Looking at the titled bikes....I've owned bandits 1200s & 600 & a 96 magna...but the cbr has always had a place in my heart prices down here in alabama run 2900 -4000 for 01-03 f4s tell me the good and bad of this bike

 

Good: Fairly cheap as you mentioned and fairly modern looking for a ~10 year old 600. Fuel Injected, honda reliability, good torque for a 600 i4 and screams up top, fairly popular bike so parts are easy to find and pretty cheap, very comfortable for a sport bike/less aggressive riding position than the rr or other sport bikes, just a great all around bike.

Bad: Just some common mechanical issues like any other model has (cct, fuel pump, r/r, seem to have more electrical issues with this model than others - lots of "fuel pump not priming" threads) Nothing major, all easy fixes usually.

I cant think of anything really wrong with the f4i, its just an awesome bike, i still miss mine, you wont be disappointed if you get one.

 

Any real difference between 01 and 03 models ?

 

nope

 

The '01-03 is the split-seat model F4i. Although, mechanically same as '01-06. You can do a split-seat conversion (see my tutorial) on the '04-06 models to look the same as the '01-03.

The F4i is a solid reliable bike if well maintained. Nick mentioned some common issues that can happen but all are easily rectified. Nick's comments re: all around character of the bike are correct as well. You won't be disappointed in the F4i.

 

The ONLY 2 issues iv had with my 03 f4i is the regulator just went out and fryed my battery, and the 4500rpm cct cladder. Best fix for the cct, is make your stock into a manual (took me 10 mins to do and $5 worth of parts from home depot, or buy a manual cct such as APE. The regulator issue iv herd is a easy fix by taking it off a yamaha and splicing the PROPER wires to the old regulator sub harness. and at that point, short of going head on with a semi, the bike is bullet proof. I paid $600 for mine, put $700 worth of parts (fairing kit, battery, air filter, all fluids and a exhaust) and i have a bullet proof bike. I high sided mine doing 80. it went sliding for a good 40 yards or so, and only damage was my left fairing, and left rearset broke. i rode it out of the impound yard.

 

Like the F4, Honda redesigned the F4i R/R & its an excellent part. It supersedes the old version & is readily avail at any factory Honda dealership parts supplier. Its plug-n-play, no wiring splices or modifications needed whatsoever. I recommend staying w/ factory Honda parts anytime over rigging up something that wasn't designed for the proper application.

As for CCT's, *if* you are mechanically inclined, the manual CCT options can be a good option *if* installed correctly. Improper installation will cause you more problems than you want. Otherwise, the factory Honda oem CCT is an easy replacement.

 

I picked my 02 f4i up for 2300 a little over a month ago. It had just over 28k miles on it. I've since ridden it over 1k miles and so far it seems to be a fairly great all around bike. It has great power and will pull the front wheel up on a 1-2 shift. It corners awesome(no chicken strips). The only complaint I have about it is an uncomfortable seat on long rides. I did a 200 mile ride 2 weeks ago and my butt was very sore afterwards...haha Hands and back were fine.

 

the f4i is a great all around bike. Easy to find parts, looks great, and has plenty of power.

under $3k will get you a pretty "broken in bike", while $3.5k+ will get you almost a perfect condition F4i

But take under consideration everybody and their mother are buying bikes right now (because of the weather) so you might expect to pay at least a few $100 more then you would off season

 

If you ask a group of F4i owners if the bike is good or bad, what do you think they're gonna say?