Some friends asked me if I would help them pick up a bike for a new street rider. The bike was in the North Bay and they live in the South Bay so I said "sure", I would not want a new street rider to have to ride all that way on the freeway.

So I got to ride a beautiful, nearly-new 2003 CBR600 F4i. The bike had only 700 miles on it, I was told the previous owner bought it then his wife told him to sell it. The bike has frame sliders and a Micron carbon canister installed.

The bike rode like a new motorcycle (as expected with such low miles). The Micron exhaust is louder than stock but was not too loud. It sounds great in the upper RPM range.

The first thing I noticed was the different power delivery than my CBR954RR. On the 600 you need to use the upper RPM range to generate quick acceleration. The second thing I noticed is the gearing, at 75mph in top gear the 600 was taching 6,000rpm, my CBR954RR would be going 90mph at the same rpm [On a closed course :)] I found myself cruising on the freeway in 4th or 5th gear to be ready to accelerate. The bars have more buzz than the liter bike but not bad. The stock seat was much more comfortable than the stock seat on my bike. After about 15 miles I thought to myself this is really a nice motorcycle, not that that is a suprize after all the nice things that have been written about the CBR600 F4i over the years.

 

 

 

After a lesson in the garage, some goals and practice drills to work on the new street rider was ready to make some laps around the block. The ear to ear smile was obvious even with the helmet on.

This rider had ridden dirt bikes for quite a few years and going from an 80cc with the last dirt bike a YZF250.

I told Jonathan to use a max rpm of 7,000. This will give plenty of acceration for a new rider and enough speed for any freeway riding.

 

In summary: the CBR600 F4i is everything that has been written about it, it's got good handling, power and comfort. If you keep the rpm below 7,000 the bike putts around and is an option for a newer rider. Experienced riders will enjoy the power at the higher rpm range. And this like new example was purchased at a savings of more than $3,000 compared to the list price of an '05/'06 model. There are some great used bike deals out there - you just need to keep your eyes open, be patient, and wait for the right bike.