[tdp1]

Which one should I choose on my next bike? What are the pros and cons of each? You don't see many cages with Carbs any more. Is that the way of the Cycles in the future?

 

[2DEUCE]

I own 4 quads, 2 dirt bikes and have owned a number of *** street bike. I'm just tried of tearing carbs apart and having to dial them in everytime there's a change to the bike. I really like Harley's new EFI tuner. No mess, no fuss. Well worth the 500 bucks.

 

[FXDeanX]

Carbs...KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid)

Dean

 

[DJW]

Fuel Injection...KISS.

 

[FXDeanX]

???

 

[DJW]

???

FXDeanX, to me the simpler method is the fuel injection. No floats, no springs, no choke. The last car I had with a Carb was a 1970 mustang. My last bike was a 1980 Honda CB750. Between the two I'll take the Honda, but now the only thing I own with a carb is my lawnmower, and that things a piece of junk. I understand your point that; if you've spent your whole adult life rebuilding carbaretors and you know 'em inside and out why deal with something new. Fact is though, as long as you keep clean gas in your injected engine, you've done all that is necessary, period. Wanna change the settings? It's done with electronics not screwdrivers. And for as long as you own the bike when you want to ride just turn the key, and kick the stand and you're off.- I-M-Humble-O anyway. Maybe I'm just lazy, 'cause I never did get that damn mustang carb right.

Ps. I bought a Vrod too, so I'm not one to stick with "my father's bike."

 

[JoeJitsu]

Why not take the leap and go for FI -I mean if you got the cash why not buy the newer technology. As DJW mentioned it FI has its advantages.
As for disadavantages of FI - I wouldn't know cuz I haven't experienced any problems on any FI bike I ever owned. My carbed bikes were another story altogether, especially after a long winter.

 

[thomas_l]

EFI either works or doesn't work and failures are usually pretty straighforward troubleshooting. Carbs require a lot of experience that, frankly, a lot of techs just don't have. It also used to be that carbs were cheaper but that isn't necessarily the case any more.

 

[doc526]

Carb or FI mmmm...... I like them both. To me it depends on the bike i am riding. I would rather have a carb on a sporty than FI. On the other hand, I would rather have FI on a RK because it can be dialed in for better fuel/air ratio while driving on the highways. Just my two cents. Later,

 

[hfatboyd]

I've owned 2 Evo Softails and both were carb'd. I live in a climate where weather adversely affects how the bikes rode and started. I often refer to starting my bike as performing "my raindance" in order to get it started.

Now, I've riden a FI Road King .. all I have to say is "I'm in love". No raindance at all. Turn the key, wait for the system to pressurize, and off I go! When I purchase my next bike ... it will be FI ... without a doubt. $500.00 well spent.

 

[2002fatboy]

I love the FI. As everyone else stated it's just a matter of turning the bike on, waiting for the engine light to go out, and fire it up. Never have to wait for the warm up, i.e. fiddle with the choke. I'd get it on my next bike too. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Guest]

Let's see , $5 worth of jets or $500 worth of EFI tuner (not including laptop). The cheap basturd votes for the carb ...

Hey what happens if Windows crashes in the middle of a EFI map download? (oh come on Tom, Windows NEVER crashes ... ;-)

Hope it's not like some printers I've had where if the flash download is corrupted, nothing will fix it except replacing the printer's EEPROM chip...

Actually, I've got a carb now and am very happy with it. I'll probably be just as happy if the next bike has EFI. Right now I just get on and ride, none of this 'warm up wait' stuff. And pushing the choke in ain't exactly brain surgery ya know ...

 

[2DEUCE]

Fuel injection or normally aspirated, is probably gonna be one of the those things for a long time , like whether your a Ford or Chevy guy. And in the future it sounds like my dirt bikes and snowmobiles are all gonna be 4 stroke injected motors. I believe your choice of how you want to feed your engine depends alot on want your final plan is for your particular machine. If u R thinking of building in the future to be a real perfomer, then carb is the way to go. If your just wanting a good all around cruiser, then consider the F.I.

I have read in different threads through out this forum "No Warm up's". I hope everyone is still allowing there fuel injected engines, a little time build temp. I'm sure what they are saying is they don't have to wait for the engine to warm up to run properly.

F.I. or Carb. One half dozen or another


THX alot Tom, you maybe right. I had a that time a brand new 84 and half thunderbird turbo coupe that when something went wrong, like an alternator failer. It would corrupt the on board computer and it cost 800 bucks. So.... Ill be praying 4 no window crashes

 

[BJG]

I voted carb because that is all I've ever owned. I am pretty upset about the dirt bike situation (all of them switching to FI Four strokes in the very near future) I run differen't pipes/silencers on my Kawi KX depending on the type of race I'm in. I don't have any complaints about rejetting the carb when I decide to take off my moto pipe and throwing on the heavy pipe for Hare Scrambles. I hope the FI can be adjusted in 2 hours like my carb can. As far as street bikes go, I'm all for it if they work well.

 

[Sidewalk]

I noticed a few people comment on waiting for the system to charge, or the light go out. Neither is needed, pretend it is a brand new EFI car. All you do is turn the key and hit start, no tricks.

My bike is EFI. I like turning to start, hitting the start button (without even sitting on the bike), and it fires instantly. No throttle needed. My 4x4 is EFI, and my VW will be EFI.

I have worked on both for near an equal amount of time (slightly more with carbs), and I can say that you just can't touch EFI.

 

[FXDeanX]

I'm just an old school wrench who feels more comfortable with the tried and true. I can rebuild a carb blindfolded and drunk but EFI...??? All I know is that if I'm stuck on the side of the road with a fuel problem I've got a fighting chance of riding home with a carb.

Dean

 

[Paladin1]

I have a BMW and a Honda, both EFI. I like it because it seems to be so low maintenance. From these and other threads, I suspect the one advantage of carbs is that tuners are more comfortable with them and can get more horsepower with them. This was also the case in auto racing for years, but most tuners now use progrmmable FI.

With my BMW its an issue because many of them surge horribly (lean mixture I believe) and the factory will NOT support ANY re-programming and will void the warranty of anyone who tries (its a 3 year warranty so the issue is significant). They claim its against US emissions laws to even give advice. At least w/ the Moco, you can get some assisstance (hard to believe other factories are bigger assh$&$s than the MoCo, huh?

Be interested to the views of those on this thread who are tuners themselves.

 

[mnv-rod]

EFI. Of course, after they drop the big one and the EMP burst knocks out all the electronics my opinion may change significantly.

 

[dfs14580]

This is a very minor con for FI, but if your battery goes, there's no push starting the bike. No juice -- no power for the fuel pump.

 

[SIN]

I went with the carb. Just personal preference I plan on doing some performance work in the future and the way the intake and heads are configured the carb seems to be my choice for now.
The automakers haven't used carbs for years, most of that is for emissions, by no means am I knocking FI the reliabilty in the auto has proven itself.
Another benefit aside from having your air fuel ratio computer controled is when you shut off FI you have no fuel leaking into the combustion chamber as you sometimes get with a carb which can wash the oil off the cylinder walls for your next start up.
I believe the benifits of FI out weigh the carb but you can't compare a Harley engine to a automobile engine.
If had FI I would be certian to have the extended warranty when sensors go bad or other problems occur with FI you can bet that the dealer will rip your back pocket off leaving you with your ass hanging out.