bye bye FI

[baldy]

I've asked this question before but no one has been able to help me yet. I'm completely tired of messing with the old style fuel injection (MM) and I'm going to junk it. Does anybody know what all is involved in making this switch? I'm most interested in what has to be done with the electronics and can I fit my existing tank with a fuel petcock and use it instead of finding another tank? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[BadgerOctane]

I do know they make adaptors so that you won't have to switch out your tank. As for the electronics I'm not sure what all would be involved there.

BadgerOctane

[Ed Y]

Get in touch with Thealien on this forum. He has researched that job and can provide you with lots of info, if he's in the mood.

[Jeff S.]

Baldy, what year is your bike? There is an adapter as badger said for the tank. As for the electrics, that will depend on the year of your bike, and what ignition you want to go with. But it is not very hard.

[tfetters]

the bike is a 97 model. THanks for the info. Do you all know who makes the adapter you are talking about?

Baldy is my girlfriend, she posted for me last night in case you were wondering why I'm replying now.

[Jeff S.]

Baldy huh? Never mind, dont want to get into trouble. This is an easy propostion if you think of it as what I call a rip and strip job. That is pull all the EFI. Then worry about the rest. To make it run, is no problem. You pull the quick disconect and add the petcock adapter. Put in the petcock. Put on a carb and intake. Depending on which iginition you use, add a conventional adjustable cam sensor in your nose cone. Run the three wires to the new iginition and run the additional wires to ground, VEOS, Power, and coil and wiring is done. You will need a stock style coil also. Its late and I may have forgot something, but is is not much more than that.

[baldy]

No trouble! If I can figure out how and where to post a pic on this site, then you wouldn't have to ask

Do you know who makes the adaptor?

Thanks for the help!

[Thealien]

I'll post after the game!!

[baldy]

Thealien, I'm waiting on you. I put a test pic on the signature test forum to see if it would work and it did. My boy' says if I can figure out his FI problem for him then he'll let me post a better pic. It'll have to go in the EAYOR forum though :-)

[DJW]

I have a team of FI experts loading the car and heading for Dallas right now...!

[barrybasinger]

It all depends on what you're familiar with, I guess. I like fuelies, and can make them run ok. I can always use parts to modify. Send me your discarded FI parts, especially the throttle body and the sensors on it. I'd be happy to pay shipping. If you have the stock black injectors, keep 'em or throw 'em away, but if you have the orange ones, I'd be glad to take those as well. Hell, since you're changing over, you won't need the pump assembly that's in the tank either, so I'll take that too, just to keep it from cluttering up your garage. And the ECM. And the Engine Temp sensor and harness in the front head. (You can replace it with a short bolt). And the Crank Position sensor. And the fuel gauge, since they're different too. And that ECM harness that contains the little pink wire that carries the tach signal that you'll get from somewhere else after you convert to carb--I'll take that too, because the connectors on it won't fit a conventional ignition. And the tip sensor that shuts down the fuel pump if the bike tips over too far--you won't be needing it anymore. And the plate that carries the ECM under the right side panel. Someone already mentioned removing the Cam position sensor, and all that stuff in the nose cone. I'll take that stuff too. And the coil: You might want to change it as well, since it's single-fire and very low impedance, and may not be compatible with that aftermarket ignition you're gonna buy. And the air cleaner backing plate and hardware. And the throttle and idle cables might be too long for your new carb, so I would take those too, if they are.

I've never actually done this conversion, fuelie proponent that I am. I respect knowledge and experience, so I won't argue with those who have actually done one of these--if you hear from one of them--but it sure seems to me to be more than a simple swap of a few parts if you want to do a clean and professional changeover (meaning that you don't want to end up with a bunch of hardware on your bike that's no longer needed). Hell, might be real easy, for all I know.

btw, you could completely swap out the ECM and sensors for what you'd probably pay for new parts to do this swap.

Now, what was it about that FI that you were frustrated with? ... ;=)

[baldy]

I'll take that too

Uh, I don't think he's gonna be very happy when I tell him I didn't solve his problem but instead I gave his bike away piece by piece to some dude in SC or wherever.

Thanks anyway.

[Thealien]

Should have PMed me or reminded me, I forgot. I don't remeber seeing promise I said I'll post after the game. Reminding me would be a better way of doing things.

The Delphi systems are the ones that they sell an adapter for the gas tank. There are so many variations to the MM FI gas tanks that nobody I know of makes an adapter. The MM FI has two threaded holes in the tank and one has to be blocked and the other needs to have an adapter for a petcock made. It is a tight fit and I will post a picture of the one I had made, if you are nice :p .

You will need a different top motor mount for the enrichener knob. You could probably make an adapter or use an S&S that has the choke/enrichener built onto the carb. My top motor mount was $10-12 dollars right from HD. I bought a used carb on Ebay for $60.00 and another one from a friend for $75.00. You will still need a manifold (about $40.00 IIRC).

The main wiring harness is the same for EFI and CARB bikes. You should have a parts manual to cross reference part numbers between the EFI and CArb models of the bike. I have to change the one wiring harness and its cost was about $125.00.

You will now need an ignition, I would try to find someone withe the same year and model bike that has swapped out to a performance ignition and aquire their stock take off ignition. If you want to upgrade to a performance ignition I would still start it with a stock one, at least that is what I am going to do.

Most people remove all the pump, filter, etc from the tank. I am just disconnecting the convoluted tubes from the pump and bracket and leaving it all in there. If I ever want to return to stock it will be easier this way.

On my bike the cam position and crank position sensors are the same for EFI and carb so they will remain.

When you strip out the old wiring harness (EFI) you will remove a couple of relays and the wires that connect to the cam and crank position sensors and coil. My coil on my year bike is the same so I just plug the new harness into the existing coil. The new carb manifold has a manifold pressure sensor and a rubber grommet that it fits into, you will need to purchase those and the new carb harness will plug into that.

On my bike I will be able to retain the low fuel light as it is a relay that comes off the sending unit in the tank. I have not verified that the plug on the sending unit is the same for EFI and Carb but they are both 2 wire and if need be I will change the connector. I am not sure if your bike has a gas guage??

A parts manual will make this a much easier project as you can see the EFI and CARB part numbers side by side and see what you need to change and what is the same. If you have further questions feel free to PM me. I don't look at every thread and am not a mind reader.

[Thealien]

here is a picture of the petcock installed on the adapter. I had to use a pingel because a stock HD ones screen was bigger than the threads into the tank would allow.

[Thealien]

Happy now?