Carb Vs. FI
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Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 173
Likes: 0
From: NW Arkansas
Carb Vs. FI
Am looking at an 04 Heritage Classic with 11K miles. Price is $11.9 so think that is fair. Anyway, it is carbed and was wanting input if that is a big deal. The bike is perfect condition. Should I pass on a carbed bike and look for FI. Will be my first Harley and am 49 years old.
Thanks!!
Thanks!!
Banned
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 643
Likes: 0
Tad high on the $$$ if you ask me. Carb's are great if you like to tinker and dont mind a "cold blooded" Harley, but if you want a little less hassle I would look for a FI model. I have both carb'd and FI bikes, I can say that FI is the way to go.
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 819
Likes: 21
From: Johnson City, TN
Yea that does seem a bit high on the dollar side.
There are pros and cons of both. Carb idles great, has that classic harley sound. FI idles nice and fires right up every time. Carb not so much.
FI you don't get off your scoot at the end of the day smelling like a fume factory, carb you will.
I would go FI.
There are pros and cons of both. Carb idles great, has that classic harley sound. FI idles nice and fires right up every time. Carb not so much.
FI you don't get off your scoot at the end of the day smelling like a fume factory, carb you will.
I would go FI.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 8,438
Likes: 6
From: Gulf Coast of Mississippi
I am torn between the carb and FI... My Sportster has a carb and my Bones has the FI... Sure the bones starts up right away and is ready to go... The Sportster fires up right away... but it does take a few minutes to warm up...
I guess if you gotta go and you gotta go the instant the thing fires up then I would say go FI.... Then again... whats a couple of minutes...
The Sportster is 3 yrs old... got 25k and fires up every time...
Now when you start talking problems... you start talking a whole different story...
Personally if I had the option on my Bones to wheather I wanted a carb or FI, I would take a carb any day.... A couple of minutes warm-up don't mean that much to me...
Charlie D.
I guess if you gotta go and you gotta go the instant the thing fires up then I would say go FI.... Then again... whats a couple of minutes...
The Sportster is 3 yrs old... got 25k and fires up every time...
Now when you start talking problems... you start talking a whole different story...
Personally if I had the option on my Bones to wheather I wanted a carb or FI, I would take a carb any day.... A couple of minutes warm-up don't mean that much to me...
Charlie D.
Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 124
Likes: 0
From: Perth, Western Australia
HD, I would buy the bike. I bought my first bike, a Wideglide, new in 03. It's a carby model too. Done 23,000 miles on it without missing a beat. Same battery, starts every time. Even after 6 weeks of sitting in cool weather. Of course I warm it up for 5 minutes before riding but I do that with my new Rocker too!! It ain't gonna hurt a bike to warm it up!
You wouldn't get a bike like that for under double the price here in Australia!!! You guys are spoilt!!
You wouldn't get a bike like that for under double the price here in Australia!!! You guys are spoilt!!
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Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 198
Likes: 0
From: VA
Am looking at an 04 Heritage Classic with 11K miles. Price is $11.9 so think that is fair. Anyway, it is carbed and was wanting input if that is a big deal. The bike is perfect condition. Should I pass on a carbed bike and look for FI. Will be my first Harley and am 49 years old.
Thanks!!
Thanks!!
Is the bike still stock? If not and you like the pipes they have on it then warming up will be the only real issue.
With the FI if you plan on doing any uprading then you have the added expense of remapping the engine which could run a couple hundred.
My bike had some nice pipes on it so I didn't have to do anything to it. If it was a FI the added cost of remapping my have prevented me from doing any upgrading for a while.
Your probally more confused then before but I'd bet you'll have the biggest sh*t eating grin regardless which bike you get.
bill
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Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 183
Likes: 21
From: Arthur, IL
Any motor needs a warm up period to allow the mechanical parts to expand properly, so warm up time is a non issue. It only takes $10 worth of jets to make a carb bike run right with any motor changes vs. several hundred for a f.i. tuning device and dyno tune. My carbed bike starts right up every time, runs good, and has never had any problems.
