Motorcycle Gurus, Advice needed (Honda content)

[b*saint]

I would check it out. For 2 g's that bike is awesome. I will drive down to SC and buy it if you dont. Jetting carbs isnt really that bad. You can do it in an afternoon. The Power Commander isnt plug and play as people think. You plug it in and select map. How the fuck do you know which map? Now you have to pay for someone to tune it.

[z31maniac]

You plug it in and get it dyno tuned.

No real point in getting one if you aren't planning on having it custom tuned, at least to me it's not.

My tuner at the time was able to wrench quite a decent power gain out of the bike. Went from 95whp to 109whp.

[hugh jass]

you can download lots of tunes from the power commander website. its easy to find one close enough for the mods your bike has. it worked for me.

[Rolla1990]

I had an F2 for many years... The biggest thing to look out for is the 2nd gear pop out, mine did it really bad, sometimes popped out bad enough to drop itself into first gear under really hard acceleration. But it was an easy enough problem to ride around once I got used to it.

The other thing about F2's... They are extremely simple and durable. $2K is a bit much for one, but by the time I was done with mine, it had around 75,000 miles on it, and it lived a VERY hard life. Annual oil changes, semi-annual crashes, constant wheelies. They last and last and last.

The parts I had to replace included a cam chain tensioner (easy and cheap), fork seals (too many wheelies), tires, and brake pads. And whatever I broke when I dropped it. I never even cleaned the carbs in 5 years of ownership, and it never let me down.

[808BMW]

you can download lots of tunes from the power commander website. its easy to find one close enough for the mods your bike has. it worked for me.

Ditto
Fairly easy with a camera usb cord, makes you feel like your in the fast & the furious

[b*saint]

So basically people are saying FI tuning is for idiots. Good thing I have a carb'd bike.

[Zacm829]

Went a checked it out today. Its not pretty and looks like more of a project than I want. It ran awesome when I took it on a little joy ride, but It had major rash on both sides, dented tank, bent rear brake lever, non working speedo/signals etc. Yikes! I offered him $1250 and he declined. ha The search continues.

[dgspikes]

So basically people are saying FI tuning is for idiots. Good thing I have a carb'd bike.

Basically this is true.. and as a first time buyer I'm sure he fits into this category. You learn more and more each time you get a bike. This bike would be great for a first bike.. if you could talk him down. I'd say 2 g's is a great deal for that bike. I doubt you'll need to do more maintenance than changing the oil. Most likely you'll want to upgrade after one or 2 seasons anyway.

I had an 02 F4i that was beat to shit and the thing ran like a gem all day long.. could hear the cam chain tensioner a little but, I dont think anything was wrong with it unless it got real bad.. just hearing it bugged ya a bit.

Buy it and enjoy it.. bike will run forever and be a blast

*I guess with what you describe it still sounds like a deal at 1500.. just fix the speedo/turn signals and that bike is ready for the road*

[Zacm829]

This would be my second bike, I had a ninja 500 as a learner bike. I'm really not liking that F2, Its too much work to get it to good condition. The bike would be used as a commuter, but I would still have a car for cold/rain. I ran across this. Any suggestions? Might go see it tomorrow.

http://charleston.craigslist.org/mcy/1642939386.html

[z31maniac]

you can download lots of tunes from the power commander website. its easy to find one close enough for the mods your bike has. it worked for me.

Ditto
Fairly easy with a camera usb cord, makes you feel like your in the fast & the furious

Well aware of what you CAN do.

Just illustrating what's the best. If you have the normal air filter, exhaust, (velocity stacks in my case) a custom tune is the way to get THE MOST not just some of it.

Throttle response was never super crisp on any of the maps I had downloaded either.

[quickervicar]

I had an F2 for many years... The biggest thing to look out for is the 2nd gear pop out, mine did it really bad, sometimes popped out bad enough to drop itself into first gear under really hard acceleration. But it was an easy enough problem to ride around once I got used to it.

The other thing about F2's... They are extremely simple and durable. $2K is a bit much for one, but by the time I was done with mine, it had around 75,000 miles on it, and it lived a VERY hard life. Annual oil changes, semi-annual crashes, constant wheelies. They last and last and last.

The parts I had to replace included a cam chain tensioner (easy and cheap), fork seals (too many wheelies), tires, and brake pads. And whatever I broke when I dropped it. I never even cleaned the carbs in 5 years of ownership, and it never let me down.

This is pretty much what I was thinking. An F2 is a great bike. Yes, there are much faster bikes out there today. But the speed is in the rider, not the bike. Still a lot of guys tracking F2s on a regular basis and oddly enough they tend to be the instructors (the ones that the riders on newer bikes have difficulty keeping up with). F2s are durable, lovable machines that would make an excellent commuter bike for you. Just get the price down under $2k.

[Ryan...]

Well I'll toss in my two cents: Like everyone else is saying, for not much more you can pick up another, newer bike. My first bike was an F2, it was a decent bike, but nothing compared to the F4i. Ended up selling that and picking up an 06 600rr for $3700. I would save my pennies and get a 600rr. Perfect blend of cheap insurance, great handling, and comfortable/aggressive riding position.

Or you could buy a gixxer and look like 98% of all other new bike riders. And if you do get the gixxer, don't forget your Icon helmet, Icon gloves, Icon jacket, Icon riding pants, and Icon boots.

[Zacm829]

Well I passed on the F2 and the RR. Went a got this Friday, picked it up for a steal!

2001 Triumph 600TT (Fuel injected)
10K miles
Scorpion full exhaust/flush mounts/seat cowl/extra tank/box of factory stickers
Has salvage title, but rides perfectly
$1700 and a shitty 9mm, basically $1900

[Dozyproductions]

man that windscreen/front farring totally just kills it for me, but awesome pickup!

[bimmer_E30]

does it have vtech?

lulz, i would rather get a R6.....