Hello All,

I am looking to upgrade from a 1995 Kaw 600RR to a 2001 CBR600F4I

I have been riding for several years on the Kaw "which was my first bike". Just sold it the other day and already missing the feeling of being out riding.

Here are some picture of the Kaw 600rr that I just recently sold

http://keystonepowdercoating.com/eba...%20Ninja/1.jpg
http://keystonepowdercoating.com/eba...%20Ninja/2.jpg
http://keystonepowdercoating.com/eba...%20Ninja/3.jpg
http://keystonepowdercoating.com/eba...%20Ninja/4.jpg
http://keystonepowdercoating.com/eba...%20Ninja/5.jpg

Now, a good friend of mine picked up a salvaged F4I last year at a local Motorcycle Recycling place. "Sorry, I don't have any pictures of it yet"

The original owner bought the bike brand new and immedialy sent it out to have the frame professionally polished.

The bike has just a little over 700 actual miles when the bike fell over in the driveway on its right side. Some fairing damage, dents, nicks, scratches, etc.. No "real" damage such as bent forks, cracked wheels, bent tail section, excessive damage to frame, etc... but yet the insurance company still totalled it? Which is why it was for sale at the salvage yard.

So a year has passed since my friend purchased the bike, and the thing is still sitting in the corner of his garage. Bike fires right up, sounds healthy but he just lost the drive to get it on the road.

He is willing to sell it to me for $3,200. He said he bought it from the Recycling yard for $3,800 and put another $500 or so in getting a new tail section, fairings, mirror, turn signal, etc. for the right side.

So the bike comes complete with everything, it just needs the plastics and such put back on and taken to a PA inpection shop to have it looked over.

For the bike having a full polished frame "which only damage I can find is a ding on the right side about the size of a nickle or so", and just a little over 700 actual miles, I think this is a pretty good buy.

See, I wanted to jump straight to a 1000cc such as a R1 but the Kaw isn't anywhere as quick as these newer fuel injected 600's. I've rode several new r6's and they are impressive.

I do not claim to be an expert rider, so I think a safe advancement over the old 600 Kaw is this newer low mileage 600F4I

I would appreciate some comments on this purchase.


Since I am on the topic of this bike, I just wanted to cram a few other questions in real quick.

What is a good way to boost performance of this bike to get it to have a little more snap. As I said, I wanted to go straight to a 1000 but this 600 seems to be a good middle ground. But what if it isn't enough or if I get bored of it too quick.

About a year after owning the Kaw 600, I was already bored with it. The performance just wasn't enough. I held onto the Kaw for an extra few years just because I was in the process of starting up a new business and I didn't have the cash to buy a newer bike.

Should I consider re-gearing the 600F4I? What about these computer chips, do they really help? I am not looking to go wild with aftermarket performance, but what is a good bang for the buck product? Aside from a healthier sound, does a decent slip on provide a worth while hp vs. cost?

The bike isn't going to be used for track, or any type of "official" racing. It is going to be something that I pull out of the garage on a nice sunny day and go out riding with some close friends. Every now and then we like to fool around, but no real high speed runs or anything, so if I do the re-gear, I'm not worrying about top speed loss. I'd rather have the bottom end punch from a dead stop or at most have a little more torque for pulling the front wheel without needing to clutch it up

 

Scott,

Honestly, it sounds like the bike was in more of a wreck that falling over in the driveway. I have never heard of someone reporting their bike falling over in the driveway to their insurance AND the insurance company saying it was totalled. I bought my F4i a month ago for $4000. It's a 2001 with a slip on, flushmounts, not a scratch and 14K miles on it. I would recommend getting into something more like that and spending a little extra $$$. Unless you can talk him down to around 3K or less, I would run away from that one.

As far as making it faster, I noticed a small difference with the slip-on and I rode a friends 2004 F4i with a dropped tooth in the front sproket and that thing flew. That's the extent of my knowledge, maybe someone else can chime in.

I hope this helps, good luck!

Will

 

i have a 2002 honda F4i with a Devil OVO slip on system, k & n airfilter, PC3r, Renthal sprockets (-1 tooth on front) and she flies. i had her on the dyno before i put the PC3r and she put out about 80 rwhp (the motor has 18K on it). my buddy has an 2005 R6 that puts out 106.4 rwhp with a micron slip on and i blow him out of the water everytime, he can't keep up. in my opinion, it is just how you set the bike up and how well you can ride....

 

Don't buy a bike with a salvage title for more then 2500

you can buy a clean title F4i with *slight cosmetic damage* as you say for 3-4k just my 2cents

 

I have been watching the local bike trader magazine and eBay for something similar to this cbr and everything seems to be going for the $4-4,500 range. Most bikes with 6-11,000 miles.

Please remember that the bike that I'm looking to get has only 700 miles and a full polished frame. Over all it is a clean bike. I am truly not certain why or how it is considered totalled. The bike doesn't compare to the other bikes in the yard, it is 10 times less wrecked and overall much more clean.

As for the level of damage to the bike, there are only a scratches, cracked turn signal, scratched bar ends, cracked mirror, etc.

The bike appears right now to just jump on it and go. It doesn't have anywhere near the look of a bike that tumbled on end where parts are just hanging on by a thread.

There are no scratches running the length of the bike, everything looked to be like dented vs. scratched, symbolizing that the bike just fell over, Not layed down while in motion.

I wish I had some pictures to show of the bike. I appologize becuase I know that is essential for a true appraisal.

At the moment, I believe that I am going to go ahead with this purchase. From what data I can gather about the resell, I should have no problem riding the bike for a year or so, turn around and selling it and recovering every dollar invested into it or potentially even turning a profit.

I would however like to ask a few questions regarding the performance upgrades.

Is there anything that is a no-brainer performance modification for this bike.

Here is an example, on a certain car, the best hp per dollar modification is to upgrade the y-pipe. There is an enormous restriction at direct 90 degree bend in the exhaust from the factory. By installing a hi-flow Y pipe, you can gain a "dyno proven 12-15 hp" Aside from forced induction, that is the single greatest bolt on hp modification that can be done to the car.

Is there something similar to this for the CBR?

I am rather new to this, so as I stated in my first post, maybe the bike was geared on the very high end at the factory, so by re-gearing the bike would allow it to get up into the power quicker? Maybe there is a huge restriction with the factory exhaust can so a hi-flow aftermarket can is just the ticket to allow the bike to make a few more noticeable hp? Maybe there is a vendor on this forum that sells a common exhaust can that everyone turns to when they go to upgrade.

You guys / gals know these machines and the vendors, a million times better than I do.

I just want to kindly thank anyone who can get me pointed in the right direction.

Sincerely, Scott

 

Drop 1 tooth in the front sprocket and you will notice a pretty decent change in acceleration and it only costs you about 15 bucks + labor.

I woudld read up on the how to buy a used bike thread



one thing they stress is ::Look at the frame, if its polished, there is a posibility that its been dented, welding a frame this way is the only way to disguise a dent. I personally would never buy a bike with a polished frame.::

here is the link http://www.dfwsportbike.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=14019 if you want to read up.

Now i'm not pushing you away from that bike, but I will tell you if you just wait, a better deal will come by and if you CAN wait I would.

p.s. may I ask how old you are?

 

I have an 03 f4i with 1 tooth dropped in the front and an LeoVince slip on ehsaust and I think it's pretty quik. I just changed the sprocket, but I think it made a pretty big difference. Also, I would stay away from a totaled vehicle, you don't what exactly happened to that bike. I went down to bike week this spring and 1 guy mistakenly slipped the clutch while backing up the bike, went forward and hit poll and the bike had all kinds of damage. Needless to say it was totaled. So be carefull with that and good luck.

 

Thank you guys for all of your input.

I found a extremely clean gsxr 750 a few hours away which I am going to pick up on Friday.

The bike was signifantly more money, but it has several thousand dollars worth of extra customization, such as carbon fiber all over, gaffer wave rotors, steel braided brake lines, new clutch, 1000 suspension, full exhaust, etc..

It will be nice because I don't have to do any repairs to it.

Just jump on it and go.

Sincerely, Scott (KPC)

 

Much better glad your happy even if it is a ****zuki =)

enjoy!