The cam chain tensioner needed replacing by 5000 miles. This is a well known fault on FX and FY models. Given this, I asked the Honda dealer to change the tensioner for free - they contacted Honda UK, who authorised them to do the job at no cost to me, so top marks to Honda as my bike was already five years old at the time.
Apart from the tensioner, nothing else has gone wrong with the bike.
It is very comfortable (much better than the Yamaha Thundercat I had before). Doing a few hundred miles in one day is no problem. The bike does need a double bubble windscreen though. I am six feet tall and the wind blast with the standard screen hits the bottom of my helmet - the wind turbulence makes things very noisy.
The handling (especially with Metzeler Sportecs) is superb. It is a very quick steering bike that you can flick from one corner to the next, but is also very stable in corners. It is very confidence inspiring. When the back end does start to slip at extreme lean angles, the slide is very progressive; I haven't had any scary moments on it yet.
I did think about "upgrading" to a bigger bike, and had test rides on a new Yamaha R1 and the new Triumph Sprint ST. The Triumph felt no faster than the CBR, and definitely wasn't worth the extra money to me. The R1 had explosive power, but was much, much slower steering than the CBR, and took a lot more effort to ride fast - it just wasn't as fun through the twisties as the CBR. Having tried a litre bike, I don't think you need more power than a 600 gives you for road use anyway. The R1 is a lot quicker over 100 mph in a straight line, but not so in the corners, where it counts.
So overall I'll keep the CBR for its excellent mix of comfort, power and handling. It also looks pretty good, too with the matt black lower fairings with gloss black tank & upper fairings.
I had a FY. Blue, red and white. I kept it for 2 years and clocked up around 14,000 miles. I rode it to Germany where I was working for 3 months. Also to Spain and France.
I bought an R1 in 2003 because I got a great deal on one. I still have the R1 but I miss the CBR. A brilliant handling motorbike, and I am sure I could ride it faster on a given road that the Yamaha.
It was very forgiving, and even loaded up with a heavy tail pack while riding through very twisty roads in Spain, it remained composed and let me get away with some sloppy riding :o).
I saw one on the Honda stand at the NEC, which prompted me to buy mine. I still think they look great in this colour scheme.
Several issues which Honda sorted: warped front disks replaced twice, mudguard cracked around mount holes, the usual cam-chain tensioner and oddly a rear wheel bearing.
If I could find one in excellent condition now, in blue, red and white, I would snap it up. I don't care what anyone says, this was a great CBR.
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