Hello All,

I recently got an urge to buy a motorcycle back in October and decided to go ahead and look around the area. I found a 1990 CBR600F Hurricane in GREAT mechanical condition listed for $700 dollars. The problem? It looked awful. PlastiDip covered most fairings and the access panels were missing. Since then, I have been working on her, mechanically and aesthetically, to get her back to good condition. This is my first motorcycle so I plan on taking the BRC in March and before then riding without the fairings and just around my neighborhood to get familiar with the bike. I have ridden dirt bikes before and have ridden the CBR a few times and think I have gotten a decent start on learning how to ride.

So far, here is what has been done.

Mechanical
-valves adjusted as they were out of tolerances
-checked spark plugs for tolerance, cleaned
-oil chance (which is kinda ironic cause the oil we got from the bike was practically brand new)
-brake fluid change and bleed
-cleaned rust out of gas tank
-replaced broken petcock
-lubed throttle/choke cables, greased handlebars
-adjusted throttle cables
-painted exhaust with Rusteleum high temperature paint

Aesthetic
-got rid of the awful PlastiDip. Aside from adjusting the valves, this took the longest
-fixed all cracks with plasticwelding/epoxy/bondo to finalize. Will post how I did it if the plastic does not recrack
-replaced missing mounting holes/tabs on all fairings
-sanded everything and ready for primer
-replaced the tacky 1990 Honda CBR grips with flat black grips

I am using spray paint to do this but hope to get a very professional look! But also know its spray paint so know I won't get a very professional look. I'm doing preliminary priming tomorrow and making adjustments/fixing areas afterwards and repriming on Christmas day (the nice days here in Indiana).

I'm excited to be part of this community and very excited to prime the bike tomorrow! A lot of work has gone into this bike but I'm hoping to restore her as much as I can and bring her back to life.

One thing to note. There is evidence of a crack on the left side of the frame common with these models. It is not as severe as others and I marked it with a sharpie. If the crack begins to propagate, immediate action will be taken place. Luckily, my university has a welding lab and some very talented metal workers.

Here are some pictures of the project!







Erik

 

Welcome to the forum! Not a bad start at all, really nice to see people are still recovering the old F1 `canes back to life! I wouldn`t really wait to fix that crack since you`ve alreasy spotted it, it sure as heck is NOT going to cure itself so why not fix it before it gets more ugly. It is an old steel frame so basically anyone that can hold a MIG torch can fix it.

 

Thanks for the input! It will be mechanically ready to ride WAY before the fairings are ready at this rate as I just went out to work on the bike and discovered a host of problems not before seen. Whoever owned the bike before me just threw some on to make it sellable but now that I'm trying to put it together I'm finding a lot of problem with the alignment of locating holes.

Anyway! I might talk to the welder at our school and ask him if he'd be willing to take a look at it and see what he can do to fix it. He's a pretty good guy and he got along so I don't think there would be a problem. Now, off to do some research!

Erik

 

Welcome to CBRF, from an ex-NW Indianan (Munster). We have a few other members from that area as well.

Looks like a fun project, it sounds like you're on your way! Keep us updated, especially with the frame. There are some really cool things you can do to the older bikes to really make the your own.

Enjoy the BRC, its a shame you have to wait until March as I'm sure there will be a few days in between now and then where you could sneak a ride.

 

I'll be getting my permit soon so that I can ride it around the local area before I take the course, so I should be able to take advantage of those nice days!!

Erik

 

Good to hear.

 

hello and welcome, keep us up to date on the f1