EFI to Carb conversion?

[man4mopar]

Originally Posted by sclonghairbadboy I do respect your opinion, JRK. Other than easier starting, what benefits does FI have? It's very expensive to repair if the ecm fails, especially out of warranty. It's a p.i.t.a to tune if you're going for performance. Only if you do not know what you are doing. Same as a carbed bike, one carb is not efficient for all engine builds. To the point rejetting will not always get your build going correctly. FI is far superior to Carburators to fine tune a engine. Originally Posted by sclonghairbadboy I've rejeted exactly one carb in my life and it was the easiest thing I've ever done. Just a little time consuming in running the bike, check plugs, change jet if necessary. Granted with FI we download a map and for the most part we're good to go. Although changing pipes would get cheaper because you wouldn't need to worry about the FI / backpressure / EPA thing. You could theoretically just add a set of drag pipes and be fine, right? Anything that would disrupt the tune of a FI system will disrupt a carburated tune. As far as cheaper that depends. I have a DTT TCFI IID management system, it costs me nothing to change pipes and to retune myself. I would bet that switching to this carb set you would have more money into the system then I do and you would need to purchase a jet to retune. And my tune will be better across the board of the load and throttle range. Originally Posted by sclonghairbadboy But could you say by that article, it would be feasible? Not too difficult and within a moderate means to accomplish financially? You need to know what you are doing for sure, and it is possible. It isn't easy and it isn't rocket science either. Cost wise depends what you already have. If you have nothing again I would bet you will have more money into your set up then I do in my fully adjustable FI set up. Originally Posted by sclonghairbadboy Would you say the maintenance on a carbed bike is much easier then a similarly equipped FI model? It has bothered me since day one that it's now necessary to have a laptop to do maintenance on my bike. Just scary, really. What do you consider maintenance? You do not need a laptop to change the oils, tires and what I would call maintenance items. Now for repairs both FI and Carbed require knowledge in trouble shooting. The FI engines are generally faster to diagnose since you have sensors already in place you can check quickly. Carbed engines with no ECM like listed in your link you would have to set up test equipment to tell you what is already quickly available on the FI OE bike. But to each there own.

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[ctren]

Isn't the advantage of EFI is that it dynamically changes the tune all the time? For example, if you live at sea level and take a ride up to the mountains, it will adjust for the difference in air density on its own. I had a carbed yamaha (I know, shame on me), and when I rode to high altitudes, it would run really rich and be a bit of a dog.

I think EFI is the future, however, I suppose it does handicap the home mechanic a little bit if you are not used to working on them. Everything has its pluses and minuses I guess. Do what you prefer

[Dooley]

Sometimes I miss my carbed 1200 Roadster, it just seemed to have more personality....
The way it needed to cough, sputter, clear it's throat and then settled into a nice loping idle was part of the routine that I miss.
Yeah, it's nice to just fire up and go with the Fat Bob but something just ain't the same.

The EPA and Mo Co ain't stupid....
They know that if they make it more complicated and expensive to modify your bike, less people will do it.

[Mascman]

Originally Posted by ctren

Isn't the advantage of EFI is that it dynamically changes the tune all the time? For example, if you live at sea level and take a ride up to the mountains, it will adjust for the difference in air density on its own. I had a carbed yamaha (I know, shame on me), and when I rode to high altitudes, it would run really rich and be a bit of a dog.

I think EFI is the future, however, I suppose it does handicap the home mechanic a little bit if you are not used to working on them. Everything has its pluses and minuses I guess. Do what you prefer

Our system isn't that sophisticated.

It's a closed loop system, meaning that it doesn't make the adjustments like your car will.

Would be awesome if it was though.

[robertj74]

that is awesome,great find,long hair,I agree with ya,i am an ase master cert. auto tech and understand about every type of injection system out there,and it is a pain in the ass on a harley,in my opinion, too much technology on an air cooled v-twin.

[JRK5892]

i like how i can adjust my tables, to allow for more and less thoughout certain areas of my RPM ranges... that is my fav part about EFI... i just like it in all honesty, i like to plug in the bike and see what it is actually doing... i have gone though the article and do not really see why it would not work... it should... if you do do this toss a big mikuni carb on there... def one of my favs!

[robertj74]

it isn't because our systems are closed looped that does'nt allow them to adjust dramatically,it that they use narrow band o2 sensors,anytime a system is reading info from o2 sensors then adjusting pulse width,you are in closed loop.when you are running on predetermined values flashed into the ecm's prom,then you are in open loop.

[WildBill76]

If you have a 2006 or newer Dyna, you may not be able to meet the EPA pollution spec. That is why Harley went to EFI.

[SC-Longhair]

But if you live in a state that does not have vehicle emissions testing / inspection it won't matter. SC does not have inspection or emissions testing.

[SC-Longhair]

and just by altering the stock fi system with pcIII, fuelpak, etc. we have made our vehicles illegal by your thinking because I bet they wouldn't meet the stringent EPA requirements that require HD to deliver bikes to the dealers running so lean.