'93 CBR 600 F2 Mods - Phase 1

So, this thread is on other "CBR specific" sites, but as a new member here, I wanted to let you all see it as well, since it is my intention to race this bike for at least one season (maybe more), while money accumulates, permitting me to race prep the 2012 R1 - I'm in no hurry, as parts for that bike are considerably more expensive!!
Phase 1 for this bike, is taking it from where it was when I purchased it, to being track ready for this season - I have an MCRA track day in early July, where I will have an MCRA mock race, similar to what they do in CCS, for the race licensing programs.
When viewers get caught up to the state of the bike now, I'm hoping to get advice from you all, who have actually raced the F2, in the past, and even still, since you can tell me what has worked for you, and what hasn't, and maybe expose me to some tricks you have learned.

 

In the beginning...

...there is my F2 as it was when purchased - I actually got one of the best specimens one could find - the original owner bought it following a divorce, in his very late 40's - kind of a "mid-life-crisis-chick-magnet" attempt, I'm guessing.
He never rode it very hard, and being that it had around 4000 miles on the clock, a full 16 years later, he clearly didn't ride it all that much, either.
The bike was in full stock form, and maintained to the tee, with all service receipts available, as well as original dealer receipt, owner's manual, and service manual.
My boss at the time, bought it from him, and put about 300 miles on it, before I picked it up for $2300 - the boss I speak of, is a VERY conservative individual, who probably never took it over the speed limit.
The only issues it had, were the original tires, which are crap, and kind of "aged", and carb issues due to it sitting a very long time.



In my opinion, this was the sharpest, most "modern" and "timeless" color scheme they produced for the F2 - I'm not saying I don't like any of the others, I'm just saying this is definitely the one I would have picked, had I the option after viewing all possible schemes - positively a less "dated" look then some of the others, and in practically PERFECT condition
It's like it had just come out of the crate from the factory.

 

The first thing I needed to do, was scrap the dry, old, second-rate rubber, and put on somethin sexier and stickier.



I know the Harbor Freight tire changer is lacking in features, but it has paid for itself many times over at this point, being that it was only $50 or $60 to begin with.
I'm really interested in the No-Mar brand I read about a while ago...does anyone have that tire changer setup? If so, how do you like it?



Here she is, shod with Dunlop Sportmax Q2's - the turn-in and cornering was absolutely transformed, and they didn't slip at moderate (let alone steep) lean angles, like with the hardened-with-age old hoops - not to mention, they look a lot better.





Much better.

 

For $2300 you could have bought a championship winning racebike with spares to boot and not have to chop a pristine street example up either. Just sayin.

 

wow thats a nice bike.dont chop it up.

 

If the only modding you done thus far is to mod a set of sticky, sexy street tires on there, and you havn't proceeded with any other mods, like the race bodywork mod, the suspension upgrade mod, steel braided lines mod, the wad it right up mod, Or any other mod. You'd be better off selling it as is to another street squid, and hope to recoup at least your initial purchase price.

Take that money, buy one of the always abundant, already setup f2/f3's out there, go race it a year or two, learn a metric (i'm canadian) ass ton about racing and track riding on a bike that's already properly setup, instead of learning both bike building/setup, and riding. When you feel like you're ready to move on, turn around and sell it to the next guy looking to do the same, for pretty much exactly what you paid for it.

Once you start modding up and racing a cherry old streetbike there's no going back. I'm not even talking about the fact of potentially destroying a good condition old bike (I could care less), I'm just coming at it from the dollars and sense angle. But to each his own, it's your money and time. You'll be money ahead, even right now to abandon ship. Trust me.

Good luck whatever you do, great handling, fun to ride bikes the f2/f3.

 

Yeah that bike is way to pretty to hack up for the track. Would seem a shame...

 

Well, you're looking at a process that began several years ago - the bike has come a long way already - I'm just catching everyone up on what has already transpired. I hinted at it in my first post, but it wasn't completely clear. I made a first post on the forum, and that thread was a precursor to this thread... checking that would help folks to understand what's going on:

http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php?t=299249

I know it's confusing, but before anyone comments any more about what they think the bike's current state is, check the above thread!!

Now, back to Dan...I hope by suggesting I sell it to "another" street squid, your not jumping to conclusions, and assuming that I am a squid!! I am returning to racing, I've been away waaaaaay too long, and I regret ever stopping - things changed in my life at a very early time, that took me down a different path, and set my whole life back a considerable number of years (no, I did not go to prison!) - I haven't raced in 20 years, but I've been riding motorcycles since 6, in the dirt, and 15, on the street...that was 25 years ago, so, no more hiding my age, huh?

Now, I'm in COMPLETE AND TOTAL AGREEMENT about keeping this bike pristine, I NEVER had any intention of racing an F2, it was just a street ride, that I was very proud of, that kept me riding while I worked on my '09 R1 for A Superbike and A Superstock. I was laid off over and friggin' over, and have since sold the R1 to catch up on mortgage and credit cards which were being abused while out of work - I had that bike almost completely ready, so it was a heartbreaker to part with it, but I did recoup darn near every penny I had invested...just lost the time on the work.
I would have NEVER sold this F2, in it's fantastic shape, to buy an already built F2, because I didn't want an F2 racebike, this is only happening now, because someone pushed me off the road, and took my beautiful, nearly perfect bike, and destroyed the bodywork.
I had only made a few simple mods to it, at the point of the accident, and was saving anything OEM, for the time when I knew I would want to enjoy it again in it's full, original glory.

Anyway....that ship has sailed, so keep watching, so you can get to where things are NOW!!

 

well in that case, I recant my agreement with Matt. Have at it, sir.

 

You are most definitely correct sir - it was NEVER the plan! I curse VEHEMENTLY the fool that changed lanes into me, and damaged what I considered a perfect specimen...not to mention the physical damage to ME! I haven't ridden without boots, helmet, full-gauntlet, gloves and an armored mesh or leather jacket for many years, but I don't always wear kevlar jeans, or armor under the jeans, so my left knee and calf were boogered up pretty good! I didn't walk well for a few weeks following.
I've avoided thousands of accidents in 25 years of riding, but there is still always the chance of some idiot taking you by surprise, in a scenario where being ready for the worst is not always enough...it just happens.

 

Yeah, that's kind of where I am now...I loved having an "old school", sweet-@$$ bike, that is a great ride, but, I had it that way, and now I don't...it sucks, but I don't have a flux capacitor-equipped DeLorean, so I just gotta take what I got!!

 

As I already mentioned, after riding the bike in it's perfect form for I guess about a year, things went South...
I was riding on a moderately twisty street in my city, and while beginning to round a kind of tight, decreasing-radius bend, some @$$clown in a big old Suburban, with dark tinted windows and music blaring, changes lanes into me as I'm beginning to pass him- no signal, of course - and pushes me wide while forcing me to brake and stand the bike up a little.
Now, if it wasn't post-winter, where there is still sand in the gutters, and a foot or so out into the lane, I probably would have squeaked around him just fine, or it would have been less of a risk to brake hard in the turn, and bring myself behind him, but once my front tire hit the sand, I lost the front and low-sided, sliding along in the sandy gutter. Being in a decent lean already, and given the nature of this curve, it was just too fast for me to fix, like I've fixed situations with other complete idiot drivers, MANY times per day, all my life! Well, I don't need to tell you guys this, you deal with it too.
The douchebag did not stop - I doubt he was attentive enough to even notice what he had done.
With armored mesh jacket (liner zipped in), full-gauntle gloves, riding boots, and of course, my helmet, I was mostly fine, but did lose a good patch of flesh on my left outer calf and knee.
Now, being who I am, and being obsessed about my bike, I went from sliding behind the bike in the gutter, to rushing up to it to check the extent of the damage, meanwhile my shredded jeans and very bloody left leg would have to wait.

So, everything that comes after this, is after I cussed and belly-ached for a while, about losing the pristine condition of the bike - for a bit, I kept telling myself that I would restore the bike one day, after reparing all the plastics, repainting, and replacing the graphics, but I finally gave up the idea - if those graphics were available, ANYWHERE, which they unfortunately are not, it would have cost me quite literally almost more than I paid for the bike, to restore just ONE SIDE!! I have since sold off almost all of the damaged fairings, and OEM parts that have been replaced with new goodies, which has helped pay for a lot of said goodies.

 

The one single mechanical issue the bike did have, was that it used a very, very, very, little bit of oil - the original owner relayed this to the second owner (my boss at the time), who relayed to me that it needed about a half a quart added every couple of months - the original owner thought it was burning oil.
Well, it was! But not in the cylinders, it was leaking from somewhere and getting on the headers, and burning there, as well as making a mess inside the fairings that you couldn't really see.
I wasn't really HAPPY about the bike using oil, though it was using very little, and wasn't a deal-breaker at all - but I was thrilled to know that it was not an internal issue, and the problem was solved for about $10.
So, the bike was mostly stripped down, for installation of the new fairings and heavy-duty stator cover, and I removed the fuel tank and some dust covers, using a fuel supply hanging from my garage joists so that I could run the motor and scour for the oil leak.
I don't know what service would have taken place in under 4000 miles, that would have required someone to remove the cylinder head cover, but I discovered after the enging heated up, and oil pressure rose, that there was the tiniest bit of oil coming from under one of the cylinder head cover bolts - some idiot had failed to replace the rubber-coated metal seal washer under that bolt.
When the fan kicked on, it sucked the oil forward, and down the front of the motor and headers - but like I said, $10 and a little work - no big deal.

In this picture, you can see the oily headers, and the oily grime on the leading edge of the front-most engine cradle portion of the frame - also visible, is the new NRC engine cover, which replaced the rashed OEM unit.



At least the oil on the headers helps to prevent rust, right?!?

Here's a shot of the much cleaner motor:

 

10-4. I see where you're coming from now. Carry on.

I retract my "another street squid" jab. This thread on initial read had all the earmarks of a 19yr old street squid trying to re-invent the wheel throwing good money after bad. I read you're other post and realize I was WAY off base. My apologies. If you ever make it up this way to race the beers on me

 

The replacement of the brake resevoir cap was just for a little bit of "bling" factor (it actually was a few grams heavier than the original unit), but the braided stainless steel brake lines, of course are for form, and mostly function. Reflectors go bye-bye now too.

 

I ended up going with some Hong Kong fairings, since you can get a set for about $500 shipped, and found a paint scheme that I really liked, and has modernized the look of the bike quite a bit - keep in mind, that at this point, I still wanted the bike to be streetable, though I figured I would probably do some track days as well, and if these fairings were damaged in a crash, who cares? They're too cheap!
I actually received the kit, at my door, in less than three weeks from the time of my order, which quite surprised me.
They looked magnificent, but I learned very quickly that the paint job could use several more coats of clear - the pieces had to be handled very carefully, as they mark really easy - I really should have had the whole kit clear-coated more before installation, but I wanted to limit the additional time and money spent on the fairings, since the kit is so cheap - I kind of look at them as somewhat "disposable".
I also learned that the fitment is poor-to-fair in some spots, fair-to-good in others, and very good in very few spots - also, what little hardware they sent, was not useable - I had to cut the rivets to remove the quick-turn connectors, where the inspection panel installs on the side farings, and drill holes and rivet these bits onto the new fairings, and then carefully remove the quick-turn screws from the old inspection panels, and install them on the new ones.
The screws they sent to secure the front/inner fairing bits to the main side fairings were too small for the threads, which sucks big time, being that those threads in the plastic are cut as metric sheet metal screw threads, and screws that match that seem to be hard to find in US hardware stores, for some reason.

At the same time of installing the new fairings, I wanted to start shaving weight, and making some performance improvements.
I removed the annoying, and in my opinion, very unattractive tubing, that goes from the passenger foot peg bracket, and attatches to the subframe. It is NOT structural, it is just used for a cargo net, and for the helmet holder on the left side, neither of which I use. It also holds the rear reflectors, which I would be replacing later with a much better and more attractive alternative, in the form of rim tape.



At this point, an oval carbon fiber Yoshimura RS-3 goes on as well. I did not expect any horsepower gains from just a slip-on, as long as I could tune the carbs to acommodate any changes that might occur, I didn't care - I was just looking for something more attractive and much lighter weight than stock. I would have preferred to go straight to a full-race exhaust system, but had absolutely no luck finding a Yosh titanium set, which would have been my preference - the only full sets I could find was D&D, which I don't like, and Hindle, which I know nothing about.
I'm still looking for Yoshimura titanium race headers...

 

No worries! I realize that I had not yet removed myself from potentially being perceived as one, with what I had posted thus far!
Since my father rode motorcycles, and taught me, and since I was around bikes quite a bit, including some MX racing, I never really had any "squid" time anyway! When you grow up familiar with bikes, and have just a little common sense, even with that "indestructable" feeling you have in your youth, you still learn to have that "respect" for motorcycles...their power, and what they can do (to you)! Ya know what I mean?

 

Ok this thread makes much more sense now. Carry on