In October 2020 I bought a CBF600S on eBay, somewhat by accident.
The accidental bit was that I bid on it (with a slight vodka assist) having noticed that it had very few bids, and that the auction ended at an odd time - about 8am on the morning after the clocks changed. I popped in a cheeky bid and went to bed about 1am with no expectation of winning as it was so far below what they normally sell for.
Slightly blearily the next morning I realised that I had actually won it! So after sorting some insurance I arranged to go and pick it up. So far so good...it had a recent MOT on it, and even though it was 17 years old with 50,000+ miles it clearly ran.
On arrival it started happily from cold, ran pretty rough until warm, and cosmetically was what you would expect given its age. eBay is an auction, so my attitude is I bought it already anyhow (bargain!) and I just needed to ride it home about 50 miles and then give it some TLC.
So off I set through a dull October Sunday. Hmm, it's a long time since I rode a 4 cylinder bike, or a 600. Physically it was huge compared to my MT09, and lacking the MT's torque but it wasn't unpleasant...ah, no brakes!
And I mean no brakes. How the hell did this pass an MOT a month ago? In a main dealership. Wow.
After a very careful ride home the first thing is to find some way of making this stop!
After some investigation I worked out that at some point someone had replaced the original brake calipers on the front (2 piston) with calipers from a later model (3 piston) which are designed to be linked to the rear brake, but couldn't be on this model. What that means is they had blanked off one of the lines and effectively swapped the front brakes for 2 out of 3 working pistons smaller than the originals as the third one wouldn't work without being linked. And beside that they were awful, and the rear was non-existent.
Back to eBay for the correct front calipers, and thanks Wemoto for a box of goodies https://www.wemoto.com/ and hey presto refurbished correct calipers with new pads on the front...better, but not there yet.
These are the calipers you are looking for...
As the CBF was now rideable (fairly carefully) I then set about riding it for 2,500 miles over the next 6 months, in between lockdowns and periods of being told to self-isolate. But it did it's job - helping my mental health as I would drag it out on days that I wouldn't dream of taking the MT. And I became quite fond of it. The rest of Wemoto's goodies stayed in the box until recently as I am not a massive fan of very cold days in the garage.
Having hatched upon the idea of lending the CBF to a friend to be ridden elsewhere I decided I'd give it some TLC, and happily the sun shone. As always, things didn't go quite to plan! Oil and filter change, Air Filter Change, Balance the Carbs, new seals in the rear brake, change the brake fluid - seems pretty straightforward. I was nearly finished and just re-setting the idle speed after balancing the carbs when the remote adjusting cable popped out of the bottom of the carbs. Took me a while to work that out but the bike had instantly gone from running very happily to refusing to start at all.
At this point I generally remember my 35 year love hate relationship with motorcycles. No way was I going to solve this without getting the carbs off. Battery out, Airbox out, Carbs out. Find the missing washer and spring (gotta love a magnetic pokey thingy for fishing about). Fight it all back together. Bugger - one of the clips for the carb rubbers has lost a nut. Take everything apart again, and put it back together. Bugger, I've trapped the cable for the throttle position sensor and it won't reach. Rinse and repeat. You learn a lot about a bike the first time you really work on it.
At this point I am knackered, and in a stubborn frame of mind determined to get it running again, but also aware that I haven't eaten all day and I need a beer. So heeding the wise words of another motorcycling friend who I have known for 30 odd years I walked away. Don't like being defeated though!
The following morning I took the MT out for a play, and in the afternoon the CBF clearly understood that the time for pratting about was over (clearly being left in a dark garage with no clothes on had taught it a lesson).
Sound advice for when you are lit - CBF back together, running more smoothly and stopping better for sure! Ready for the next chapter.
