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Is fuel injection that big of a deal?


OhioMarine

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I disagree. I'll work on a fuely bike and get it tuned before I can rip a set of carbs apart' date=' clean them, spend all day fiddling with various jets and needle positions and get a carbed bike to actually idle properly. I hate carbs..

Hrmm.. let me rephrase this. I don't mind carbs that are in good condition and operate as they should. What I do hate are cheap ass bike owners that think because their bike is carbed it should not cost money to tune it.

There.. that's better. :D[/quote']

And there you have it. Tuning a carbed bike is infinitely harder than tuning a carbed car. On the car, you have easy (being a relative word) access to to carbs, and have very little on top of them to disassemble to get to the inner workings so you can change out a jet or move the needle. On bikes, you have remove the side fairings, front fairings, drain the fuel, disconnect the fuel lines, take off the tank, take off the airbox, take off the carbs, rip them apart, make your change, put EVERYTHING back together, ride it, find more problems, rinse, repeat, wipe hands on pants.

FI you can plug a laptop into a Power Commander and have all the data you need without turning a single screw. Not counting the initial start up cost of the Power Commander, or the extended cost of time and materials of DIY carb tuning, which one seems easier to you?

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I disagree. I'll work on a fuely bike and get it tuned before I can rip a set of carbs apart' date=' clean them, spend all day fiddling with various jets and needle positions and get a carbed bike to actually idle properly. I hate carbs..

Hrmm.. let me rephrase this. I don't mind carbs that are in good condition and operate as they should. What I do hate are cheap ass bike owners that think because their bike is carbed it should not cost money to tune it.

There.. that's better. :D[/quote']

I'm the other way around. I'd rather pull the bank of carbs and tune them. I'll agree about your second statement though. Carbed bikes do a take a bit longer and it certainly isn't cheaper than FI.

The problem with FI is to tune it you gotta spend another 300 bucks for a PC...Then have a laptop to tune. Then a backpack and go start doing some riding then come back look at data, adjust, repeat...

Meh...6 of one, half dozen the other.

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IMAO.. Yes' date=' fuel injection is superior to carburetors but dollars are always a heavier bargaining chip in my mind. I'd have to see the difference in bike condition, dollars and all that to make a decision.[/quote']

'99 F4, K&N filter, Repsol fairing, Flush mounted signals, vance and hines exhaust, stage 1 jet kit, and an LSL steering stabilizer, few other odds and ends, 16,000 miles.

or

'01 F4I, Stock as the day it was bought, 10,000 miles. Both same price.

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IDK, I've done lots of carbs, but fuel injection is just way cool. If it's less parts and less weight, and does the job as good as or better, I'll take it. My first riding impression of fuel injection on a bike was: I'll never have carbs again. A good fuel injection system should produce both more power and better fuel economy, compared to carbs. Besides, find me a car sold now that has a carb on it. I don't think there are any.

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F4i is Worth more.....Has less miles and will be easier and more friendly to mod and find parts for.

Definately go for the F4i.....IMAO.

I agree with this too...

All things considered the F4i is probably the better deal...

But my point above was that carbs shouldn't be a deal breaker.

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FI, Start up and go

Carb, Start up and g...stall. Start up and G...Stall. Start up and wait, stall. start up and go then stall. start up and wait some more, go. Stall. Start up and go, play with choke, stall. Replay with choke and Idle, go. Stall. Re adjust idle choke and restart. Go. Hopefully it's warm enough not to.. Damn it. Stall. Restart, adjust choke and ride. Forget that you left the choke on and wonder why it's idling at 3k rpms. Close choke. Ride.

Ride one FI bike and you'll be sold. You couldn't GIVE me a carbed bike anymore.

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