Hey everyone! Just picked up my first bike, 2001 CBR 600 F4i. 22 years old, finally, learning how to ride. Don't have anyone to show me how to ride, so I've been watching a ton of YouTube videos and practicing slowly in my neighborhood. I've learned so much in just the past few days! I know that some people have said that a 600 is a bit much for a beginner, but I'm getting the hang of it, slowly but surely. It's like learning how to drive a car again. Playing it safe though, just picked up a bunch of gear today! Shoei helmet (Way better fit and feel than those crappy $100 helmets!), Alpinestars jacket and gloves, and some knee/shin guards. Really must say, there's a huge difference between a cheap helmet and a more expensive helmet.

This forum, in one day already, has been greatly informative! I'm glad the seller of the bike pointed me to here! I'm proud to be a member.

Here's a couple of pics of my bike, sorry for the crappy phone quality:

 

Hello, Welcome to a great forum. Congrat's on the new bike. Exellent idea on getting the equipment. You might want to look into a MSF in your area. RIde Safe

 

Howdy hey!

+1 on the Motorcycle Safety Foundation course. For someone completely new to riding, it'll teach you many things the easy way that your bike will teach you the hard way. And taken right from the start, it'll help reduce the number of bad habits you'll need to break later Books are also great tools for learning. Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques by Lee Parks and Twist of the Wrist 2 by Keith Code are excellent resources to go thru while waiting for the MSF course.

Ideally, you'll want to use both the MSF backed up with books. 2nd best is books only. Trying to teach yourself is highly not recommended. No matter how safe you ride, simple fact is there are many situations you'll never think about which occur quite commonly. And it'll be up to you to improvise when you 1st encounter them and hope you guessed right.

600s don't react well to bad guesses

 

Welcome ,nice wheels. I was the same way , but dont worry just keep practicing and before u know it riding will be like second nature. I ive in riverside and ride with a club. Where do u live? Your welcome to ride with us if its not too far for you.

 

Thanks! I live over in Los Angeles, near downtown actually. I won't be riding on the freeway any time soon (I'm scared at 40MPH!) but once I take the MSF course and get a bit more used to the bike, I will definitely take you up on that offer. I already managed to drop the bike and crack the right side fairing and scrape my knee, haha. Was trying to put my foot on the curb and missed... feet are definitely going directly on the floor from now on.

Definitely taking the MSF course soon though. An experienced rider friend of mine wants to join me to brush up on everything, so we will be doing it together hopefully soon.

 

Nice looking bike Rommy, and good to hear you're wearing gear. You guys have some real nice roads out there in CA; enjoy. There's tons of F4i owners here, so feel free & make yourself at home.

Welcome to CBRF

 

Welcome to the forums!

Saw that nos can on the side, nice touch, I've got one on mine too...
A guy asked me if it was really racing nos...
So i said, "yea, fruit punch"

 

Hi & welcome aboard Rommy!

 

Thanks guys! I'm glad I live 4 blocks away from a well established bike repair shop! I got back from a ride today and noticed my coolant temp was at 228 degrees, I was like UH OH. So it turns out I'm low on everything except gasoline, haha. Taking her down to the shop this saturday morning for coolant, oil change, spark plugs (Previous owner of the bike gave me a new set of plugs, God bless him) and a chain lube. Oh, and it's got the good ol' CCT problem that everyone seems to be having, I need to get that fixed too. Power is all there, just rattles like crazy though!

 

Good you're getting her cared for. Nice to have a shop close-by sometimes.

Take care, ride safe, and enjoy the forum!