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Two days ago my father presented me with a belated birthday gift, a CBR 900rr SC33 '97 with a stunning paintjob, the Gulf orange / baby blue colourway (also seen on the old Ford GT40).
As I understood it, it's previous owner was a lacquerer and did the paint himself, and he did a wonderful job.
This will be my second bike. My "beginner bike" of about three years was a racing-red Honda VFR 750F RC24 '88, on this one I would check off all the typical beginner mistakes. I aquired the VFR more by coincidence and good luck but I fell in love with the bike and learned to appreciate Honda's reliability. I also learned to do various standard work on it, such as chain and sprocket replacement, clutch plates replacement and typical maintanance (oil, coolant, battery etc.).
So I encountered the Gulf CBR by browsing and dreaming. I have long decided that the second bike I will own will be a CBR900 from the 90s. Since my father and I share the enthusiasm for motorcycles I showed him this gorgeous specimen. Now I knew I could in no way afford this bike in the near future (BSc student) so I buried the dream. My father then bargained with the guy for half a year without me knowing, so yeah I have it now and could barely sleep that night.
There will certainly be some things to do on it, I plan to ride this season with the VFR and take my time with the CBR so it's tip top. The previous owner said, that the fork telescopes need to be replaced, both. I couldn't get the chance to look at the forks properly because it is at my fathers place and I study in a different city. But I already had a look online and found various pairs refurbished ones for 200-300€, which seems humane to me.
Apart from that, it seems in very good condition, in turns on smoothy and a careful test ride down the street felt good, to a CRR-newbie at least.
I would be happy for any tips and hints on what to look out for on this model, like what are the typical problems that arise with this one. I would have asked before buying, but since it was a surprise I will have to do the preflight checklist as such.
Very nice birthday present indeed. I like the color scheme. I don't know that I've ever seen anything like it. Whoever did it was spot on. Welcome to the forum.
Very happy birthday
