I bought my first bike today :D:D:D
 

Yeup yeup!!! :D:D Today at lunch I slapped down a $2500 deposit on a brand new 2002 Honda CBR 600F4i :D:D I receive delivery sometime early April and the final price with 13% worth of taxes including will be $12,204. I got the silver/red combo, but I have already made plans to get it slightly repainted. I have deided to change the red colouring to blue (like on the Yamaha R's), I know its sacralige considering thats Honda's colour, but bahh :) As well Im getting some airbrushing done (cause I work with a guy who does it) and Im getting Rossi's #46 and his logo painted on the tail were it currently says "CBR 600 F4i"

However enough about that, my thing now is with the gear. I have available to me a few brands to pick and choose from...Technik, Joe Rocket and Alpinestars and for helmets Shoei, Arai, KBC and HJC.

Im considering getting the Technik Violator gloves and boots with the Speedtar 1pc suit. And for a helmet Im not sure, is there much difference between the $800+ shoei's and arais versus the cheaper 4-$500 ones from HJC and the lower end Shoei/Arai's???

Ohhh and Im thinking K&N filter and Yoshimura pipes and stopping there.

Can anyone give some suggestions to this first time rider/bike owner????

CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I say lay off the performance mods for the time being until you're comfortable with the F4i, and need a little something more out of it.

Be careful with it for sure, that bike is still a wild beast for a beginner, although I'm glad to hear you didn't get a GSX-R or R6 for your first bike.

JoeRocket and HJC are very good brands if you're a little budget-minded IMO.

Good luck, have fun, and practice practice !!!!

What's wrong with getting a Gixxer or R-6 for a first bike?

The helmet difference is in the quality, vents, etc, etc...

By the way my friend has the same bike and he has a Hindle exhaust, sounds great and has good power gains, but if you want GREAT power gains and don't care about having a loud exhaust go with the Akrapovic. Its a bit silent compared to other exhausts.

And get the full exhaust not just the can!

Peace

PS. Should have got the R-6, well at least you didn't get the Gixxer...blah

OH shit, I forgot to say CONGRATULATIONS

Peace

Congratulations!

CONGRADULATIONS MAN!!!

and dont listen to anyone who says you should have got this or that

i have riden a f4i on the track back to back with my r6 and if you put two equivalently skilled riders on the both bikes 9 times out of 10 the f4i will be smoking the r6 rider by the end of the day

it is a perfect bike to learn on and will compliment you rather than punish you

the first mod is to take of those massive feeler blobs under the foot pegs:)

otherwise get a pipe cause the noice is cool, but seriously performace wise you will be hard pressed to actually notice improvements until you can fully utilize the bike


and for gear TRY EVERYTHING ON cause all brands have different fits, especially helmets

go for comfort and then looks and price thats just my opinion

Re: I bought my first bike today :D:D:D
 

did you take the riding course ? go take a riding course NOW. 90% of ALL motorcycle accidents involved a rider that did NOT take the course.

All the above helmets are good, make sure the one you choose is a snell 2000 rated helmet, the KBC tk-8 helmets that just came out are very sweet looking, aswell as the shark helmets. The more you pay over these mean a lighter weight helmet (not much of a difference) more featires like anti fogging vents, and less wind noise.. to me those things dont matter much so im either going to get the shark helmet or the kbc

Are we talking about stock bikes here? Obviously not.

Read all the damn magazines and they will say that the R6 is the best 600cc bike on the market.

And me telling him to buy an R6 is only because I ride one and it was meant to be a joke, not like I'm telling him that he wasted his money. I got lots of friends who have F4i's. It's a nice bike, I almost got one.

Peace

you cant go wrong with any of the top 4 sport bikes.

Exactly, its just a matter of preference. Did I spell that right?

Anyways, Peace

actually i am talking about stock bikes, magazines test with pro riders who can fully utilize the capabilities of the bike, therefore the bikes characteristics are more clear

for you and i (and the rest of us average riders) the forgivable nature of a bike means alot, also it depends on how the bike compliments a rider and your learning curve

I have riden both on the track (i actually own a r6 like you) but i can honestly tell you that if i was learning (as i am) i would lap much faster on the f4i due to it planted nature and smooth power delivery regardless of what magazines say

IMO magazines only mean more to bar racers, come to the track and you will see

But for the average rider as you guys have said all four bikes are good at our skill level

congrads

IMO boys..
 

Hmm.. racer's prefer the GSX-R 600 as their weapon of choice for track bike. (Road Racing World)

The R6 is a little softer-edged but not chosen b/c of the hp deficit on the gixxer. I would agree you can't really go wrong looking at the top 4 600cc bikes.

What hurt the F4i and ZX6-R the most was the lack of ground clearance. Notably the exhaust and rear sets. But, this at track speed. You most likely wont' have this problem until after a few yrd of track riding.

N20H22AR6 is right about the amateur track riders like us. Most would not realize the difference between the two except for the fact that the F4i is more forgiving.

Remember, anyone can ride a bike. I could probably ride Rossi's NSR 500GP bike and lap around spokane and PIR no problem.. i can even ride it to work everyday. I may only be riding it to 35% of it's abilities but i'm still riding it. Point is, it dosent matter what you're riding... you are basically doing yourself a favour (and get quicker on the track faster) by riding a bike that's easy to ride. (i.e. F4i)

HTH

I'm speaking of personal experience. My street bike was a 1999 Suzuki TL1000R. Japan's first attempt at a v-twin superbike... it was a trick bike but it took me two yrs to get up to speed. It took me 2 track days do meet and exceed what i learned of 2 yrs of TLR riding.

Later,

congrats on the bike

Thanks everyone, Ill do some explaining on my choices...

I chose the Honda for a few reasons. First Im always readin how its the easiest of the new 600's to ride and most importantly learn on. Next I have also read and heard its the best for daily driving which this will have to do. I prefer Rossi over Biaggi :). The closest race track to me is 8 hours away. I sat on the GSX-R and didnt like the feel, but didnt look at the R6. I felt I didnt need to tho, Ive read 3 very credable magazine tests with the 600's, and most rate the R6 and CBR about even, but it seems to be how the R6 does the track is how it wins out and as said I dont care about that Im not a MotoGP star and dont plan to be (but Id be cool tho :) ).

And simply at the end of the day comparing the top-4 600's is like comparing nucluer weapons, one might be a tad bigger here,one a tad more accurate there, but in the end any of them will kill 99.9% of the stuff out there.

Congratulations and good choice. The F4i would have been my choice for a Honda, but only second to the RC51.

through a highmount pipe and some higher set pegs and it will run just as well as any of the other bikes...

testing stock bikes on a racetrack is pointless regardless.

Why didnt I choose an r6 ? didnt fit me, thetank isnt shaped correctly for taller riders (im 6'1")

and i dont like how my wrists hit the tank on full turns.

i didnt get the gixxer as I thought it was ugly, and the ergonomics felt unnatural.


kawasaki is kind of a cool bike, but it felt top heavy. f4i was pretty close to perfect for me

the only bike I like more is the rc51, and I havent sat on any aprillias yet

very nice man!!!!!!

hey hyper.
can u hook me up to airbursh service??
thx man...

luderboy@yahoo.com

Belated congrats lol, so...... just wondering.. how's the bike worked out for you over the years?

Titus titus titus

The dude hasn't logged on since 06.

LOL ops :p

I'm bored..... in India...

How's the roti?!?! good?!? *drools*

haha they're good, and all you can drink lassi in the office cafe :thumbsup: