MM Bike Build: 1999 Honda CB600 F4 (56k Warning)

[Ginger]

The subject:



For those that don't know, I got the bike relatively cheap. The fairings were damaged, the windscreen opaque, and it was fender-free. Having an ugly motorcycle never bothered me before, though, for anybody that remembers the VFR. It's a blast to ride. It's a great bike. A wonderful all arounder.

But the forks are a little crooked. Maybe they're bent... maybe not. That's ok, though, because I've got these:



That should be it... but it's not. It's way more fun to ride at the track than the VFR was. See?



And then I crashed it at the track... oops. And the Rabbit Hole opens. This is, as far as I know, the first Official MM Motorcycle Build. The bike will be, at the moment, the recipient of goodies that will not hinder my ability to ride on the street, but not hold me back on track, either. You will see my mistakes, crash rebuilds, results, and progress. When I get a second bike running the F4 will be the focus of a very specific goal: a race bike. That's time away, though, and neither here nor there. On to the new stuff!

What's this?



And this?



There's more?



Zero Gravity, Woodcraft, and DID? Oh my!



That's a full set of 2 piece Woodcraft-CFM clip ons (the best design I could find) with 2 spare handle tubes.



And there's a nice Zero Gravity windshield, courtesy of the nice folks at Sharkskinz:



They also were kind of enough to send me over a front fender:





It needs paint and to be drilled... but it will do very nicely.

The D.I.D. is a new chain. It's going to wait on new sprockets, though, as they're best to replace as a set. I'll be using OEM steel and stock gearing. The chain is also the stock width. I don't want to wear through aluminum gears and risk busting my chain on a bike I ride so often, so stock that will stay for now. People have done fine on 520's on the street, I just don't want to create another potential weak point.

And then there was the reason I didn't make it to VIR this weekend....



I found some bodywork in VA Beach for pennies on the dollar and decided to take advantage of it - and get in a nice weekend of relaxation on the oceanfront. One needs to recover from a trip to Laguna Seca, you know....



It's real 'glass race plastic. It needs a little repair.. but that's what's so great about it. I'm sure this won't be the last time.



And the whole kit and kaboodle:



This is going to be bad... real bad.

[Feersty]

Nice Andrew. Can't wait to see teh progression.

[Sijray21]

This is going to be bad... real bad.

+1

[.paul]

nice andrew, hope your VA Beach trip was worth it on another aspect as well

[Ginger]

I made some progress today... actually, a lot.

Big thanks to Gerald for letting me borrow his front stand - it's very useful. I'm going to have to go buy my own now.

I took care of the windscreen a couple weeks ago and never really posted anything about it. Well, yep, it's done.. and a little dirty:



I was tired of the bike pulling to the right, and the clip ons being misaligned. The left clip on was bent, so the plan for the day was to replace the forks, realign the triple trees, and throw on the woodcraft bars. The Woodcrafts presented a problem in the past because Honda designed a very strange anti-rotational device for the throttle assembly that nobody was able to remove (the count was up to like, 6 people that were baffled). A tech gave me some advice and I thought I might be able to tackle it today. No luck on that front, actually, which is no big deal, because the OEM bars aren't actually bent more than a centimeter. Also got the forks and triples punched out.

Success! The old buggers:



No pictures of the work on that, but I promise that it was pretty boring.

... and then there was my chain. It was so loose that it... yeah, alright *sister joke*.

It actually wore this into the poly-slider bolted to the swingarm:



It ground pretty well into the swingarm itself, too. It was very hard to photograph, though, so you can just take my word for it. I don't imagine compromised the integrity of the piece... but if I ever feel like taking on a silly project I'll put a Pro-Link back end on it.

I bought myself a chain breaker and press, and got to it.



Off with the old. Huzzah!



And man... it was old:



And in with the new:



I meant to do an oil change, too, but I ran out of time. I'll take care of that, and hopefully the clip ons, later this week. Oh, and just for fun -
I like to work on my motorcycle in the house:

[Sijray21]

it's about time you changed that chain! i could hear it rattle over your exhaust hock:

[Mike]

how do you like the new windscreen? does it fit up to the same stock points? i'm in need of one, and don't know what to go with.

[Ginger]

The windscreen is, uhm, O.K. Quality, fit, and finish - :thumbup: - my only complaint is my own fault for buying clear.

It's a carbon copy of the OEM piece, and bolts up without any problems at all. I didn't want a "double bubble" design because, well, I don't really give a crap about being able to sit upright at 80mph without any wind. I can tuck in behind it and see through it, so I'm happy.

Clear, on the street, doesn't seem like such a fantastic idea. I use the bike so much that it gets dirty really quick. I had cleaned it up with a wet paper towell before the picture, but it was awful looking before that. I'm thinking of mounting it to my track plastics and getting a tinted version for the street, just so I don't have to clean it all the time. If you're on track, though, absolutely use clear there... tinting is just something extra to have to "work around" - and I don't want to do that at 160mph, already looking through a tinted visor.

[Ginger]

More progress.

Mounted the fender



It doesn't fit very well.



I had to gouge out extra material just to make it fit.



Oh well... I'll make better work of it over the winter.

It's rattle can black:



Oooh, Diablo Corsa III's.



They're nice.

Really nice.



Got the clip ons mounted, too:



Complete adjustability is nice. Really nice.



They're wearing super thin Renthal race grips, too. I'm not a fan of the super textured, super gel, super thick crap... so they're great.

Home made fender eliminator



And Lite Bolts for to replace the factory light that got cut off with the fender



Finished product:



The police will like having a light back there.

Blingy exhaust, too.



The exhaust was courtesy of some overly agressive riding in traffic and a cager who wasn't paying attention (and didn't stop). Some you may recognize the can from the VFR. Hooray for backyard engineering.

Oh, and new toys for the race bodywork:



Windscreen Wellnuts



And 1/4 turn D ring fasteners.


I think that about covers the updates. There's a new fairing support on the way from Bike Bandit, and in the mean time I'll be cleaning up both sets of bodywork.

[Krush]

looks like somebody sold you a turd....oh wait, you keep wrecking it lol!


Glad to see she's treating you nicely.

[Kaan]

that shit should be universal gold!

[Apoc]

You can totally read your plate under the tape.

[Beej]

Woot, yesterday kicked ass. Today blows. Nice progress!

Post like this make me want a bike. Looking in our garage undoes that.

[Ginger]

New part (actually, incredible deal on a used bling part):



It'll go on later.. maybe after it's black, definitely after I clean it.

[Ginger]

So, I've done a lot with this silly motorcycle and haven't posted much.

First off, I swapped triple trees, upper and lower. The upper is that nice little Vortex piece, the lower is a straight stock part. Repacked the bearings and back in it went.

See?



Taking off the old unit. What lies beneath? A little well used, 'eh?



It's a lot easier to work on the front end when all the plastics are off:



And you gotta have the front wheel off the ground to take the forks off My roommates really loved that move...



CompaRo!



Repacking & installing:



Back in one piece!

[Ginger]

Now, a comprehensive list of shit that sucks:



I don't know how it got put on it's side... but I'm not happy about it.

These are on the way:



But it probably won't take me long before I buy the roller bearing Woodcraft pedals.. because they're blingy. Oh.. and I forgot to take a picture of the bent brake lever.

Prettier, huh?

[Mike]

Now, a comprehensive list of shit that sucks:



I don't know how it got put on it's side... but I'm not happy about it.

wtf? where that happen?

[Ginger]

I tried a new parking area by the office.. I guess I'll stick to the same old same old.

[Mike]

shit... that blows a serious amount. sorry to see it...

[Dave]

I'd pull the bike into the lobby and leave a note "This is what happens when I leave it outside for assholes to screw with. If you have a problem, my extension is ****."