Whats good ppl? I'm new to the site and I just started riding...I got lucky and ended up getting a 2001 F4i for free so I figured I'd might as well learn how to ride it so.....Here I am..
To my knowledge everything is stock on the bike.
Check out the pics (taken by me) and let me know what ya think..

 

Can't beat free for a great bike

Welcome aboard. Looks nice. Learning how to ride is easy: you sign up for the MSF Basic Rider Course The guys here are great for adding detail to a lot of concepts and technique. But nothing beats hands on for the basics (and a couple not so basic)

 

Hey, not to hijack this thread, but I have never ridden before, and I have been looking into a CBR for years now... ended up buying an s2000 back in 2005, had it for 4 years, and sold it. Now I want a CBR.

I have gone to several local bike sales places here, but there isn't a Honda dealership very close.

I am VERY interested in the MSF course, but I dont know where to take one. There is a Harley Davidson store very close to where I live, but I don't want to sit through a Harley sales pitch... I want a CBR.

I know everyone says a 600CBR (RR or F4I) is not a good starter bike, but I am still interested in some more information. I don't plan on stunting at all, I want to learn to drive this thing, and eventually take it to a track.

I auto-crossed my S2000 for the last 2 years I owned it, and I miss the level of fun that provided...

 

Ninja Edit, So I found the official site for MSF courses in my area. There are some very very close, and I went to their website. Problem is, in all of their pictures, they show cruiser style bikes. Not Sport Bikes like the CBR. It says they provide the bike, and helmets etc, but wouldn't that be teaching me the wrong kind of bike?

 

There are some differences between a cruiser and sport bike. Things like seating position and throttle response. But the things they teach are universal: turning, braking, situational awareness, obstacle avoidance and more.

Cruiser, sport bike, scooter... The MSF is invaluable to any first time rider, regardless what type of 2 wheeled vehicle they end up with.

 

Cool, So I will go ahead and look into taking this course soon then. I'd like to know as much as I can before I start the purchase process.

My state requires a motorcycle drivers license to take the MSF course... at least, that's what this MSF site says.

 

The MSF course that I took had both Nighthawks and cruisers, and it was worth taking no matter what I learned on. A friend of ours just took it through a Harley shop close to here and they used Buells, I don't know how other places do it though. Also, I don't know what state you're in, but here I just had to have a permit, taking the course allowed me to get the license without having to do the riding test.

And to the OP... how the heck do you pull off a free bike??

 

Actually everyone I talked to told me the f4i was a great bike to start out on.

Now I've already taken the MSF course and it depends on whos doing the course what bikes they use...I know some that use Ninja 250's along with cruiser style 250's...as far as my class went we used Hyosung 250's...Unless you bring you're own bike you're not going to use anything over a 250...(it is a safety course) but they're great when first starting off like me..we had some real noobs in my class and most of those guys went and got bikes 600cc and more as soon as the class was over and had no problem riding..so not saying you're a noob but I encourage taking the course.

 

Free bike story... a friend of mine had two bikes and he knew I wanted to learn to ride..He let me keep the spare to learn on and I ended up crashing very early in the learning process..my car insurance ended up paying off the bike and actually paying out a lot more than the bike was worth being that they don't really deal in bike insurance...they totaled the bike out and took the deductable out of what they paid out so no money never actually can out of my pocket not to mention my insurance actually went down after that...(don't know how that happened) but my friend actually let me keep the extra $ after the bike was paid of (I made money....go figure) which was about $1700 the insurance company didn't want the bike (again they don't do bike insurance) so they sold it to me for $300 (yep thats what I said) so I found a guy on craigslist who repaired it for right around $1000 w/parts so now the bike runs great and I've got almost $400 left over....so I came out pretty nicely in this...a bike and 400 bucks in my pockets...

 

Depends heavily on the maturity and judgement of the rider. For the most part, any 600cc sport bike isn't the wisest choice for a completely new rider.

Even the older F3s and F2s can get a new rider into fatal trouble faster than they can react.