I know very little about CBRs, but I have been reading a lot the last few days, so please don't flame me as at least one of these questions is going to sound very stupid.

1) The bike I bought was advertised as an '01 CBR 600 F4i. I have several things i'm going to do to it so after work I was looking it over trying to get a gameplan in mind. I noticed the placard on the frame where the VIN is just said CBRF4, there was no i on it. The manufacture date is 11/00, the Model on that placard is 2001. On the Title it lists Model as CF4 and Body Type as RS. So, do I have an F4 or an F4i?

2) It has absolutely no rear brakes (they just don't work at all). From the looks of it they have not worked in a long time as the rear wheel is very clean and the front wheel is caked in brake dust. The lever has way too much travel. It goes down a good 4 inches. It goes so far down it hits the lower fairing, every sport bike i've owned, ridden or worked on the lever only moved about an inch or so. The reservoir is full of fluid and everything seems to be present and connected.

Perhaps they need to be bled. I'm also wondering if the guy who had it prior to the guy I got it from did something to intentionally prevent it from being functional, but I have no idea what that would be.

What all do I need to check to get my rear brakes working?


3) I know factory size rear is 180/55/17. As of right now mine has a 190/50/17. The speedo seems to be correct, I do like how it looks, and it does not rub. What do you all recommend, should I stick with the 190 or go back factory size?

4) I have more questions but i'll first search here a little more. If I can't find the answers i'll ask in this thread.

 

If it's a model year 01 you have an f4i.

The brakes sound like air in the system and possibly low rear pads.

Feel free to ask for help!

 

f4i. The I stands for fuel injection. my02 also only says cbr600f4 on the frame.

 

Thanks for verifying the F4 vs F4i issue for me guys.

As for the brakes, I will try bleeding them tomorrow. I'm off tomorrow and hope to get a good start on my bike. If anyone else has any other ideas of what could be wrong with the brakes other than bleeding then please add whatever you have.

 

Manufacture date 11/00? I think it's a F4 carbed version. The F4i only went to the dealers in March 01.

Check this photos-
Does your front fairing shapes like a V on the headlights or not?
Black frame?
The yellow is a F4 and the red an F4i

 

You have an F4i. The produced them in 00 but they were a 01. Just like how car manufactures already have a 2012 out but its only 2011. My F4i had a F4 on the frame as well so you good there.

As for the brakes, definitely bleed them and you might want to change the brake fluid while your at it. And like JP said you might have little to no rear pads left so check that out while your at it and see if that helps.

 

the two biggest ways to determine 00 f4 vs 01 f4i is the headlights and the seats.


f4 has one centered headlight and a banana seat.

f4i has two headlights up front(see my signature pic) and a split seat design.

these can be converted but chances are they're not.

also wouldn't an f4 being carburated have a choke? Does yours have a choke?

 

Thanks for all the replies everyone. It does have dual headlights, does have split seats, and there is NO choke. So I guess that settles it, I do have the F4i. I should have thought of the choke on my own, but I was just so excited to have a bike again (been without for a while) my mind hasn't been too clear, lol.

The brake pads are pretty thick, matter of fact they look new (as far as thickness goes that is). I'll begin by bleeding them, see what happens and go from there. Been working on cars for nearly 25 years so I should be able to figure it out. I just asked for help because I never really did a lot of work on motorcycles, it's high time that I learn.

 

Bled the brakes and they work just fine now, glad that's all it was. Added another question to OP.

 

Here's an old thread about 190 vs 180's. Also here.

It's just a bit of research, but I'd replace the tire.