To Carb or Not to Carb (EFI), That is the ?
#11
05-28-2009 | 08:56 AM
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From: Northwest
One thing right off the bat, you won't get that exact low idle 'lope' with a FI bike, that the carb'd bikes have. You can come close.
I dig my FI, and this is my first FI bike after 40 years of riding. I bought a tuner for it, but that tuner will let me do whatever I want to the bike, and tune it myself. The tuner is a one time buy.
Dude, where you been? Ever hear of Hilborn? Take another gander at some fully blown 1/4 mile runners..... no carb - injection rails. The racing industry has embraced fuel injection for many, many years.
I dig my FI, and this is my first FI bike after 40 years of riding. I bought a tuner for it, but that tuner will let me do whatever I want to the bike, and tune it myself. The tuner is a one time buy.
My opinion is that if EFI was so superior, why don't race cars use it?
#14
05-29-2009 | 02:24 PM
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From: Carroll County, Maryland
Shows how out of it I am. Never heard of Hillborn either.
#15
05-29-2009 | 05:23 PM
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From: Vancouver, BC
I too "like" a carb'd bike - just feels more "traditional" and non-technical to me - however, I will take (and have had 2) EFI bikes any day of the week.
Someone mentioned the tuning process for an EFI when you do an intake & exhaust change. My experience with these has been a cakewalk. All you do is find the pipes you want & the air cleaner setup you want - and then shop for the best EFI tuner that has preprogrammed maps for the exact same bike/year/instake/exhaust setup - and presto - you plug it all in & go. It's literally been that easy for most of the bikes I've seen/worked on with only 1 exception.
The second thing is, my neighbors sure do appreciate me having an EFI bike. I don't have to do the whole warm up routine as needed with a carb'd bike. I simply turn the switch - listen to the little "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeow" noise for a couple seconds, hit start & pretty much away I go. The EFI takes care of everything, no matter what the air is like outside that day or how hot/cold the motor is.
I'll say this much - rarely have I ever heard folks on EFI bikes say "I wish my bike had a carb"; instead, I constantly hear carb folks say "Man, that fuel injection sure is nice..."
Just my 2 cents.
Someone mentioned the tuning process for an EFI when you do an intake & exhaust change. My experience with these has been a cakewalk. All you do is find the pipes you want & the air cleaner setup you want - and then shop for the best EFI tuner that has preprogrammed maps for the exact same bike/year/instake/exhaust setup - and presto - you plug it all in & go. It's literally been that easy for most of the bikes I've seen/worked on with only 1 exception.
The second thing is, my neighbors sure do appreciate me having an EFI bike. I don't have to do the whole warm up routine as needed with a carb'd bike. I simply turn the switch - listen to the little "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeow" noise for a couple seconds, hit start & pretty much away I go. The EFI takes care of everything, no matter what the air is like outside that day or how hot/cold the motor is.
I'll say this much - rarely have I ever heard folks on EFI bikes say "I wish my bike had a carb"; instead, I constantly hear carb folks say "Man, that fuel injection sure is nice..."
Just my 2 cents.
#16
05-29-2009 | 05:29 PM
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From: Yakima, Wa.
Geez
#17
05-29-2009 | 07:33 PM
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I've got one of each. The EFI has much crisper acceleration, starting is very simplified, there is still the short warmup for the different metals to heat together (that's just me), but there is more to fail and yes the idle sound isn't there. The carb bike, no more than $10.00 for a modified fuel system (tuned carb), there is an art to starting the carbed bikes on a frigid morning, the idle is awesome with the cams and one more thing, gravity feed hasn't let me down yet.
#18
05-29-2009 | 08:28 PM
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From: San Jose, CA
For convenience, EFI rocks. I'm sure H-D did it in order to increase sales.
I do feel, though, that if H-D's M.O. is producing retro-style bikes, they should stick with certain retro-style mechanisms. Now, I wouldn't want them to make bikes with leg-breaking kick-starters, but "potato potato" was a big part of an H-D bike's soul.
I do feel, though, that if H-D's M.O. is producing retro-style bikes, they should stick with certain retro-style mechanisms. Now, I wouldn't want them to make bikes with leg-breaking kick-starters, but "potato potato" was a big part of an H-D bike's soul.
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