Purchasing a used f4i, what to look for?
 

Hey guys,

My brother and I are going to check out a used '02 f4i today and dont really know anything about the problems these bikes have (aside from the fact that NO ONE seems to be able to keep them upright). The owner described it as having some scratches on one side. It has 15k miles on it. If anyone can give me a shout about what i should look for on the bike, or listen for that would be awsome. In your experience whats the first thing to fail on these? I drive a 81 Cb900f, so i know a little about what to look for but these bikes seem so foriegn to me, since they're covered in plastic and fuel injected ^_^

Any ideas would be great!
Thanks in advance.
-Seb

Look it over as you would any bike to get a feel for how its life has been.

In honesty they take abuse well... well track type abuse anyhow.

Reg/Rec is a typical honda problem - but isn't a deal breaker...

Check the steering feels smooth and light - fluid levels... honestly as long as it is mostly stock it will go ok.

I always recommend checking underneath the tail section. If it has rubber sprayed all the over, you know the bike was abused.

when i bought mine i checked for fairing damage, steering alignment, throttle response, tires, lights, rust, and odometer reading.

My theory on a honda most of the time is if it runs, shifts, and rides then its good to go. They take abuse and laying a bike down isnt really abuse. If it didnt bust the cases and everything is straight then you pretty much cant go wrong with it.

Yup - agreed Nickels

I ride my bike on the track at high rpm's - and the previous owner did too... it runs fine.

The previous owner dumped it a few times, and I put it down in corner 2 once. It still handles great.

The only thing that will change is the resale value... people like shiny...

I look for damage I don't want to repair, and maintenance items that are due. Those I subtract from the fair price - things like tires, head bearings, fork seals, tires, brake pads, oil change, missing fasteners, bent levers, gaskets, swing arm bearings...

You'll get a good feel for it by just looking at it... if it feels good then it'll be fine. The most important part is to make sure the paperwork makes sense.

Well Im not going to try and hid anything from you when you come up and look at the bike later today. I will go over everything with you when you get up here. I have all the paperwork with me at work right now. Look forward to seeing you later. Bike is 100% stock, new battery in june when i first got it.

The previous owner went down and then dropped it again on the opposite side. I dropped it once when my rear race stand broke and ended up leaving my bike on its right side.

oh snap dual members lol :)

I lurk like crazy on here and offer help were i see fit. I do most of my post whoring on nissan/infiniti site.

I never posted a for sale thread over here because i have yet to make it to a senior member. I want my 100 posts to be useful and helpful.

Here are some pictures of the bike.

When I first picked her up posted this in the picture thread
https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2382...33b206be_b.jpg


https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2433...1430e6ab_b.jpg

https://i241.photobucket.com/albums/...0723091554.jpg

Its not perfect it has its flaws but runs amazing. It needs a little love here and there as you can see. Needs some fasteners cause the previous owner decided to lose them