Motorcycles?

Am not sure if anyone else here rides, but I have a rather specific question regarding Honda CBRs. We got my wife a 2005 CBR600 F4i last August and are already parting with it. Couple reasons for that: eliminate some debt, she doesn’t like riding it as much as she thought and it isn’t really my ideal bike. I have a buyer lined up for this evening and am semi-regretting my decision to sell it. It is a great bike and I certainly haven’t mastered it in the limited time we have had it. I am wondering if I should keep it and continue to develop on it for a while. If this guy doesn’t end up buying it, for any reason, I may do that.

All that said, my goal in selling this one is to eventually get that ideal bike I am looking for. I want another CBR, preferably a more modern one, but am torn between just going with another (2001-2006) 600 F4i or a (2007+) 600RR.

I have done quite a bit of research on blogs, reviews and forum opinions. I am a pretty low experience rider, having been riding for only about 1 yr now. Been on a Honda Rebel, Honda Nighthawk, Yamaha TW200 (more like a dirtbike) and the CBR600… all pretty low end stuff, minus the CBR. I have never felt uncomfortable or unfit for the CBR; in fact I love it. The F4i is known for being a pretty forgiving sportbike. I haven’t fully tapped its capabilities, but I am not out on the weekends looking to race people either.

I am wondering if the 600RR is truly as… scary for lack of a better term… as people make it out to be. I do not wish to get in over my head, but it seems to me that if you are a responsible rider who is competent and not looking to push those limits, then it will not be difficult to manage or grow accustomed to. As someone else said in one of my many readings, I can control my wrist… essentially saying that the bike is really only going to get away from you if you make it do so yourself. No, I am not a track rider nor do I aspire to be one. So ultimately, the 600RR will be superfluous. But with the capability to hit 155 mph on the F4i, I would say that it too is superfluous. In my humble and briefly formed opinion, the gap between what is “good enough” and what is overkill can be mitigated by a rider’s intentions, comfort level and overall responsibility with his machine.

There are pros and cons to both the F4i and the 600RR, including: forgiveability, weight/handling, price, insurance costs, aesthetics, tech features, powerband differences, comfort issues/body position etc… Basically, I am looking for some experienced opinions here, if any exist. I am not asking you to choose for me, because ultimately I have to be comfortable with all aspects of the decision, but I appreciate wisdom gained from experience.

I find the F4i to be certainly adequate and very fun; I am not looking for more power. The main reasons I would go with a 600RR over an F4i are aesthetics, weight/handling and updated tech/design features like ABS. The downsides to that decision would be a compromise on the outright and insurance costs - which would be greater, potential learning curve for managing power inputs, ride position being more uncomfortable (though I hear from different sources that it isn’t as bad as you would think and is actually much better in the 2007+ yrs vs 2006 and earlier) and possibly a less ideal passenger position.

Talk me up or down as you please. But take into account that the 600RR I am looking to compare is the 2007 model year and up, which is a significant redesign over older RR models. I may take the bike on a couple longer distance rides, but primarily will be relatively short distance commuting. FWIW

600 F4i:

2007 600RR:

@LHoffman:

As someone else said in one of my many readings, I can control my wrist… essentially saying that the bike is really only going to get away from you if you make it do so yourself.

Been reading a bit more and I realize now that this is probably a naive oversimplification. Mistakes are not intentional and neither is the occasional wrist slip which has the potential to be much more hazardous on a supersport that something else.

@Colt45:

I drive a 2015 Suzuki V-Strom 650 but I dont know much about bikes. I think the ABS factor is really minor unless you drive in slick conditions often and don’t compensate with riding differently, but it seems like you’re competent and not reckless. I agree with you that the RR looks better. I don’t think you will have any issue adapting to the different power. How often do you ride with a passenger? If the passenger seating is as sub-par as the reviews say then that’s probably the biggest factor against the RR besides price. I’d say you need to test ride one or both if you can then you’ll just know which one’s best for you

Finally! Another rider!

ABS would be nice, but in the end not essential. My wife locked up the front brake on the CBR and went over the handlebars at about 35mph, so that spooked her quite a bit. I have never locked them up but came close to it once when I noticed a stop sign kinda late. It would be a peace of mind thing to have ABS, but I can manage without. I would say that I ride with a passenger (my wife) maybe 10% of the time… so really not that often. That aspect may not be as important.

I found a really nice 600 F4i a couple weeks ago that I would have loved to buy. Price was very good: $3300 (prob less) for a 2001 with 16k miles and a very clean custom blue and white paint job. Beautiful bike. Unfortunately, not in a position to spend the money I just got from selling the other one. Got to pay down on the leftovers from pilot training first… The struggle is real.

Before I buy, I would love to at least test an RR and get a feel for it, as you said. Especially since I have never been on one before.

Oh and welcome to the forums sir.

@Colt45:

Thanks for the welcome. Yeah, ABS sounds like a bit of a factor for you guys. Did she not brake with rear and front in that particular case? F4I with 16k sounds like a good deal but yeah sounds like a good plan to save up and test drive RR in meantime

I think she used some rear brake also, but if you grab enough of the front it really doesn’t matter if you are using back also. Since something like 70% of braking power is on the front brake.

Problem for her was that she was used to the single and forgiving brakes on our Honda Rebel 250… CBR has double disc brakes that are much more powerful and sensitive. Just squeezed too hard. I have been able to manage no problem though.

@Colt45:

I suppose I have been a little spoiled because the only thing I have rode is my '15 with ABS and it rides very smoothly

No prob… They CBR was pretty smooth, you just have to be careful with the power at your fingertips.