Hi, I am back in the market for a Cbr 600. I have been riding for about 15 years and I am 54 years old. Hope i am not too old for a CBR. My last bike which I sold last summer was a 2006 Honda 599 Hornet . ( great bike by the way ) I have decided to buy a bike with a little more wind protection for longer rides. I have owned a 1998 F3 and a 2000 F4 . I really enjoyed the F4. i know this is the fuel injected forum and the response may be a bit biased, but most dealers and bikers i have spoken too have directed me to buy an older f4i bike over a carburated version. I didn't experience any problems with my 599. I have not ridden the f4i and I was wondering if anyone on this site has owned or ridden both, that could give me some insight into what to buy. i could also try posting on the f4 forum. I also realize newer is better and the bike I was interested in was a 2000 f4 again which is 10 years old. Thanks for your input. Cheers.

 

I had an F2 before my F4i and I gotta say the F4i is a much better ride and throttle response. Never really did any work on my F2 since it was my starter bike but I hear carbs are easier to work on then fuel injected. The wires are a mess in the F4i. But still, gotta love that fuel injection! Fuel injection FTW!

 

after having both a carb bike and a fuel injection, go with fuel injection hands down. much smoother throttle responce. really not hard to work on either, just dont let it scare you if you dont know that much about it, it is actually really simple stuff. fuel injection didn't replace carbs because people got tired of carbs and wanted a change, it replaced carbs because it was better

 

2001 was the model change year for the F4. I would recommend finding an 01-03 F4i because they are about the same price range as the F4, but the F4 is carburated. If you want something MORE comfortable for long rides, i would look for an '04 and up F4i. They came with the single seat, and i've heard it's slightly more comfortable than the split seat ('01-'03) model. good luck!

 

The single seat (banana) is more comfortable than the split. Depends on what a "longer ride" is though.

 

Never rode on the banana seat before but I just made a 5 hour trip to the beach last weekend on my 2002 f4i. It also was my first trip on Corbin seats. Wow what a difference over stock seats...

 

My roomate has the F4 and I have the F4i... they are VERY similar.... the throttle response being the biggest difference in performance. The bodywork/headlight looks better on the F4i (IMO), especially the split seat version since the banana seat looks TERRIBLE.

I wouldn't be too worried about the difference, they are both great bikes... a well looked after F4 would be a better buy than a ragged F4i (again, just my opinion) assuming you don't mind the look of the banana seat (or are willing to do the conversion).

 

I sold my F4 for my F4i.

F4i looks are MUCH better, and I wouldn't own a banana seat bike (05+) - but that is just my opinion.

I thought the F4 was more pleasant to shift, and I say that because the injected bike throttle response is very quick. The engine revs fall MUCH faster on the injected bike than the F4 so you have to shift faster - in that respect I thought the F4 was more pleasant to calmly shift.

Overall though - just get the injected bike and be done with it. You will be glad you did.

 

Dodi,
Fuel injected hands down, easier to tune, you can use a PCIII and carbs have all kinda of problems with gumming up and rejetting is a pain if you add mods. In this case newer technology is better.

Second, are you sure you want a CBR 600. What kind of riding are going to do, twisties on the weekend or 400 miles in a day. I don't know your physical condition or if you have any back problems but you may want to consider a Honda VFR 800 if your looking at longer riding times. Both bikes are great, I have a 2002 CBR F4I and a 2001 VFR 800. Check out my website at www.tomspinballcycle.com for pictures if your interested.
Good luck on your choice both are great bikes and of course their hondas.
Tom