this is my understanding of the engine cases colour change, they stayed the same from 96 to late 2003/2004.
this meant the early F2 models still had the dark grey cases, then they changed to the bronze colour.
what clouds the issue is late registered bikes. so you'll get 2004 bikes with the dark grey cases because although they were built between 2001/2003 they weren't sold/registered until later.
as for the bike melis is interested in, the engine case dilemma wouldn't put me off one bit. the cut fairings is another issue all together.
the dealer will have cleaned the bike up for sale, so it looks it's best, I would deffo check the engine numbers out, but other than that it needs to be fully inspected, front subframes are very easy to bend, so if it has had an off, hence the respray, i'd be checking the front subframe, to see if the front fairings line up correctly.
but lets be honest most bikes that are ten years old or over have probably been down the road at some time or other. so that alone wouldn't stop me from buying it. just check it over and the recheck it again....
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