My F4i Build/Rebuild
 

WARNING this post is kinda long, okay it's really long, but the project started before I was a member and it has lots of pics so hopefully that redeems. Hope you have a comfy chair.
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I picked this CBR up from a tow yard for a friend of mine after he crashed it late last year. It took him a couple weeks to get out of the hospital, and when he did he asked if I wanted the $520 I payed the tow yard, or the title to the bike. Well, I hadn't really been looking for a sport bike but after looking at this bike for a couple weeks I just had the itch to rebuild it. So here I am.

I have never been fond of a full fairing bike so some changes were in order. I originally had considered going with a Buell side by side dual headlight, with a small windscreen just to tie everything together, and some dirtys, but due to how much time I want to put in right now and cost I decided to just go stock bars, headlight & upper fairing. Many more items were damaged in the crash that also needed attention, I will mention those as I go.

Here are some photos from when I picked it up at the tow yard

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First order of business was to rebuild the front end - Bent rim, bent forks, right hand controls obliterated & of course headlight & fairing annihilated. The bent front rim I didn't actually catch at first so my focus was the forks, fairing/headlight and right handlebar w/controls cables & brake lines.

Disassembled the front end and cut the bent fork tube open to see how bad the damage was to the dampening assembly and I lucked out, it wasn't even flexed.
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While looking for a used right handlebar assembly I came across a guy who had it, and some other f4i stuff he was selling, so I went to pick up the handlebar, for $75, and ended up with everything he had left for another $75,
so I ordered two new fork tubes off ebay, and a All Balls seal kit.
And the rebuild begins.
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Yes the weight of the bike is being partially supported by the header :icon_omg:
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Time for a rip around the block. Feels good and tracks straight, Excelent!
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With the bike tracking straight and handling correctly I felt pretty good about proceeding with the rebuild, so on with the show.

Oh, I had the front end apart a couple of times cuz I decided to install a All Balls tapered bearing kit on the steering stem, and during that time my aftermarket upper fairing, headlight, and a used fairing bracket had showed up so I collected the proper screws and did a little mock up.
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At this point I had my radiator repaired, cuz the filler neck got tweaked and the core was bent, did some work on the brakes, replaced the right hand foot peg and mocked up the upper fairing again but this time I cut the tops off of some old side fairings I had acquired and added them to the upper fairing to give it a smoother look. Attachment 29242
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Took it for a 40 mile ride, everything seemed great. Tracks straight, no wobbles, good handling, but I still didn't know I had a bent front wheel and this........................... :eek:
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Now I don't know how I missed this before I rode the bike TWICE, but it gave me a shudder when I found it, and the swingarm snapped right in two with just a little flex after I removed it. Needless to say, it has been replaced
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By this point I had spun the front wheel to see if it was true and figured out it was bent so I took the wheel in to see if it was a candidate to be straightened, and it was. So with the bike finally in acceptable mechanical condition I have begun to focus on the body. The fuel tank was hit hard in the crash, but still holds fuel, and at this point I'm running low on funds and have spent the amount of money that I estimated that it would take to get this bike rolling, so even though the tank should have been tossed I borrowed a stud welder, grabbed a hammer and a rod and began the battle on the tank.

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Here the tank is looking a bit better than the pics taken at the tow yard
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And the bondo begins
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After several applications of bondo, and shaping, and bondo and shaping this is what I came up with. Mind you this is my first time using bondo.
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Okay so we are all caught up to current events now. I was going to just do a flat or satin black paint job but I have a friend who owns a custom paint shop and he talked me into doing custom paint on it. so I took all the body parts down to his shop and I have been spending a couple hours here and there after work doing prep work. The paint job theme is inspired by the Gulf sponsored race cars, blue orange & black.

Will post more when there is more.

Glenn

Lets hear your thoughts, good, bad, anything? Just crickets?

That's a nice job on the tank! You got real lucky with that swing arm, it could have ended badly. I'll be watching for updates. On a side note, do you know what lead up to the accident? That looked like a nasty hit.

Near as we can tell he lifted the front end a bit in a short straightaway and set it back down with the bars turned at the next curve, a three count death wobble before hitting the embankment on a mountain road & then slid across to the other side of the road.
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Progress.... Got the wheels painted. We weren't to sure about the color at first when we mixed it, but it turned out great. It got a new rear tire and the front tire needs replacement also but had to throw something on there so that it's a roller.

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More soon

Love the HRC orange wheels

Great work man! Glad to see it rise back from that nasty spill. Really liking that half fairing/upper setup. I think if you cut it down and burned/smoothed the edges it would look awesome. Sort of like a Suzuki SV650 or something similar.

Great work on the tank too. I got hit not too long ago going 35 and the tank got beat up. Need to do the same to mine.

So glad to see your bike come back to life. You got damn lucky with that swing arm, that could have ended bad. I really like the extra fairing piece with the street fighter look. Also great job on the tank, how long did it take you? I look forward to more updates and photos.

sick man!!!

Thanks. I didn't really keep track of how long the tank took, it was multiple thin layers and sanding/shaping several times, usually after work here and there till I was completely tired of it, it took a long time. We will see how good it really is after paint. I just need to get back down to the body shop where we are doing the paint work and get'er done.