my 03 F4I
#1
05-03-2007, 10:09 PM
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Fort Worth, TX
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my 03 F4I
well, took a couple weeks but i got it done. i'm sure you guys have seen hundreds of pics of an '03 F4I but i wanted to share my experiences with rebuilding this bike so that maybe somebody else can benefit from my experience.
i bought the bike a few weeks ago, it has 14000 miles on it. its in great running condition but the body looked like crap. it had a Cheetah fiberglass body kit on it, and to me it seemed "loose". after i took the body parts off i realized why it seemed that way. i'm not knocking cheetah, hey i'm a noob, but i've been around the block as far as working on cars, and completely restored a '99 F4 which was in way worse condition.
i paid 3500.00 for the bike and spend about 1500.00 in parts fixing this bike up. new plugs, front tire, grips, bar ends, lots of bolts/hardware that were missing, stator cover, mirrors, turn signals, undertail, oil, filter, painted the gas tank with spray cans, skateboard grip tape,other misc stuff i can't remember, and lastly and mainly why i'm posting this...... THE FAIRING KIT.
i bought everything off ebay. the body kit was 6 pieces from a seller in hong kong. i must admit the shipping was faster than i could have possibly imagined, about 4 days. first major problem: 4 out of 6 body pieces had damage. actually 5 out of 6 but i was willing to accept part 5's damage. tabs were broken and cracked on the side fairings. the front fairing had a piece completely broken off of it between the headlight and ram air opening. the front fender had a 6 inch crack in the paint down the right side. the tail cowl was scuffed in a few spots. i waited to see how the seller wanted to handle the situation and when i realized he was gonna cheese out on replacing everything, i went to work.
i had read on this forum about some epoxy weld, so i bought some and started gluing. that is some amazing stuff let me tell ya. i was able to glue everything back together, including the front fairing piece that was missing. and with a little bit of finger nail polish its not that noticable unless you look right at it of course. problem number 2 and a warning to anybody who buys a body kit from hong kong: THE FITMENT OF THE PARTS. granted, the auction said holes needed to be drilled, no problem, i felt confident i could handle that, and i did. but in some places i had to drill holes ANDgouge out some of the body to get the bolts to line up. you can't see from the picture but trust me its there. not only that, but the amount of torque necessary to try to get some of the holes to line up was ridiculous. in several spots from putting some much pressure on the body pieces, it caused cracks in the paint. SO BE WARNED IF YOU BUY A BODY KIT FROM HONG KONG. its aftermarket parts and they will work but be prepared for some frustration.
that being said, for 500.00 for a 6 piece kit, now looking at the bike put together, i'm pretty happy with it. and i guess it only goes to show you only get what you pay for. so there it is, that's my bike. just wanted to share it with you guys, and say that i'm glad to have found a website with so many active enthusiasts involved.
[IMG]local://upfiles/16021/F616E7F3B73540B8BADE1C39F9254D87.jpg[/IMG]
i bought the bike a few weeks ago, it has 14000 miles on it. its in great running condition but the body looked like crap. it had a Cheetah fiberglass body kit on it, and to me it seemed "loose". after i took the body parts off i realized why it seemed that way. i'm not knocking cheetah, hey i'm a noob, but i've been around the block as far as working on cars, and completely restored a '99 F4 which was in way worse condition.
i paid 3500.00 for the bike and spend about 1500.00 in parts fixing this bike up. new plugs, front tire, grips, bar ends, lots of bolts/hardware that were missing, stator cover, mirrors, turn signals, undertail, oil, filter, painted the gas tank with spray cans, skateboard grip tape,other misc stuff i can't remember, and lastly and mainly why i'm posting this...... THE FAIRING KIT.
i bought everything off ebay. the body kit was 6 pieces from a seller in hong kong. i must admit the shipping was faster than i could have possibly imagined, about 4 days. first major problem: 4 out of 6 body pieces had damage. actually 5 out of 6 but i was willing to accept part 5's damage. tabs were broken and cracked on the side fairings. the front fairing had a piece completely broken off of it between the headlight and ram air opening. the front fender had a 6 inch crack in the paint down the right side. the tail cowl was scuffed in a few spots. i waited to see how the seller wanted to handle the situation and when i realized he was gonna cheese out on replacing everything, i went to work.
i had read on this forum about some epoxy weld, so i bought some and started gluing. that is some amazing stuff let me tell ya. i was able to glue everything back together, including the front fairing piece that was missing. and with a little bit of finger nail polish its not that noticable unless you look right at it of course. problem number 2 and a warning to anybody who buys a body kit from hong kong: THE FITMENT OF THE PARTS. granted, the auction said holes needed to be drilled, no problem, i felt confident i could handle that, and i did. but in some places i had to drill holes ANDgouge out some of the body to get the bolts to line up. you can't see from the picture but trust me its there. not only that, but the amount of torque necessary to try to get some of the holes to line up was ridiculous. in several spots from putting some much pressure on the body pieces, it caused cracks in the paint. SO BE WARNED IF YOU BUY A BODY KIT FROM HONG KONG. its aftermarket parts and they will work but be prepared for some frustration.
that being said, for 500.00 for a 6 piece kit, now looking at the bike put together, i'm pretty happy with it. and i guess it only goes to show you only get what you pay for. so there it is, that's my bike. just wanted to share it with you guys, and say that i'm glad to have found a website with so many active enthusiasts involved.
[IMG]local://upfiles/16021/F616E7F3B73540B8BADE1C39F9254D87.jpg[/IMG]
#5
05-04-2007, 08:45 AM
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: East Longmeadow/Feeding Hills, Massachusetts
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#6
05-06-2007, 02:05 AM
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Fort Worth, TX
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RE: my 03 F4I
thanks!!
you kind of lost me on the "lateral to the frame slider" question.
the seller off ebay was "funhobbiez". i don't think he sells many fairing kits, mostly other stuff. and i know he got the kit from a "manufacturer", somebody else in hong kong.
all in all though, i'm happy with the bike and i guess i got what i paid for. probably every bike has its little flaws.
you kind of lost me on the "lateral to the frame slider" question.
the seller off ebay was "funhobbiez". i don't think he sells many fairing kits, mostly other stuff. and i know he got the kit from a "manufacturer", somebody else in hong kong.
all in all though, i'm happy with the bike and i guess i got what i paid for. probably every bike has its little flaws.