Carb or EFI?
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 21,737
Likes: 17,577
From: Driftless Area
Depends on the carb. CV's and S&S "E" are easy to tweak right in the driveway for almost anything you've got going on performance-wise. CV's (Constant Velocity) will also tolerate differing altitudes well. If done right, push button and go, just like EFI. The old Keihin's were mediocre at best.
Of course, this is coming from somebody who still runs Blue Streak points in my Shovelhead. And some of my friends think kickstart is the only way to go. I like the idea of being able to adjust things without being at the mercy of the cost of re-mapping at the dealer.
Kicking and screaming into the 21st century. That's me. And when your GPS batteries are dead, or the satellite isn't functioning, I hear a compass works well too.
Of course, this is coming from somebody who still runs Blue Streak points in my Shovelhead. And some of my friends think kickstart is the only way to go. I like the idea of being able to adjust things without being at the mercy of the cost of re-mapping at the dealer.
Kicking and screaming into the 21st century. That's me. And when your GPS batteries are dead, or the satellite isn't functioning, I hear a compass works well too.
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 308
Likes: 0
From: Alabama
EFI - as people have mentioned, just push the button and go.
Having come from a carb, I don't miss the whole warmup routine. You have to constantly play around with the choke maintaining the balance between having too much choke and the bike dies, or too little choke and the bike dies. Also, don't dare try to take off on your ride until it's warmed up for a good 3-4 mins, unless you like hesitation.
Having come from a carb, I don't miss the whole warmup routine. You have to constantly play around with the choke maintaining the balance between having too much choke and the bike dies, or too little choke and the bike dies. Also, don't dare try to take off on your ride until it's warmed up for a good 3-4 mins, unless you like hesitation.
Thread Starter
|
Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 561
Likes: 0
From: Amelia, Virginia
I've yet to see an EFI totally crash and burn. I would dare to say if you compared the maintainance between carb and EFI, the EFI would be less trouble. It seemed like to me that (at least on cars) every time cold weather hit, the carbs would need some tweaking and could be a bit finicky. EFI just keeps on going. As far as doing mods or re-mapping, the EFI can be dialed in way better than a carb can if you have a good tuner. Many people do their own re-mapping with canned maps and it works pretty good. Not only can you tweak the fuel mixtures, but timing curves also. If I'm not mistaken, on a carbed bike you have to alter the ignition as well as re-jet to get a proper tune. EFI re-map takes care of it altogether. Once you re-map the bike, you don't have to re-map unless you change stuff. I haven't had to re-tune my bike since the stage 1 upgrade, (bike was dyno tuned after).
Club Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,478
Likes: 137
From: PA
Not a bad thing about the EFI. JC.
HD Forum Stories
The Best of Harley-Davidson for Lifelong Riders
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Verdad Gallardo
8 Best Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Worst Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
Killer Custom's Jail Break Is The Breakout That Refused to Blend In
Verdad Gallardo
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Verdad Gallardo
Harley-Davidson Reveals Super Cool Cafe Racer Concept
Verdad Gallardo
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Verdad Gallardo
10 Motorcycles You Should Never Buy
Joe Kucinski
10 Things Harley-Davidson Needs to Fix in 2026
Verdad Gallardo
Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 581
Likes: 7
From: Portland, OR
So why does a carb Big V Twin sound more like an old school Harley then an EFI bike? Both bikes require to idle at 1000 rpms. I even saw a youtube post the other day of a '77 Shovel FXE and the owner showed the tach and even though it was bouncing around, it was centered at about 1000 rpms, but of course it had that serious potato potato sound and sounded as though it was idling at 200 rpms and was on the verge of stalling.
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 715
Likes: 0
From: 22 miles west of South Bend