I've been looking for a CBR600 for a while and to my delight, found a CBR600F4 in the next suburb to where I work. It had been sitting underneath this guys house for 2 years and he rode it 3 times in total he said. He traded it with the prior owner for a boat and the odometer reads 2100km(!). It has a F4i rear fairing and I thought it was an F4i at first but it is clearly carburetted. Factory exhaust with barely a mark but some rust on the header pipes. The seller cleaned the fairing but there was generally grime all over.



I thought this was all too good to be true but the VIN is clear of any insurance write-offs. I went to Dept of Transport (in Queensland, Australia) and mentioned to the lady at the counter I thought the mileage was suspicious. She thought so too until she confirmed that the mileage at the prior sale 2 years back was less...



Test rode OK although it clearly had the cam chain tensioner issue and front brakes have some squeal (don't quite know how to describe it). Anyway, $2500 later and I have a new toy!

The forum has been a great resource. I have now done the following:
- cleaned grime off chain and lubed chain
- oil and oil filter change. Fairly straightforward and aluminium foil over exhaust was a good tip. Some sludge in old oil.
- opened up airbox and old direct induction filters simply crumbled away (see photo). I have cleaned the main air filter (will likely put a K&N in) and cut new DAI filters from filter foam, oiled them and put them in place of old.
- pulled upper and lower airbox and made up special tool to tighten cam chain tensioner. Have tightened it and appears to have resolved CCT noise but will know for sure tomorrow after I take it for a ride after some more gunk cleaning around airbox. I'm amazed at how many air hoses there are. And there are four small hoses that simply plug into a plastic stop at the read of the airbox (what is the purpose of that?). I dropped the CCT cap bolt into the nether regions :-( so will replace with new M6 cap bolt tomorrow.



The rear brake is useless and I think it simply needs to be fully bled. The front brake pads seem to come in contact with the rotor as the wheel revolves. It stops quite well but if I simply push it around I can hear the pads against the rotor.

It starts well so I think the plugs are likely OK. Battery is a bit iffy but I have fully charged it and it cranks OK.

Any other suggestions for things to check for barn finds :-)

 

Nice find!
Change the coolant and brake fluid. Look at the tires closely. The tread may look good, but old rubber gets hard and slippery. I'd replace them anyway. How are the forks? The fork oil could use a change, with seals. Consider changing the springs and valves to match your weight. You will be glad you did.

Watch out for bugs in there.

 

Yes, I think it was a super lucky find. The cam chain tensioner is now sorted - it makes some noise at idle if you listen carefully but the awful 4-5K rpm noise is gone. I tested this yesterday up to 11K rpm :-)

Fluids are a good point. I'll do brake fluids first, then coolant and then think about the forks. They *seem* OK but it's been a while since I owned a bike.

I took it out for a shakedown run into the local hills and back yesterday. Great morning and I was reminded why all my great motorcycle memories comes with smells :-)