Hi Guys,

I am about to buy my first street bike. I grew up riding Honda dirt bikes and 4-wheelers and have always been very impressed with their power and reliability. Also i have heard more good things about Honda street bikes than any of the other major companies; they do seem to be a little more pricey tho. Anyways I'm am only planning on spending around K for my first bike just to have something to learn on and so it would hurt so bad when the inevitable happens and i mess up some paint or plastics. Obviously in my price range i am looking for a 1999ish to 2003ish bike (doubt i can get anything newer unless something is bad wrong with it)Anyways i would like a 600 RR but they seem to be few and far between where the F is way more common. But the F has one problem and i have seen on here a few brief explanations of how to correct this critical misjudgment on Honda's part but being very new to the street bike world i was wondering if someone could give me a more detailed break down of the parts, labor, price, and complexity of converting the F from the banana seat to the more aggressive spit seat design.

Thanks, Mixon

 

What is the problem with the F series? How many "K" are you looking to spend? With most of the F series bikes, F1, 2,3,4 is the Cam chain tensioner. You wont find a RR for less than what you will find a good F4i for. Dont get a F4. I went to look at one with my cousin. It could have needed the carbs cleaned or synched. The engine was cold when i test rode it, but it felt like a dinosaur compared to my F4i. For just a couple more hundred you can get the fuel injection and that is very nice.

The hardest part about converting a F4 or 04-06 F4i from bananna to split seat is finding the parts. They simply unbolt from the frame and you bolt the split seat with no modification to any parts.

If you cant change a bananna seat to a split seat yourself, you have no buisness being on a bike in my opinion. The only person that should wrench on your bike is you. Your life the one at risk. Work on your own bike and get to know it well. IT will save you hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

There are write ups on how to do the split seat conversion, i would suggest you get familiar with the search button and check out the "600 modifications" section of the board. For the conversion you need the following parts from a 01-03 F4i : Subframe, undertray, tail fairing, tail light, and both seats. I think that is it. It is a very simple thing to do and it would only take about 5 hours at the most. Others could probably do the swap in a hour or a little more.

You cant go wrong with the F4i, some users have logged over 100,000 miles on their F4i, with nothing but making sure the valves stay in spec and regular oil changes.

 

I too wanted something that I wouldnt cry about IF I droped it.lol Check out your local auctions. I got my '01 F4i from a police auction for 1500, almost got it for 1100 but the original owner wanted it back, so he kept biding. Anyways, it needed some fairings (side and upper), an exhaust, it came with a 2bros mid-pipe so I imagine the can is sitting on the side of the road somewhere. and one of the sliders was broke off. Only down side is that it has a salvage/rebuilt title (due to an "unclaimed affidavit")(whatever that is). Do some reading, educate yourself as much as possible, read the sticky on "used m/c buyer guide", dont be scared off by a salvage title (be wary, go over it with a fine toothed comb, but dont let it chase you away), dont buy someone elses POS, and please DONT buy the first thing you come across. And remember, insurance companies will scrap a bike because the plastics cost more (at the stealership) then what is owed on the bike. Also, take it for a test drive whenever possible. (I couldn't, but I got lucky)
Good luck

 

You should be able to find a pretty clean later model f3 for around $1000.00.
As for the seat modding it is easier done with an f4 model from what i have speculated but you may be paying some extra for the newer model.

 

The CCT problem only makes a rattling sound at certain RPM's and it has no other effect.