12.0-12.2 is way too rich (in my opinion) for a N/A bike. Ideally you should be in the low 13's. If you are running Forced Induction THEN 12-12.5 is the ideal a/f mixture (give or take a couple tenths)

 

I bought my bike from dealer with a stage 1 screaming eagle kit and vh short shots and asked about this... they said they had remapped the FI system and it was good to go as is... so if you have a newer bike with Fuel ignition then maybe a remapping is all you need... and it's still under warranty so if the engine does blow up... they're replacing it...

 

This may be a tad off topic, but....
Gotta 07 883, and some how resent spending $500 - 1000 heavy bucks to do what a $25 in jets and a timing light can do - the curse of being an old tuner or is this desecrating some holy grail

I do understand that these ECM's update for everything but a lack of musturd on the Big Mac, and do it a jillion times a second - but why is this necessary if there is an alternative? Makes me wonder how we ever developed decent HP before.

For the same money as a ThunderMAx or PC-V and Dyno couldn’t a person put on a carb, retro up a timing/ spark set up and forever then bypass $200 dyno trips, burned out $600 ECM replacements etc????? Any one tried this???

 

Hi !!! I don't think any of the guys here are off, BUT...let's get things into perspective; If you do 55 mph crusing along at max 4000 RPM, or you do (like me, living close to Germany with no speed limits) rev up for long distances, then you have to worry about fuel management, and use a decent oil grade. If you never (rarely) get above 4000 RPM for longer times, in very hot climate, then I would consider not spending money on expensive counter measures, and not worry too much about neighter fuel management nor oil grade.
Drive safe...

 

Agreed...but I would still rather be safe than sorry and get SOME TYPE of fuel management. Think about how much a bike is and then think about how much a fuel management device is. (there is a LARGE cost difference)

 

Guess the point I was trying to make is: a carb and conventional ignition system is real inexpensive to tune ($20 worth of jets) and can yield about the same results as a good $500+ fuel management system. Custom ignition systems can get curved and timed close to an ideal advance for your riding conditions, and again for free as opposed to a $200 dyno session. We raced like this for 70+ years.

The question was - has anyone retrofit an ECM bike with carb and ign?? It would be pretty practical and sensible - IF THIS WERE FEASIBLE MECHANICALLY.

 

Dane144, good answer, but.....

 

I have never looked into converting FI into a carb. I'm only 25 yrs. old so I grew up working on FI as opposed to Carb. I prefer FI because I feel it's more accurate and I understand it better. I have heard Carb setups are pretty simple, but no one has really sat down with me to explain everything

 

Yep drag racers do this all the time, go to a buell forum cuz them guys are the sportster artists or XLforum to get the low down on on ripping out the EFI system and going carb. the last time i seen it done was on a 2004 up XB12 and all the guys did was pull out the EFI completely, dropped in a Ultima ignition kit for 91-03 Evo sportsters along with a Evo 91-03 manifold and a Ultima 42mm Mikuni air cleaner kit and it was done that easy. forget the easy sportser mikuni jus go ahead and buy the complete ultima air cleaner kit for bigtwins cuz it fits sportster with the sportster/buell friendly manifold (just ebay off the BT mabifold that comes with it) you'll save money and get an awesome intake as an added bonus. the ultima kits are 42mm,45mm and 48mm, i think they also make some kits for monster inch harleys too.