year. The N makes this one a 1992

Other years are 1991(M), 1992(N), 1993(P), 1994(R), 1995(S), 1996(T), 1997(V), 1998(W), 1999(X), 2000 was a Y and starting 2001 is a (1) 2002 is a (2) and so on...

 

i track my f4i...it's perfectly fine...but the suspension is too soft for anyone over 150 or so. then again, this goes from many bikes...but not to the point that you'll be hurting or anything. so if you plan on doing hardcore trackdays, then the suspension will need some revamping.

mine has 40K on it and still runs like a charm...and i beat the crap out of her too. as far as being competitive with the newer bikes? just some bolt ons will help out tons. i have -1 and akra f/s on mine and can reel in an 05 600RR in the straights...but if the 05 is done up with the same mod, then i will be pulled...on sweat...because the test is in braking skills and conering skills. if the rider can't pick his/her lines...doesn't matter if he/she has a 2020RR...

yea the F4i can kick bootay on the track...the question is...can you?

 

whoa thanks for all the great responses so far

sd12 great man exactly what i was looking for thank you

and im not really trying to be "hardcore" on the track, i just am leaning toward an f4i because my wife rides with me alot, but i do want to start doing track days, so im just making sure i wont regret getting the f4i over an rr. shes going to be riding with me more than i will be going to the track so ......

the banana seat is horrible so i guess i will be looking for an 03 lol. my current 01 has 20k miles i was thinking this was getting kind of high so i wanted to get somthing newer with less miles etc, it was dropped by the previous owner as well, and this was my first bike so i just wanted to learn but i feel no need to move up to a liter bike as im perfectly happy with the 600 class plus they are better for handling?. TAHOE you have 40 k on yours... damn have you had to rebuild anything?

 

That's whats up. Tahoe you're an inspiration.

 

You can also tell the year by the colors...if it has it's stock plastics on.
It also doesn't matter what kind of seat it has - it's how you ride it.

 

yes the seat does not matter i agree, but part of picking out a bike means you think it looks good right....so i can roll with an 03 unless there is some huge advantage that comes with having a bananna seat

 

00, 04-06 have the banana seat. i have an 05, and after long rides everybody else is complaining about their a$$es hurting. i've never had a problem. everybody disses it because of the seat, they're just being shallow. on honda's website for the 05 f4i, they have this blurb:

No sportbike better embodies the words "all-around" than the CBR600F4i. Apex-strafing, sport-riding power and handling mesh perfectly with ergonomics that result in a machine as equally at home on the track as off. And if that "all-around" handle leaves any doubt as to its race-bred bearing, please refer to the pair of Daytona 600 Supersport crowns on our mantle.

as he said, it is unlikely that most riders are unable to exceed the capabilities of any modern 600cc sportbike, me included. for the track, the best bang-for-buck mod is -1 front sprocket, +2 rear sprocket. i got a 520 kit on ebay for about $130.