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Found this blog today, thought it was a good read, I hate my high idling, surging, pain in the *** to tune fuel injection. I think a carb is going to be my next mod. If it would have been an option at moco I would've went for it, I got a new CV boxed up ready to go. Call me old fashion but I'd rather tune with pilot and main jets than pc3s or serts... Cold weather a problem? not here in TX and thats the only benifit I see so far. I've got lots of experience with carbs but this is my first fuel injected bike and I'm really not impressed... I had a 1100cc Yamaha Vstar that would outrun this 96 cube Harley on any given day, had dual mikunis, was a pain in the *** to tune and sync but once done it was rock solid and very dependable. Not to mention the 900cc buell chopper I had that would out run the Yamaha, used a single mikuni ran like a scalded ape and with less much less CCs...Surely this 96 should have more power then it currently does, pay harley a fee and they'll hook it up to their magic machine and unleash some ponies for you such BS.. Sorry to vent but this is frustrating.
If you don't like the FI, convert it and makes sure you post some pics of what you did. I'd e interested to know just for ***** and giggles.
Sell it and buy a carbed bike. You will probably spend more on converting it over to a carburetor than you would for a good tuner and a few dyno runs.
CB
Oops, quoted the the wrong post.
Although I can see why some people dislike EFI, there are a lot of benefits .... The ECM controls so many aspects of the motor's performance ... while it is true the MoCo tunes them to be dogs off the showroom floor, they're not hopeless causes ....
The injector has quite a few benefits over old technology ... the fuel is injected pretty much directly into the intake port (vice being released into the beginning of the air intake flow) ... and increases the atomization and improves the air/fuel mixture ....
Old technology relied on things like vanes or rough surfaces of the intake port to increase air turbulence to improve the mixing of the air and fuel ... not needed with EFI ....
The relatively minor advantages of carburation don't warrant the replacement of the EFI system in my view ....
R/
'Chop
p.s. in post #46 discusses some of the specifics on his carb transplant .....
Last edited by SURFOR Chop; Jun 15, 2010 at 10:49 PM.
I chose to buy a FI bike just to allow me to climb from sea level to mountain ranges and in all temperatures without blubbering. Yeah, I used to do jet changes and needle drops when changing altitudes (plus change out my share of fouled plugs), but why do that when FI takes care of it for me?
I guess if you live in a flat area you can run just as well with a carb and enjoy the benefit of doing your own seat-of-the-pants tuning, so go with it! Just remember to turn off that petcock after your ride.
I chose to buy a FI bike just to allow me to climb from sea level to mountain ranges and in all temperatures without blubbering. Yeah, I used to do jet changes and needle drops when changing altitudes (plus change out my share of fouled plugs), but why do that when FI takes care of it for me?
I guess if you live in a flat area you can run just as well with a carb and enjoy the benefit of doing your own seat-of-the-pants tuning, so go with it! Just remember to turn off that petcock after your ride.
I run a CV carb and run up to 6,000' all the time. never misses a beat. Never fouled a plug to this day on any carb bike. I have run up over 10,000' on a trip with zero problems.
I run a CV carb and run up to 6,000' all the time. never misses a beat. Never fouled a plug to this day on any carb bike. I have run up over 10,000' on a trip with zero problems.
I'm sure that you might be correct. I was just speaking from my years of off-road racing in the desert and mountains, so I shouldn't have chimed in on the subject. I did notice that my 4-stroke race bikes weren't as finicky as my 2-strokes.
I guess old dirt racers don't quit riding, they just slow down, buy a Harley and hit the pavement. The memories of carb tuning and fouled plugs just won't go away.
I never understood the lore about altitude and having to make jet changes. I live flat here in wisconsin and have run both my shovel and my newer evo dyna through the colorado rockies and never noticed anything but a slight loss of power on either. I swapped a cv on the shovel years ago and the evo runs an s&s super E. I don't need the complexity of FI on my bikes, thank you. My cars yes, bikes no. If I feel like changing cams or pipes (which I do all too often) I don't want to have to feed my local dealer to sweeten the ECU to do it. That would put me in the poorhouse. Not knocking the folks that run FI, just not for me.
I run a CV carb and run up to 6,000' all the time. never misses a beat. Never fouled a plug to this day on any carb bike. I have run up over 10,000' on a trip with zero problems.
Thanks, that's just what I wanted to read. I have a '95 FXDL that I am currently setting up for a trip to Reno, NV from So Cal. I'm taking the 395 and I know it goes up in elevation to somewhere around 4,500 feet. If I have to worry about fouled plugs and changing jets, then I have the wrong bike.
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