RF900/600?

[imago]

Aside from the obvious, what're the differences between the RF900 and RF600? There's not loads of info on them, and I'm thinking of things like swing arm length etc.

[DAZ]

Off the top of my very tired noggin , 600 had 41 mm forks steel box section arm  bandit 600 style brakes an wheel sizes , 900 had 43mm forks,alloy swing arm with gsxr style adjusters rather than the bandit 12 blocks ,and bandit 1200 style brakes and wheel sizes and a rear caliper that didn't use a torque arm . I think the rf900 arm is otherwise the same as a b12 

Edited July 16 by DAZ
Addition

[wraith]

I heard the frame is bigger with the 900 to the point you can't fit the 900 engine in the 600, but you can fit the gsxr1100 w/c engine in the 900. 

Can't say 100% as I've not done it or had a rf so just what I've seen/read 

[DAZ]

Just now, wraith said:

I heard the frame is bigger with the 900 to the point you can't fit the 900 engine in the 600, but you can fit the gsxr1100 w/c engine in the 900. 

Can't say 100% as I've not done it or had a rf so just what I've seen/read 

Probably need to use rf900 head as they're downdraft  rather than sidedraft 

[clivegto]

RF900 engine is very tuneable and overall a underrated bike. 

[imago]

Thanks gents.

I have an RF900 project bike that's all there but partially stripped and hasn't been on the road for the thick end of 30 years. So I'm pondering plans and possibilities (break it, get another and use it for spares, build it back up, build and modify etc). The 600/900 questions was just to see what's transferable should one come up and the answer is very little by the looks of it.

[DAZ]

12 hours ago, clivegto said:

RF900 engine is very tuneable and overall a underrated bike. 

I seem to remember a Canadian/American guy who had one on the old site ,  sure he had it out to 1147 using wp 1100 bits and was racing it 

[DAZ]

3 minutes ago, imago said:

Thanks gents.

I have an RF900 project bike that's all there but partially stripped and hasn't been on the road for the thick end of 30 years. So I'm pondering plans and possibilities (break it, get another and use it for spares, build it back up, build and modify etc). The 600/900 questions was just to see what's transferable should one come up and the answer is very little by the looks of it.

Unless you love the stylish looks (!) I think of them as the (not quite missing)link from teapots to Busa's...

Front and back ends should be fine for donor bits Eblag the rest IMO 

[imago]

17 minutes ago, DAZ said:

Unless you love the stylish looks (!) I think of them as the (not quite missing)link from teapots to Busa's...

Front and back ends should be fine for donor bits Eblag the rest IMO 

I quite like it tbh. Had a go on one donkeys years ago and I was quite impressed. Never owned on though. 

It's tempting to use it as a base for a build as it'd be something different. 

[DAZ]

Go for it, be interesting to see where it leads you , would make a great solo tourer if your into that ,sporty enough but not crippling....

[wraith]

1 hour ago, imago said:

 

It's tempting to use it as a base for a build as it'd be something different. 

That was/is my thoughts with the gsx1100f hellcat  something different that you don't see all the time 

[imago]

10 minutes ago, wraith said:

That was/is my thoughts with the gsx1100f hellcat  something different that you don't see all the time 

I'd put the RF in the same category as the 1100f. Pretty ugly, overlooked and underestimated. Very good bikes which can be made into excellent bikes with a bit of work and imagination. 

[imago]

1 hour ago, DAZ said:

Go for it, be interesting to see where it leads you , would make a great solo tourer if your into that ,sporty enough but not crippling....

Time and money will decide, but it's a possibility. 

[Duckndive]

20 hours ago, clivegto said:

RF900 engine is very tuneable and overall a underrated bike. 

Martin RF built a very trick one  

pics in Forced Instruction and his Facebook Page 

[imago]

13 minutes ago, Duckndive said:

Martin RF built a very trick one  

pics in Forced Instruction and his Facebook Page 

Yeah I was reading through that a little while ago, there's a lot that can be done with them as it's a decent base to start with. A fairly light bike with 130 hp give or take, and 160 mph is a decent point to go from tbh.

It's all relative obviously as things have moved on quite a bit in the 30 ish years since they were new, even so respectable figures.

[clivegto]

1 hour ago, Duckndive said:

Martin RF built a very trick one  

pics in Forced Instruction and his Facebook Page 

Yes 

[TJS]

600 bottom end based on the 600/750 gsxr-w, the 900 was based around the 1100 gsxr-w. 

W wheels will bolt straight up, just the front rotors have a different spacing

[gixermike]

or take the body work off and go mad max on it  lol

i have not had anyone tell me what it is yet including one guy from a bike shop asking is it a TL1000 (a very confused individual)

i have also had 6sx600f a bandit 12 

when i say RF900 they dont know it and i feel old 

 

 

[TonyGee]

13 minutes ago, gixermike said:

one guy from a bike shop asking is it a TL1000 (a very confused individual)

did he not know a TL is a V twin  

[gixermike]

no it seems and i did point it out to him and the other staff in the shop laughed heartily at his expense he wasn't even a youngster he was in his 30's 

made a not to go there again its in basingstoke 

[Tony Nitrous]

On 9/14/2024 at 2:19 AM, TonyGee said:

did he not know a TL is a V twin  

They are out there! 

We had a shop open up in the nearest city. All bike aftermarket bling and accessories. I rolled up on my naked Busa, Renthals, German Streetfighter headlight, GSXR tail.

The owner looked for a while before asking…. “Which model of TL1000 is it?”

That shop didn’t last long. 

[TonyGee]

29 minutes ago, Tony Nitrous said:

They are out there! 

We had a shop open up in the nearest city. All bike aftermarket bling and accessories. I rolled up on my naked Busa, Renthals, German Streetfighter headlight, GSXR tail.

The owner looked for a while before asking…. “Which model of TL1000 is it?”

That shop didn’t last long. 

I remember the first bike shop i worked at, we got the first RC30 in the area in and their was a bloke (copper) walking round it, he said to me "its nice but not quit an RC30 is it"    I said it IS an RC30 !!!!!    I just watched his face turn a shade or red    the guy was a knob head anyway. 

[Upshotknothole]

I used to have a real ratty slingshot that was my city commuter bike. Flat black paint, dual headlights off a Triumph. Something I didn't really care if it spent the night outside of a bar. Was getting off the bike one evening after parking it outside of a bar and someone said "nice ducati" to me. I think a lot of these people only know the difference between full fairing and naked bikes.