Hello everyone over the weekend I got my F4i out for my first ride ever ( I enjoyed it a lot) but I just have some questions about the bike. When I first started the bike and let it warm up when I tried to shift into first with the clutch pulled in I noticed a grinding sound and some resistance in the shifter but after letting it warm up even more it didn’t do it again is this normal ? What oil do you recommend I run in? What is a set of tires I’ll get my moneys worth from ?
I appreciate any help.

 

Hi there mate (location Melbourne Australia), I personally use Maxima Synblend 10W - 40 (semi-synthetic, ester-based 4-stroke engine oil) in my F4i and CB900 hornet (and earlier in my CB400 Revo). Otherwise you can't go wrong using Honda genuine oil (I think GN4 is what is usually suggested). As for tires, I have Bridgestone S21 on the F4i and find them OK (now superseded by S22). Otherwise Michelin Pilot Road 4 or whatever is the latest version have good reviews. I have had Dunlop Roadsmart 3 on the CB400 and they were good too.

 

These are non-sychronized transmissions so yes thats normal to an extent, but I can't tell you if its a normal amount or not based on your description.
As for oil, any motorcycle rated 10-40. I ran GN4 for the first 50k miles or so, I've been using whatever synthetic I can find cheapest for the last 45,000 miles [usually valvoline or mobil 1].
Tires, thats subjective. What is your money worth to you? Total miles before replacement? Dry grip? Wet grip? Here in AZ, and the fact I don't ride my F4i as much as I used to, I will dry rot supersport tires before I wear them out, so I use those for the maximum grip. I've been using Q3+'s for a while now. If I was going cross country I'd probably run some michelin road 4's.