Motorbike Recommendations – CBR600F Alternatives

Hi all,

As the title suggests……… Current bike is getting a little long in the tooth. (1999 Honda CBR600Fx – with 38k on the clock)

Bloody great bike……. makes about 100bhp still looks good for age and has easily dealt with commuting, track days, A-Road scratching and euro-trips.

BUT……. its taking an increasing amount of money to keep it on the road.  It’s gonna need new headers this year…. along with new chain and sprocs and new fork seals.  Last year it needed a new radiator, new cam chain adjuster and valve timing sorted.  Also seems to go through a battery per year or so.

Not looking at some 1000cc monster.  I like 600’s and being able to rake through the gearbox.

What alternatives can you recommend (Especially as the new CBR650F doesn’t make the same power and doesnt actually get the best reviews.)

Does the “Sport Touring” class actually exist anymore?

BUT……. its taking an increasing amount of money to keep it on the road maintain it.  It’s gonna need new headers this year…. along with new chain and sprocs and new fork seals.  Last year it needed a new radiator, new cam chain adjuster and valve timing sorted routine maintenance and replacement parts for a vehicle of that age and mileage. Also seems to go through a battery per year or so.

Fixed your post 😉

So, about £500 all in to keep it running vs the PITA of selling it and finding something else? I’d spend the money (DIY? Older bikes are easy to work on!) and check the reg/rec to see if that’s causing the battery problem 🙂

I dunno. I don’t like newer (mid 2000s on) stuff, it’s all too pointy and transformer-looking.

At that age , why not just run it til it drops?

You won’t get much from selling it … so if you like it, keeping it on the road is probably the best solution.

Had an CBR Jelly mould FL model and it was bulletproof.

You won’t get much for it but someone will buy it and do that work/maintenance.

Did the same with my old 5 series – given to Dad to do have and do the work in his retirement/hobbies as it was approaching an age where it will need a lot of parts replacing.

Old Car was mint and bought myself a new car with 3 years warranty/servicing.

Wish I never bought the new car as they don’t make them as hard wearing anymore.

The better fuel economy is welcomed though.

Vfr800 is close to what you have in many ways.

But as with all forum recommendations, this.

s-l1600 (3) by Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr

In your position I would rebuild the Honda,I think it would be the best value for money option.

If you want to try something different have a look at the Triumph 675R Street Triple,love mine.

Triumph you say….? Street Triple is nice bike but where’s the fairing?

The nearest thing would be  RS Sprint 955i but they went outa production in 2004.

Everything is a bit Hipster these days…… harkening back to the “Golden” days of Brit motorcycling but with new technology….. unfortunatley all the Triumph stuff reminds me of those adverts you see in the back of the Sunday Times….. you know… the “Traditional” looking mahogany gramophones with USB/Bluetooth connectivity.

and Yes…. VFR is the nearest current Honda match but is a bit spendy, heavy and tank range is questionable.

Where are all the Sport Touring bikes?

and Kayla1…. I meant “keeping it on the road” NOT maintaining it….. but thanks anyway.

Yamaha Tracer 700? Cheap and a fab engine by all accounts.

Tracer looks interesting but it would have to be the 900 as the 7 makes 25% less power than my current bike. Also has high front end…. More like adventure bike than sports tourer….. Ohhhh…. And the other problem….. Im only 5ft 3. The seat is a bit high on the Tracers!

<sniggers at the suggestion of a SuperdukeR>

Took my 950sm up to my tame mechanic yesterday. He advised me to chop it in. Like so many other old LC8s, the front cylinder lower gasket is failing. A conservative estimate is £2k to rebuild it. I could have cried.

Took my 950sm up to my tame mechanic yesterday. He advised me to chop it in. Like so many other old LC8s, the front cylinder lower gasket is failing. A conservative estimate is £2k to rebuild it. I could have cried.

You’re not cheering me up there !

Sorry, should have obeyed my mate’s mantra: “a problem shared is a problem for everyone”.

What’s really annoying is that I finally, properly, get how to make it corner quickly. I don’t think it would have started to weep if it hadn’t been so hot in the alps last week. It never boiled, but the fans were running even while riding along which doesn’t usually happen.

Gonna test a GT and a Super Adventure on Friday though. Every cloud…

BMW F800ST?  I’ve got the R and it’s good.  The ST’s got a good fairing, by all accounts.  A wee bit down on power over the Honda, but not much. Belt drive for low maintenance, too.

A conservative estimate is £2k to rebuild it. I could have cried.

That’s an expensive gasket? Or is that the worst case if the barrel/crankcase need completely disassembling and skimming as there’s wear between them?

Worst case. The root cause is the front timing chain catching on the gasket, barrel and crankcase. Official fix is new crankcase and barrel. Some have managed to botch it with hylomar and jb weld. It’s not pretty. Nobody has been able to explain how the correctly tensioned chains flap about so much, though when the engines first came out there were numerous recalls on the tensioners – mine had at least two that I can remember.

I meant “keeping it on the road” NOT maintaining it…

Sorry for being dim but what’s the difference? You’re maintaining its ability to be used on the road 😉

Bloody hell, and I thought the backronym of KTM as “Keeps Taking Money” was a bad joke.

That sounds worryingly like a design flaw that the manufacturer has somehow swerved having to rectify.

Worst case. The root cause is the front timing chain catching on the gasket, barrel and crankcase. Official fix is new crankcase and barrel. Some have managed to botch it with hylomar and jb weld. It’s not pretty. Nobody has been able to explain how the correctly tensioned chains flap about so much, though when the engines first came out there were numerous recalls on the tensioners – mine had at least two that I can remember.

I thought it was to do with the studs stretching and allowing the barrel to vibrate against the case?

Solution was take the barrel off, new gasket, lots of liquid gasket and high temp silicone/JB weld if there was any wear, reassemble with new higher grade studs and washers under the head nuts (the problem being lower grade studs on early models).

I’m not an expert, I just considered one when I passed my test a few years ago and that was the received wisdom off the forums.

Hi Kayla1….

OK I’ll bite.

So there’s no difference?  Why did you make a big thing out of it then?

LOL – I think you just like an argument.

No big thing and I think you may have got the wrong impression from my posts and/or missed the smiley thingers that I used to try to convey a jokey and/or light-heartedness to them. I wasn’t angling for an argument, although I am partial to a decent discussion of opposing views every so often, I suppose I was just trying to make the point that your current bike’s not beyond help in a friendly and non-confrontational way.

Tbh I went through the kind of process you are considering. Had a 1999 zzr600 which was a super bit of kit. Did loads to it, felt it needed to be changed just in case something else happened to it (stainless down pipes split at weld) so.moved it on and got a cb600 hornet 2012. Lovely bike loved the abs and handling BUT sh1te fuel economy and it started oil.leaking at the lower head cylinder gasket. Should just have kept the zzr6 going. Got shot of the Honda,  bought my neighbours 1998 vfr800 in mint condition and it got nicked 4 days later on its second ride. Got the insurance, and got a newer mint Suzuki Bandit 1250GT only 13k miles 2009. Goddamn thing had an engine management fault that occasionally caused a stutter in drive but was highly intermittent. Got shot of that.

Friends wife was selling her y2k fazer fzs600 for 850 18k miles on the clock. Bit scruffy but fine. Had one as my first big bike 10y ago. Boy forgot how good it was. Now it’s not the most modern thing, I’d like abs and no hassle or upkeep but these old bikes are superb. New ones are not as well made and more complex and in my experience less reliable but I may have been unlucky with the Honda and Suzuki.

I’d like a tracer 700, but the fazer cost 850, gets 60 plus mpg on a run and just works. I can’t justify dropping an additional 4.5k on a vanity/toy item!

So in short the last 3 times I chopped in a bike I as perfectly happy with because I wanted something newer I wished I’d just stuck with the original bike!

But, bikes are fun and trying something different is always nice. The choice (and available income/justification) Is yours!

I’m with Kayla1 on the general point though. Most of the stuff you listed (chain, sprockets and fork seals) are just routine maintenance that any bike needs, buying a newer bike won’t mean those won’t need doing unless you buy one with so few miles on the clock and don’t intend to do many miles.

As an example of practicing what I preach, my OH’s Fiesta is probably worth £400 on a good day with a full tank of petrol. It’s done 130,000 miles, is missing one rear seat belt, the heater fan only works on 4, the wing mirror adjusters have fallen off, one electric window doesn’t work, the bodywork has lots of supermarket battle scars and the alloy wheels are “deeply scuffed”.

We still paid for a new clutch, water pump, gearbox seals, brake pads and disks, cambelt, wheel bearings, exhaust etc. Probably averaging the cars value in keeping it going every year for the past 3. I still think that’s a better use of the money than spending £2000 (cars value + 3 year running costs) on a sightly newer car, that in 3 years time will also be worth £400, and potentially also have it’s own “running costs”.

That Honda will probably do 100,000 miles without much of a sweat if you keep on top of it, yes you have to replace more than just the oil and filter to get there but if it’s the bike you want, why change for the sake of it?