So i finally picked up my F4i over the weekend. I'm satisfied with my purchase, and have to regrets about it at all.

Rented a Uhaul motorcycle trailer for $15, and drove down to Va to pick it up.



It started up nice and clean. I love the sound of the exhaust, and really enjoyed my first ride.

So now comes the fun part. I need to get it cleaned up, and running well.

Cosmetically the bike definitely needs a lot of work. Cracks and scrapes all over it. The turning signals were broken off by the original owner, so there are nice holes there that need to be either patched up, or that fairing needs to be replaced. Needs an oil change, the battery is currently on a charger, and then to a tender. The seller mentioned it could use new spark plugs, but i'm unsure how he came to that conclusion. The clutch cable he said could use a replacing, but i don't see why (a bit rusty but still work fine from what i can tell). He also mentioned that at 30k miles it a good idea to have the fork fluids drained and changed, anyone know a good "How to:" for that?

Anyways, the bike has 34k miles on it. I haven't let it sit long enough to get it to warm up, but i'm sure mechanically it's in good condition.



So what should i start doing? Should i do the oil change now? What things should i be looking for? Let me know what you think, and where i should go from here.

Thanks guys!

 

Congrats brother!
(does anyone else think this forum needs like buttons like facebook???)

The fork tube service is covered pretty well in the service manual (I'd offer to send it to you but I've been trying to send it to other members and its too big to upload-but it can be found)

Sounds like you should change the battery, clutch cable, and fluids (engine oil, fork oil, coolant, and brake fluid) for starters.

And with your post count you should know by now that....

 

can't see the pics on this end.

I'd say first is to download the manual. Pretty sure there's a link round here somewhere. Should be able to answer "How do I?" questions with pics

After that is figure out what's most important to fix first. If the forks oil is needing to be changed, that's prolly highest unless something bigger pops up. Forks will affect steering and stability. How the PO knows the plugs need changing could be a couple things. He could have pulled them and inspected them (highly unlikely). Or put enough miles on them and never changed them (most likely).

Fairing repair should be the last thing. You'll prolly need to pull them to do some work anyways. Wouldn't make sense to go fix em, then pull them / get them mucked up

 

Thanks man! Yea i included the trailer pictures because i unloaded it just as it got dark, and the Eagles were on, but i'll try and get a few more pics within the next few days. Someone was already nice enough to send me all the manuals, so i'll be doing some intensive reading on that.

 

Fork work is the ONE thing I pay a mechanic to do. I'd replace the clutch cable if its rusted as there could be way more inside where you can't see. Also agree that you should change all fluids.

 

if ur not going to replace the cable at least lube it

congrats on ur new to u f4i

 

You don't see the two pics i included in my OP? Hmmm...i'll look in to that.

The bike was inspected 3 months ago, so that's a good indication that it's mechanically stable...right? Where's a good place to order these type of things? Bolts, oil, filters, liquids, paint, etc? Doesn't have to be oem, just good.

 

congrats! bike looks pretty good in the picture

 

Congrats on the purchase!

 

How did that UHaul trailer work out anyway? When I bought my f4i I was contemplating renting one of those but wasn't sure how well it would tie down.