Carburetors vs. Electronic Fuel Injection-What’s Better? | MC Garage

Your motorcycle is either being fed fuel through a carburetor with jets, or via a throttle body with an injector. What happens when these two systems face off? We’ll find out in this video from the MC Garage.
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Carburetors and fuel injection both have the same job, which is to wrangle fuel and air in the right ratio to yield proper combustion. We tackle the age-old question of which fueling system is better for motorcycles, carburetors or electronic fuel injection on this episode of MC Garage.
Carburetors are your old-school, analog option, and they’re what all bikes relied on until electronic fuel injection began to appear in the ’80s. Nowadays, the vast majority of bikes have EFI, though plenty of smaller motorcycles and scooters still use carbs to help keep them affordable.
How Does A Motorcycle Carburetor Work?
Carburetors have stood the test of time because they get the job done and they’re cheap to make and straightforward to set up. They may look complicated, but carburetors are pretty simple devices. They just rely on intake vacuum, created by the piston moving down in the cylinder, to draw fuel up out of the float bowl and into the combustion chamber. That’s a super-simplified explanation of how they work, but the point is that a carb’s function is strictly mechanical. That’s both a blessing and a curse, though, because while carbs don’t need electricity or separate systems to do their job, their function, and thus the running of your motorcycle, is affected by things like air and engine temperature, elevation, and other outside factors.
How Does Electronic Fuel Injection Work?
Electronic fuel injection, on the other hand, doesn’t care if it’s hot or cold out or if you’re at sea level or riding over a mountain pass at 10,000 feet. A fuel-injected bike’s throttle body may look less complicated than a carburetor, but EFI has a lot going on and there are separate systems with lots of circuit boards and sensors helping EFI do its job. The main difference is that instead of reacting to pressure changes like a carburetor does, EFI makes its own pressure with a fuel pump so it can deliver fuel into the engine whenever it wants.
With all those sophisticated components, fuel injection is a far more precise means of feeding the engine fuel, so the motorcycle runs better. There’s no choke lever to mess with on cold mornings or leaking float bowls or petcocks or gummed-up jets. The truth is modern EFI is extremely reliable, so you’re unlikely to ever have an issue with your fuel system. That being said, if something does go wrong, the odds of your being able to make a roadside repair are slim, and replacement parts, like a new fuel pump or throttle position sensor, are expensive. The part you can service yourself, the injector itself, can be cleaned using this tool from Motion Pro.
Carburetor parts on the other hand, are pretty affordable, and carbs are easy enough to work on at home with basic tools. Unfortunately, you most definitely will end up working on them. Carburetors need to be serviced and maintained, and while the work itself isn’t usually that hard, it’s time-consuming and inconvenient. That inconvenience, or more appropriately the incredible convenience and reliable operation of fuel injection, is part of the reason carburetors are becoming so rare.
So Which One Is Better?
What’s really killed carbs, though, are environmental concerns. EFI is dynamic and can stick to a very narrow air-fuel-ratio range to help improve fuel efficiency and reduce tailpipe emissions, whereas carbs, with their fixed jets, just aren’t that precise or adaptable. That means more unburned gas going out the exhaust and more soot that will kill a catalytic converter. And even when they’re parked, carbureted bikes waft gas vapors from the open vents on their float bowls and gas tanks. And with today’s strict emissions requirements, that sorta stuff just doesn’t fly, so manufacturers have switched to fuel injection.
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[@Last_one_before_I_go]

Carb bikes win if you need to ride after an EMP bomb has gone off the area...

[@ericschneider7294]

Just thinking about that. Wondering when ignition modules started in production and if point system would be affected? Old school diesel probably only way to go.

[@ronbosgra8230]

... right, because Carb bikes don't need ANY electricity. (Btw: EMP's fries circuitboards, so your carb regulated bike's ignition map is fried aswell)

[@reaperasylum2163]

Not necessarily if you shutdown the bike or car for that matter and kill all power supply theoretically nothing should fry as there's no current going through it then it should be fine afterwards but that's just speculation not proven

[@ronbosgra8230]

@@reaperasylum2163 Everything gets fried, even if it's powered off. The EMP is an electro magnetic pulse that creates high current on electronic components, frying circuit boards and other sensative components. This is why IT personal wears anti static wrist bands to prevent giving a shock to PC hardware. The PC is obviouslt turned off. If you put the object in a Faraday's Cage, then nothing will happen.

[@philipcreamer4]

There's been testing using large laboratory electromagnetic field generators on modern cars and could find little to no damage on several models of fuel injected vehicles with field strengths expected by a nuclear detonation. Cars have a big metal Faraday cage that is the frame that protects most components, may not true for bikes which have less metal encasing electrical parts.

[@adempenver9416]

I'm giving you a like for that effect at 1:17

[@m3felonia145]

🤣

[@buddybonbutt7510]

Ironic it happened at 117 with your profile pic lmao

[@santeriheikkila8911]

Finally a video about carb/fuel injection without that ”blaablaa” or getting too technical. Straight to the facts, great video as always!

[@The_Angry_BeEconomist]

yeah really enjoyed it

[@CAMELHair69]

Torille

[@ggme4682]

Exactly!

[@JohnDoe-pz4nk]

Torille

[@klabumalami6699]

its more realistic if he includes a graphic video on how both carburetor and injection working... but now, its just a pretty 8 body shape girl just naked but dont make a strip tease.... 😣😖💔

[@ggme4682]

This dude could be one of the top 5 people making informative videos. He is clear, easy to follow, to the point. He gets "in and out" without wasting your time. With 60,000 years of KZbin videos online, every minute counts. You, Sir, are one of the best!

[@Mk7adxm]

In my opinion engines with carbs sound better.

[@himanshusinghdosad9853]

Yeahh u Are absolutly right....✌️

[@Lass475]

but rev limiter is not that good with carbs ....

[@badasshuh69]

Damm straight

[@thomasmarchese2808]

Lass 2 things. 1 A carbureted bike has no “rev limiter”. You just reach the physical limits of the motor and it gets ugly. 2 why does that matter? You shouldn’t want to bounce the rev limiter anyway. Mechanics grin and smile when Idiots stand on the rev limiter because all they’re doing is blowing it up. A carbed bike doesn’t have a 2 step or launch control of any kind. So. There that

[@noneyabusiness3253]

Thomas Marchese why do you think carbed bikes have no rev limiter? I was almost sure you were wrong so I googled and yes they still have rev limiters they just cut the spark when you reach the limit.

[@tomcata1467]

I'll keep on trucking with bike's 40mm Mikuni carb, no electronic sensors to go bad, and leave me stranded on the road. No carb failure yet, in over 91,000 + miles of great, smooth, highway riding. I can always work on the carb on the side of the road, in a pinch, not so, with fuel injection problems.Thanks for the video.

[@nychan8958]

How often do you ride to the moon . A nicely tuned mikuni carb has never let me down .

[@ragimundvonwallat8961]

yes my good sir , i agree!

[@mandarshrotri5679]

Ny Chan, you, sir, are absolutely right. A nicely tuned mikuni is a very nice thing to have on your vehicle, it has got power as well as economy. My 80 cc motorcycle had a Japanese mikuni and it did not give me any trouble till I sole the motorcycle. I used it for around 70k kilometers.

[@biofall38]

I have a vm22 and I'm having a bit of trouble

[@druidd.4549]

I had carborated bikes for since the 1980s," never "had any real problems, (because I would Listen to the older riders who did most repairs them self, as for fuel consumption you ride your bike like a rider not an idiot, the difference in fuel consumption compared to E.F.I -is miniscule ( clutch in and just gently roll up to a red stop light, move away on a green light carefully. If you know what your doing with a carboretor the maintenance is few and very far between, you also have to do basic maintenance on a motorcycle, and also getting on the web doesn't always make you an expert With experience, I wouldn't ride an EFI motorcycle out to remote places knowing that it needs a f#cking calculator to do its job.

[@druidd.4549]

@@biofall38 best of luck with your bike hope it all works out😎🤔

[@corndog6700]

Every now and then I run across some old guy that absolutely hates FI and swears he can jet a carb "by ear", better than any fuel injection. No, you can't. You can't live in the past forever.

[@papashuk26]

Call me a Neanderthal but got back into riding last year and walking into the garage having the faint smell of oil and fuel takes me back. Tweaking the carbs, a little wrenching is part of my joy. Great video as always!

[@exothermal.sprocket]

I'd rather smell Hoppe's #9. But I understand.

[@CAMELHair69]

I concur, there's nothing better than walking into your garage, smelling the fuel and oil. Especially 2-stroke.

[@dickflinghammer7643]

Maybe you would like to have a joyous occasion tuning my xj6.

[@thenarrator1921]

Oh yeah. Working on mechanical stuff is a different joy from riding bikes. From just sheer curiosity to just taking your mind off things, it's great. In my opinion, being connected to your bike through knowing its parts and being sensitive to its grunt and performance is a good thing to have when riding a motorcycle. It's something that people just have these days, especially with cars that the only taking care of from its owners is not crashing it. Some people don't even pay for their own gas...

[@nomadben]

@@exothermal.sprocket Man, that Hoppe's oil leaves its smell on EVERYTHING lol

[@WindFair]

Can you please show how to switch grips on handlebars

[@AriH211]

Check the library! That's one of the very first vids we did at MC Garage, so you'll have to scroll waaaaaay down. Or just Google "replace grips MC Garage."

[@WindFair]

Ari Henning Thanks

[@queenslander954]

Mate use a compressed air nozzle gun (pointy end) to get the new ones on , after cutting the old one off .. piece of piss.

[@terracethornhill]

"If your bike has carburetors you WILL end up working on them." That's a load of crap, if you take good care of your bike the carbs may never need service.

[@republicansareoffendedeasi821]

@@yafaza450 why did it take you a few weeks to tune a carburetor?

[@yafaza450]

@@republicansareoffendedeasi821 I was doing different mods to it every week... did air box mod n had to rejet it, got a pipe n had to rejet it, then did the cam mod had to rejet it, another airbox mod n had to rejet it. After doing all that and getting it jetted right I never had to change it again

[@haroon420]

Peter rather than bash your keyboards why don’t you make a video about it or write an article. Because nobody really wants to hear from you.

[@blackmesa27]

what do you call taking good care of your bike ? the only way to avoid your jets getting clogged, is to twist that throttle to redline, ride the hell out of her at least once a day and you'll have brand new carbs

[@terracethornhill]

@@blackmesa27 Avoid alcohol blended fuel, and burn at least a tank of fuel per year. Ideally you should add some fuel stabilizer before you park it. Pretty basic shit.

[@joshuachilders129]

I’ll take carb. I can work on it without a computer. It’s all mechanical. No electronics to fail and leave you stranded.

[@fermitupoupon1754]

@@ArbaazPatwari I've had a carb fail on me in the middle of nowhere. Called up our equivalent of the AAA, nothing to hook a scangauge up to, so time to do old fashioned diagnostics. After a while we came to the conclusion that it must be the carb that messed up. Turns out the diaphragm had a tear in it. Of course AAA guy doesn't have one with him, so he called up the depot. Nope, no diaphragm there either. Put the bike back on the flatbed truck and have it towed home, call the dealer on monday, wait until thursday for a new diaphragm and spend half the day messing about with it to get it all set up properly again. But hey, at least it wasn't something electronic with self-diagnostic capabilities that left me stranded. How inconvenient would it have been if that carb was a generic bosch injector that got fouled... The AAA guy would have actually carried a spare and could have replaced it on the roadside.

[@mkg2002]

I think ur just too naive. U can just use a tablet or phone to work with it tho. And there's a reason it's called programmable fuel injection. Just change the ECU and u have no fuel cut-off and rev limiter and u can install a wireless fuel cut-off security system and control it with ur phone

[@diogoelias4205]

@@fermitupoupon1754 Turn the carb piston into mechanical, or just fix the hole with some glue

[@fermitupoupon1754]

@@diogoelias4205 I did one better. Sold that bike and got an electric one instead.

[@ShazyShaze]

Carbs are a bit of a pain, but I unno, there's just something satisfying about having a simple chunk of metal that just works. I haven't ever really needed to clean mine or anything...

[@ninjakat8922]

Just clean it for good measure, you'll notice better throttle response and better gas milage if it needs some cleaning anyways

[@MrSlowestD16]

You must have not owned it long then :-P

[@bbqBaconNinja]

Clean it!!! You often don't notice the power lose as it happens gradually. Might be surprised.

[@ShazyShaze]

Yeah, what the hell, I'll give it a scrub down c:

[@blackmesa27]

best way to not have to clean it regularly : ride the hell out of her and rev her to redline 👌🏻

[@m3felonia145]

My suzuki 110cc carburetor type old motorcyle still at work and i still used it 12hours a day :) i clean it overhaul it myself very convenient and never been failed for many years

[@BassOutcast]

I've ridden EFI bikes and both of the bikes I've owned are carburated. I'm used to the whole choke and cold start ordeal and it doesn't bother me, plus I can work on them with reletive ease virtually anywhere as long as I have my tool kit, and they have a distinct feel to them that injected bikes don't. If you want simple tech and like working on your own bike - get a carb, if not - EFI all the way.

[@twistednemo]

Travis Donald Stanley Exactly! EFI for normal usage and carb for touring.

[@dynamo1796]

Yeah that EFI snatch is annoying on larger bikes and downright dangerous on smaller ones.

[@bbqBaconNinja]

I really have to disagree. Touring, you are going through many different environments including sea level, temps and humidity, all playing a part in how your bike will run. If EFI wasn't as reliable as it is I would agree for ease of fixing but you will likely never have an issue. To each their own, they both have their place.

[@BassOutcast]

​@@bbqBaconNinja If I've learned anything from riding older bikes, is that anything that can break will break at some point. Electronics will fail, mechanical parts will wear out, paint will fade. The simpler the bike, the easier it is to keep running in the long run, because when things go bad (and they do go bad) - it'll be a lot harder, and more expensive to maintain a bike with a lot of sophisticated electronics than a simple one. Modern tech is designed with planned obsolescence, and people rarely keep a bike for longer than a few years because of the consumerism culture that is prevalent in the western world, so if you're like me and just like to get one bike and ride it forever, repair it and continue riding it - you're better off with a simpler bike.

[@kaptein1247]

I barely notice a difference between carburated and injected. The only difference is that injected always starts within a second and runs a bit smoother

[@ginunggagap]

Something EFI users dont usually have is the Carb user's thirst for knowledge with bikes...

[@realitycheck5615]

So true, those who use EFI are gay

[@grantfelipe5954]

Damn right, you better know how to fix ur bike, just in case

[@someguy5035]

You are confusing thirst with requirement. You WILL have to work on that carb if you own it long enough.

[@ginunggagap]

@@someguy5035 it's just simple maintenance but, se i got an 8 yr old carb bike that ive been using for deliveries for 3 years now and it never gave me problems only those broken drive chains or flat tires, as far as my experience goes, if you run on optimal A/F and some twice a year carb cleaning you wont have problems..

[@marashah.ibrahim]

Not defending carbs here but my 11 years old bike runs perfectly fine and never had fuel/carb related problems. Though I did have 1000s of many other problems on account of it being old 😂 😂

[@matthewS993]

I've got a 1999 R1 as it runs ace, always starts and still rips my face off when you pull the throttle back. Toured 2000 miles around Europe with no issues, carbs are still great

[@tonggagames917]

i have both a 14, and 18 year old bike.. to be fair, the 18 year old is a cafe racer build running a brand new carb, with ported heads. and the 14 year old is running standard, no problems so far, and even so, i know what to do. but i guess when it comes to climate change and altitude, which doesn't really matter here in my country, i guess everyone is happy. but i do love to save some fuel..

[@zeeKxxL]

Just be willing to do the maintenance Tongga and you'll be fine. Keeping a carb clean doesn't take that much time, and it's a small task that brings out the mechanic is us.

[@garyfoale3707]

I don't mind FI on my road bike- I can always get the automobile association mechanic to come out and look at it, and if necessary (had it happen once due to FI), tow it home on a truck. On my dual sport, I head out camping and I'm often a long way from town and even phone reception. That's when I like a carby. It's not efficient, but at least I can get the bike running enough to limp back to town.

[@marashah.ibrahim]

Telosian Ross 128 b it's not a toy but a tool which I use daily and have put 90k kms on it, and hoon it around every turn 😋. So yeah I think a 90k km bike would be considered old...... Otherwise whatever you think..... 😎

[@gorillacookies3451]

EFI while being more efficient has a few added drawbacks in my experience. Biggest is the management components needed with EFI . They add complexity which adds expensive diagnostics and repair costs vs Carburetor's . Also the claim that EFI is more reliable isn't actually true. EFI throttle bodies are simpler then carburetor's but again they add complexity and vulnerability due to needed sensors and other electronic components and wiring. Nothing worse then getting stranded because heat and vibration caused a electronic part to fail . Carbs while less effecient at metering fuel/air mixture are by far less complicated and as such more reliable when making wheels turn when it matters most. Complexity doesn't lend itself to reliability in reality !

[@bottmar1]

gorilla cookies. Boy are you ever right about fuel injection being more reliable. You are one of the few that know that complexity of fool infection makes it tougher to keep running. I have ridden Carbureted bikes for 55 years and have never been stranded by a carb. problem. In fact I have been stranded by fool infected cars far more than by my collector cars. Right now I have a 2003 Dodge Caravan that hasn't started for two weeks simply because that so called Innova tester that is supposed to tell you "exactly what is wrong" doesn't EVER tell what is wrong. I see by most of the other replies that most fool infection lovers are entirely too stupid to understand the value of simple carb. and ignition systems MORE then make up for their slight less reliability. Fool infection lovers don't even bring extra sensors thinking, like idiots, that their scooters will never quit. Profound ignorance. Good luck to you.

[@HotrodsMotorcycling]

It's why I love my KLR, carburated and easy to work on.

[@mattquarles7029]

What a lot of people aren’t mentioning is that you usually have to turn the gas valve to off and run it until it dies when storing your bike for the winter or long periods of time or YES you will have problems no matter what. My uncle has a carbureted 4 wheeler from 1998 and I have never seen my uncle work on the carbs. He said the trick is to never let it sit with gas in it and change the oil if you know it’s been sitting a long time and you will never have a problem out of an old carb engine. You can also tweak your fuel air mixtures pretty easily on carb bike as well giving you more power for next to nothing cost wise. With a fuel injection engine you have to hope you have an unlocked ecu or you are gunna be spending a few hundred just to get a new one to fit or to unlock it then a few hundred to tune it properly.

[@joepasco1420]

I had a ty 350 Yamaha stuck in a shed for 2. 1/2 years. Dragged it out one day and in 2 kicks it started, old gas and all.

[@leoveroude4492]

Fuel stabilizer for what's left in the tank (hopefully full) also a to do.

[@decnet100]

Well the "tweaking the fuel air mixture for next to nothing" is basically true, but it's leaving out a significant part of the bigger picture: "I just put a larger jet into it and it ran great" rarely happens in a vacuum, especially if you haven't been playing around with carbs for some time already. Long story short: It'll need a lot of prior experience plus some tools and parts, or someone who has already acquired that experience and those tools, to get a carbed bike that isn't running great to finally do so. Either you're lucky in that a relative or friend introduces you to the procedure and they already own an ultrasonic cleaner, sync guages etc., so you'll just pay for new jets and gaskets etc., or you'll pay a professional, or pay the usual DIY trial-and-error fee of slight mistakes, misdiagnosed parts leading to unnecessary purchases, tearing apart unicorn-sized gaskets, and constantly doubting yourself as you're flying blind. On the other hand, a modern stock EFI bike will self-adjust within a certain window (such as going from the coast to an alpine pass, installing a low-resistance air filter or slip-on exhaust etc.) without you needing to do anything, it'll just run quite alright. And with a $400-500 power-commander or similar system on a modern bike with a wideband O2 sensor, you can basically just leave the ECU to autotune and get a decent mixture curve even with a full exhaust etc., let alone if you take it to the dyno and get a decent basemap done (which will cost way less with ECU than on a carb'd bike, as the bike won't have to be disassembled etc).

[@nomeansno2335]

@@decnet100 Once the bike is a few years old and all of those cable connectors are getting corroded I wish you good luck with your ECU.

[@decnet100]

@@nomeansno2335 If all of the wiring connectors are getting corroded, then you're of course screwed and probably well-advised to invest a couple hundred eurodollars in a used wiring loom off a crashed example - but to be honest, that's not all that likely to happen on modern bikes, thanks to improvements in connectors, with rubber gaskets and epoxy-sealed rear-ends etc. doing a good job in my experience keeping moisture out - there certainly has been an improvement over the last decades (even though the new ones are often a pain to undo due to the tight fit and weird locking lashes holding them in place, and of course if you ever break one, they're a lot more advanced to reinstall to the wiring than the old style which you could basically do with nothing but needle-nosed pliers and a good reserve of swear words). Obviously, that very same "if all connectors failed..." scenario would also affect most if not all the carb + electronic ignition bikes of the 80s and 90s. Insignificant anecdotal evidence makes me think it doesn't: Of the four early-to-mid-90s carbed examples I owned (with little to none sealing connectors on any of them, pretty much everything done in old style rubber-free and open-rear connectors) there was only one with wiring corrosion issue - and that was due to a previous owner cutting into it, with the usual half-assedness you would expect. . Obviously, if you live in a very moist area such as a coast, that might be more of a problem and you might choose a carb based on that; I'm in relatively dry central europe with loads of mountains. Also anecdotal evidence: I bought all of these bikes with carb problems , fixed all of them eventually (even though it took a while on the old Yami FZR 600), and I don't particularly like doing so, therefore I prefer EFI nowadays.

[@matthewS993]

Own two 20 year old motorcycles, both are carbed. European tours and trackdays whilst riding all year round and they've never been a problem. Having the right set up is vital, often people just shove jet kits and alter the fuel/air ratio to gain performance but causes the starting and running issues. Fuel injection is there for a reason so there's no denying its advances but carbs still offer great, smooth riding if they are set up correctly

[@LOVE-JC777]

Carbs all the way! I don’t ride in cold whether.

[@mattharmeson916]

A properly tuned carb works very well but fuel injection is the way to go.

[@brenohighland1168]

untill a component failure on the road side happens --you cant fix it

[@dannyboy22racer]

I don't carry tools so if my carb breaks on the roadside I'm fucked anyway

[@kaptein1247]

@@brenohighland1168 Id rather not be stuck on the side of the road at all

[@graemesydney38]

"That's how this sucker works" - no pun intended!!!

[@faustin289]

Welcome under the tropics where carbs JUST WORK! You see, we don't have temperature seasons; so no worries about cold starts during winter!

[@kattmilk]

I'm in South Florida. I'm contemplating buying a 2009 Ninja 250R that has a carburetor engine. What do you think if it's good shape would you buy?

[@tomasmolnar2890]

suzuki dr 750 almost 30 years old still running on stock carbs cant beat reliability for me. These thumpers are bullet proof

[@AkaAndyKnuckles]

Fuel injection is my first criteria when shopping for an everyday motorcycle these days. My XT660Z Tenere fires up right away, even in the coldest Norwegian winter.

[@sparklysparks77]

Greetings to Norway...

[@codyparker679]

In Norway yeah. Here in Florida where jts warm and sea level? Dosent really matter much

[@randombuilds8336]

EFI>carbs. Better fuel economy, no weird issues with big elevation changes, no seasonal tuning, better cold starts. ECU can accommodate changes to a degree, then a self tuning module can correct better than 95% of people can tune carbs.

[@randombuilds8336]

@Viscous Shear EFI doesn't tend to clog up half way down a trail either. Biggest thing I've seen with it is people running the tank low too often and overheating a pump. But they tend to be the people who run any bike until it throws a rod or locks up from bad maintenance. I've dealt with bike that have 1-4 carbs, long rides, short rides and everything in between and there is a reason my 78 yamaha has EFI swapped on.

[@thomasmarchese2808]

Personal preference is the only legit answer. Tbh. They’re equal in opposite ways. I had a carb on a sportster. 2 years not one issue. Starts acting up. I pull float bowl. Extra jet. No the main didn’t fall out. I had one in my hand and all others accounted for. To this day I have no answer as to who how when where or anything else. All I know is it was before me lmao. I like both for opposite reasons.

[@cutty02]

@@randombuilds8336 But its rare that a carb bike has a fuel pump and they would only clog if you don't have a fuel filter inline.

[@joelallo119]

If you take care of your bike and clean your carbs every now and then, they'll never leave you stranded. And when a carb does fail, it costs next to nothing to get it running again.

[@GMC.Sonoma.4.3]

Depends, Mikunu carbs are expensive to repair and even more expensive to buy as a whole.

[@vonbuted898]

for me, carbs: inexpensive,reliable,easy to maintain, but slightly less economical. whereas injector:economical but dam expensive, not reliable, cannot maintain,

[@AlexD02]

EFI is pretty reliable

[@SportbikerNZ]

Fuel injection is the ideal, but so far no problems with my carbies, currently at 110,000km on the odo of my 1991 Honda cbr250rr. Ridden daily though which prob makes all the difference. Also I believe the mechs cleaned them at 50K service. I've done 80,000 of those k's since I bought the bike about 7 years ago.

[@Daschickenify]

You are lucky that your 250RR doesn't need a fuel pump. The older MC19 uses a fuel pump, and I'm currently dealing with pump reliability issues.

[@fortteen2636]

Carburetors for super easy fix if they break fuel injection can be very costly to fix if it breaks had an xr100 and never had to touch the carburetor on it ran great all the time.

[@oldstyleanalog6459]

I had a bad charging system on my bike.200 miles from home.indisabled all lights etc.and with a full charge i made it home.if i had fuel injection i would have been stranded for sure.alk components draw electricity..lol.my fuel pump is vacuum.and gravity.most piston aircraft is old school.for safety purpose..il keep my carburator.thanks

[@edgar9651]

Carburetors have one big advantage: It's easy to adjust them and it's free or a few dollars for jets. Computerized injection could work perfectly fine but with strict emission standards engines are optimized to use little fuel and are not so much optimized to run as smooth as possible. My new bike's engine runs rough between 2-4k RPM with little load (driving in slow traffic). With a carburetor that would be easy to solve. With fuel injection the garage can't do anything with the existing parts. To change anything additional computerized electronic would be necessary - for hundreds of dollars...

[@nexorabolis]

Quality videos as always guys :) I share these with friends because of how nicely you break down the info, even non gear heads can understand

[@andersonparra835]

Literally the most part of the bikes of my country (colombia) work with carburetors

[@derrickfish7776]

I love my carbs but weather you have a carb or fuel injection bike/car your still goin to incounter problems at some point

[@nychan8958]

How often do you ride to the moon . A nicely tuned mikuni carb has never let me down .

[@theodoremarakas9899]

Short, sweet and informative without shit music. Thank you 🙏

[@sudhirsaleakanomad2051]

Bingo 👍👌to the point and crisp. Yes, we learned something. 🙏 Thanks from India.

[@MofosRealReviews]

If only Suzuki would take these tips on the damn DRZ.

[@llwellyn1]

I have one bike with fuel injection and another bike with CV carbs . I've experienced no real problems or hardships with either. I prefer the fluid feel of the carb'd bike better, especially during midcorner throttle modulation. CV carbs provide a genuine, ethereal connection which can't be replicated by digital code.

[@todxbranko]

Hi guys, thanks for the great content and awesome tips. I wanted to ask if you could do a piece on liquid cooled vs. air/oil cooled motorcycle engines and overheating issues especially in areas with hot climate. Thanks!!

[@deanagoes2791]

Still love my moped with carburetor 😘

[@leandroflaherty]

For cars, yes, FI all day.. but on a bike, short of a race bike.. where its a physical experience, carbs win for me. The throaty sound of the engine and the analog response are pure climax.. not to mention reliability. But I am biased, I want and ride a bike that connects me to the machine as much as possible, no fancy electronics for me, pure, minimalist riding, conmected directly to the machine and thr road.

[@breakfastbuddy5]

a good carbourater is just as good as a fuel injector, i used the same anount of gas on my 2013 ktm as my 1989 yamha fzr same amount of hp

[@mkg2002]

having a harsh cold starts? Nvm. I'll take PGM-FI instead

[@juanpablospahn8067]

Damn ,you have a beautiful carburetor in your hand haha

[@chadkline4268]

EFI is garbage on motorcycles. So are batteries and electric start. Bikes have no need for anything electric except firing plugs and lighting.

[@MR-04]

Fuel Injection all day !!!

[@NzJohny]

Both are great :) but i do enjoy working on my bikes. That's part of the enjoyment for me and bikes. Tweaking things etc. Also if i was to travel the world on a bike id go carb and fix anything that could potentially happen

[@kennethcuenca5009]

Good to know , well thanks for the video and you've answered my questions , here's what I like with carburated motorcycle in case that your throttle cables broke or snap you can just simply adjust the fuel jet so without using the throttle the motorcycle will move but not too fast just like (15kph - 20kph) , unlike fuel injected that you cannot make any adjustment because it's already fixed. Well I'm not sure with Fuel injected if you can also adjust the fuel jet so in case of emergency you can still take a ride and get home safe ...

[@atulgokuyamaha7]

kenneth cuenca I agree plus carbreter dont want electric power its very reliable.

[@AstoundingAmelia]

easy to fix in emergancies

[@t.mendous7922]

No recip aircraft have direct fuel injection as of yet, and only a very few have electrical fuel metering. The vast majority are carbs and mags, which I believe says something...

[@ninja2kernow]

my carbs 27 years old still run fine all 4.

[@WeItenspinner]

Mine too. Honda?

[@ninja2kernow]

1991 vfr750.old school,for old man.

[@WeItenspinner]

1992 Sevenfifty, still running smoothly. :)

[@matthewS993]

1990 FZR 600, 1999 R1, running strong, one being older than me :)

[@CollinMac96]

You gotta try the the 800 without the vtec. Trust me, you will love the efi

[@BanditK]

Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. With that said, both are good 👍 efi has it's advantages but is easily limited, and prone to sensor failure. Carburetors can easily be tuned but are prone to clogging or when left in prime position fill your engine with gasoline. An everyday bike would be better with efi and your weekend drag bike would probably be better carburated. Anyway to each their own, this is only my opinion.

[@adnan256]

Really love MC Garage Comparison videos of bike components more than the bike itself. You got something going on here. All the best and waiting for more comparisons.

[@TB7-X]

Super informative and educational. Thank you.

[@zhizhenhong]

It would be great if two of the same bikes will race an FI and a Carb. :D

[@Baleur]

So a carburetor is literally just a T-pipe junction? Lol All these years i thought it was an active part with gears and shit.

[@Grim_Beard]

"you will end up having to work on carbs" Not in over 110,000 miles on my 2002 CB500. Maybe buy reliable Japanese 'bikes instead of vibe-apart Harleys.

[@RageUnchained]

@@bottmar1 yeah but Harleys fuel injectors suck Dick and at high altitude they blow rockers. Meanwhile a single carb 1300 Honda can run 60k with no issue at 5k above sea level. Same with my Suzuki.

[@bottmar1]

Lemongrab. I won't own a Harley with fuel injection. All my Harleys have had carbs. I rode my 1973 Sportster up Pikes peak 14,000 feet and did not have note worthy trouble until 12,000 feet but still easily rode the last two thousand feet. My 1979 Superglide went through the Eisenhower tunnel, west of Denver, at 11,000 feet no problem. Maybe some Japanese bikes have more carb. trouble at altitude. Maybe that is why some people foolishly want fool infected bikes.

[@johnnyasus86]

Japanese made isn't reliable, especially when talking about bikes, and it only gets worse the older it is. Might want to re think what you wrote haha

[@thedeus59]

Do you have to do anything differently to your dirt bike if you have a fuel injection

[@joepasco1420]

A couple hundred k+ miles on 18 different bikes, never had to fix a carb roadside.

[@MondaySurprise]

Were they Japanese bikes?

[@hot-shotlabel3212]

Old still the best the new when it brakes it is done. And you never know what the problem is

[@adriancrozier7929]

short and sweet good video, any advice on coastal set up on Mikuni for 1980 yz 465?

[@badasshuh69]

Is it your profile picture?

[@badasshuh69]

Is it your profile picture?

[@mannycaballero4370]

What would happen if I have a EFI and my Battery dies in the middle of nowhere, would this affect the bikes performance and if so, what would happen and how can it be fixed?. THANK YOU FOR SHARING

[@gendengraven5049]

nothing... as far as i know, there's nothing you can do.. If youre long cruising and far far away, I think it would be wise to not use EFI..

[@kenvukel5352]

Question Can a engine (which was designed for fuel injection )run and preform well with a carb. and vice versa?

[@tentacleslap5531]

Theoretically yes, practically no. Why?

[@shivshankarsrides4812]

If the throttle body or say the mouth of the carburettor matches the existing setup then yes. Many Royal Enfield Classic 500 owners have converted their existing efi to carburettor setup , here in India.

[@ME262MKI]

If you find a way to nullify the ECU on an EFI engune you can run a carb and if you find a way configure the sensor array for a EFI engine on a carburated one, you can run EFI on it

[@tentacleslap5531]

That's pretty impressive. Respect

[@pandeyoga5414]

Ken Vukel Some guys here in Indonesia swapped their FI with carbs. Performance reasons, they said. You can search it here on youtube

[@diegorc83]

Pretty simple cool explanation of how they work !! But as a motorcycle mechanic i can tell u that fuel injected is a gift from the gods!!!

[@robertbotta6536]

It would be very interesting to have a video that completely explains the difference between tube and tubeless tires!

[@AlexPtc89]

What is there to explain? Tubeless tires don’t use tubes to get inflated. Tube tires use tubes.

[@zuplado3570]

Carb fowevah

[@abhishek232623]

As always nice topic discussed!!!

[@Gracie1504]

I bought a 450 f and 250f put some file in them that had been sitting for over year and now they won’t start so I drained fuel out of both tanks after realising my mistake. I out fresh fuel in today got them both started tick over but minute I touch throttle they start bugging out and die anyone know what this could be I have been told it will be the injectors In carb

[@athensWEB]

unlike idle rpm, Engine consume 10 times more fuel when throttle, if it not get too much fuel it will die… the solution is clean fuel pipes, and remove all water accumulated inside carburetor by opening drain screw.

[@mandm060782]

what a nice and simple explanation

[@ruikazane5123]

I love my old school Yamaha, but I do love working on carbs(really strengthens the bond between you and the bike) but when needed, do any aftermarket manufacturers sell carb-to-Fi systems? By the way an '88 FZR400. Thanks for the video!

[@aakash4351]

I hate fi when battery dies, nothing you can do to start your bike.

[@WeItenspinner]

Well without kick starter you are fucked woth carburetors aswell.

[@aakash4351]

Weltenspinner LPs but i can push bike downhill, then i'm good to go.

[@WeItenspinner]

Try doing that with a 750 ccm four cylinder bike! :P

[@aakash4351]

Weltenspinner LPs haha got what you are saying.

[@mattharmeson916]

Can you not bump start a FI bike?

[@johnywatkins3620]

Also keeping your fuel injected bike in storage for the winter is a bad idea. My battery went dead and it wiped the whole ECM. Had to pay Kawasaki $2000 to get it re programmed. Should've stuck with my 750shadow

[@AstoundingAmelia]

i call bs unless you did some shit like took the battery into sub 0 temps causing it to go wild it wouldn't wipe the ECU

[@bufalong]

How set idle speed on carb for good air fuel ratio

[@محمدسلطان-ع1ل]

I am a motorcycle technician and I want to work with you in

[@bradleylomas7525]

carb adjustments are simple unless you have no idea how to ride a motorcycle. The work required to maintain a motorcycle is payment through enjoyment of owning a motorcycle. Fuel injected "equipment" can easily be turned off by a police enforcement (public servant is what they actually are) to control you. A little water in the wrong place and you are done. Enjoy your expensive repair bill because you are stupid and lazy. Carberators on motorcycles have a better sound and are cheap to repair. I enjoy two stroke triples myself.

[@Noah-uq3ru]

What the fuck are you talking about?

[@mythicalcrafted8873]

Good thing that i have still used carb😂

[@chetlovesamerica6783]

My 2007 vtx1300r is carb,(2plugs per cyl.),4 valves,per cly♡.,I use fuel stabilizer now & then ,but if you break a throttle cable (,carb) will get you home just by pulling out the choke,been there.(no fuel pump ,no electricity,,. Fuel injection will have you calling Roadside Assistance!☆

[@Daschickenify]

One of my carbed bikes has stranded me THREE times due to fueling problems. One was due to improper fuel line routing(kinked), two others were from separate fuel pump failures.

[@GraveDigger388]

@@Daschickenify but that's not the carb's fault

[@Daschickenify]

@@GraveDigger388 Not directly, I agree, but a fuel injected bike does not need to be tinkered with and constantly taken apart to get running right. Plus they usually have stiffer hoses/metal lines and a high pressure fuel pump which will prevent/overcome bad line routing. Don't get me wrong, I love tinkering and working on stuff, but I HATE fuel system tinkering.

[@eindiajansevacenter6929]

2:18 - reason is the reason I love carb. ❤

[@classicsalted]

Thanks for making this video Ari!

[@deepjyotilahkar6866]

Officebear looka at your mothers first

[@pdm2201]

The Delortos on my 78 Guzzi, the Bings on the 81 Beemer and the single Mikuni on my Norton continue to work fine. I had to replace the rubber diaphragms in the Bings several years ago.

[@DirtyTaxman]

1:15 damn a magic tric ! Caught me unprepared :D

[@SpectacularRiders848]

I using carburettor 10 years in my small displacement bike, now, i'll try fuel injection 😂😅😆👉👌❤❤

[@shivshankarsrides4812]

Both of my Honda Dio and Pulsar NS 200 are carburetted.😁

[@afletra]

about time Bajaj upgraded their fueling system. put 3 sparks on a single cylinder engine isn't help a lot.

[@shivshankarsrides4812]

Al Putra yes, the Pulsar RS200 does have fuel injection. My NS200 is 5 months old and I love tinkering with the carburettor for economy and torque.😁

[@afletra]

I see. tinkering with our bikes is indeed fun to do. and by the time you think you need to switch to FI, you just need to buy the throttle body and some parts to convert it. nice.

[@zuhailishufller8046]

Al Putra ns200 had efi in my country.

[@shivshankarsrides4812]

zuhaili shufller well, Bajaj doesn't offer fuel injection even as an option in its country of origin ( Indian here😁) for NS200 and NS 160 but RS200 and Dominar 400 has efi.

[@veljko83bg]

I love my Carbs..always did prefer carbs...easy to repair and maintain home and on the road.. CARB LOVE :D

[@ernestoluingo6714]

Right

[@CubanRider]

Ahem, Suzuki DR-Z400... It's time for the switch! Even though I liked the cheap gains with the jetting kit.

[@GIGABACHI]

Hey, don't be so selfish, some of us want the 650 to get EFI too, I don't need an anorexic, gym rat, Red Bull addict 450 in my garage.

[@snowpeaky]

I bought a '17 this year as my first bike. Loving it. Jet kit on the way. I like tinkering on engines so I am glad it has a carb.

[@Daniel-gb9ex]

DRZ with EFI and a 6th gear would be my perfect dual sport.

[@MrSlowestD16]

They will never put EFI on the DR or DRZ, sorry. Those motors are just too fucking old. If they changed out the fueling mechanism (put EFI on) on them then they'd have to get the bikes re-certified under the latest emissions standards (and currently the hardest one to pass is the EURO4 emissions, which covers all of the EU). Those bikes would never pass the latest emissions standards without heavy re-work to the engine - primarily the emission control aspects. That'd be very $$$. So sorry, no, they won't ever get EFI, they exist now because they were grandfathered in before the emissions standards, but they cannot make any engine changes to them. They have to essentially replace the engine, which at that point it's cheaper just to make a successor to that bike and cut production of the old one. Same goes for the KLR, that can never get EFI for same reason. Though they sell so fucking many KLR's at least they'd be able to justify adding the emission control components to the KLR to get it certified under EURO4. Though that being said, thumpers in general are getting REALLY difficult to push through emissions, so that won't be a walk in the park either. If they do get the KLR recertified, then it'll be running lean as piss and you'll need a re-map just to get it to ride nicely.

[@user-qw3wh5fy4n]

MrSlowestD16 the drz doesnt pass euro4 with carbs either. it hasnt been sold in eu since like 2005

[@lando61331]

This guy looks like zoom from the flash

[@yaghos8434]

Efi over carb everyday Love from Pakistan

[@bummett947]

Lol two days after I get a fuel injected bike, perfect vid on why I should never look back to a carb 👍🏼

[@killingfields1424]

EFI ? Say that when the going gets rough and you only have you, and your bike far out of the city.

[@kyleterry5190]

Umm hello is this the motorcycle repair services? Umm yeah so my EFI bike broke down on the mountain pass and I'm stranded, is there a chance you can send a mechanic, preferably one that knows how to repair FIs it would be greatly appreciated

[@karthiktiwari]

Buddy, make a video on different types of carburetor, like difference between flat side an stocks one....

[@brenohighland1168]

agreed

[@zagrepcanin82]

When I was the final year of secondary school my exam for finishing the school(one of them) was the carburator. I know it perfectly! And it will always be my option no 1.

[@byronknipe9028]

The 2 distinct advantages of efi over carb are volumetric efficiency and thermal efficiency. These advantages can however be negated if the computer is not kept "in tune".

[@n0pr0hd81]

I'll take a carb over a efi just because I don't like not being able to fix something on the move or not at all

[@Skyerzen]

Your "logic", if one can call it that, does not work bro... I also do not like to be able to fix something on the move... HOWEVER and this is a GIGANTIC "HOWEVER" your chances of having issues with your EFI compared to your carb are like 1 in a 1,000,000 (that's a billion if you don't know how to count) For example: You are on a ride across states. You are climbing a mountain range on your carb bike... it starts having issues with altitude and it leaves you stranded... you pull your tools and get to work... Now me, I'm riding the same route... I'm climbing a mountain range on my EFI bike... aaaaaaand I have no issues... I go over the mountain range and ride the bike for several years, decades even without ever even having to take a look inside the throttle body... You see, EFIs systems NEVER EVER EEEEEEEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR have problems... And if they do have a serious problem once every billion times, you can get a new injector, or throttle body for a ok price, easily replace it and be on your way... Get with the times man.... progress is good!

[@matthewS993]

I agree that fuel injection is far more reliable and needs less tampering but carbs can still be great if they are set up well, I rode through the Swiss alps which are at high altitudes and my bike still ran fine, in fact its done 20k with very little meddling or upkeep. Certainly not arguing as I agree injection is the future but some just prefer the carb method, like shown its sort of a mechanical vs electrical debate.

[@laughingmanae3095]

1, 000, 000 is not a billion .

[@CollinMac96]

Fuel injection rarely fails so dont worry about that

[@Skyerzen]

I'm sure carbs can do that and more, I mean, they are pretty clever for being mechanical devices... However we can all agree, your performance most likely dropped significantly compared to a similar bike with EFI which can self adjust. The only reason some prefer a carb is nostalgia... there is no other reason as you and I agree, EFI is superior in every way. You said it yourself "20k with very little meddling" but you are "meddling" with it still. While the rest of us go 100k and above with absolutely zero meddling ever... So, my point? Like I said, the only reason you like it is nostalgia.

[@spankymcnugget3166]

EFI all the way the only complaint I have is on a harley davidson you can't adjust the idle speed as low as a carb and I love that low low ideal speed.

[@the8jrfan]

Break in a new engine hard or easy?

[@Skyerzen]

easy of course... the hard break in is a stupid myth that needs to die... I'm almost sure it's a trolling prank that went too far...

[@SickPrid3]

Riggro I've had 6 brand new bikes, all of them were broken in the hard way. All of them still running just fine. Oldest one is at 130+k miles. Newest one, my son's 2 years old gsr750 just had it's 28k mile service, everything is good. On the other hand, my friends mt07 (30ish k miles ) which was ridden very gently is suffering from leaky cylinder causing loss of power and oil burning.

[@donnerschlag41]

Search for fort nine. He has a good video about this.

[@angelite143]

You ride your bike hard at various rpm and gears at a different scenarios.

[@Skyerzen]

SickPrid3, Oh really? Let's throw anecdotes at each other all day! My brand new FZ09... broken in slow... 30,000 miles... no problem... my old ducati 820D.... broken in slowly... last time I checked, still going strong. My rebuilt and heavily modified subaru WRX... broken in slowly, still kicking ass despite the lashing my brother gives it on daily basis... The mechanics at Renner Motorsport all recommend a slow break in. And they are pros. The tuners at Yumi Motorsports ALL RECOMMEND YOU BREAK IN YOUR VEHICLE SLOWLY before you take it to them to get lashed on the Dyno... The mechanics at turbo Dynamics in Nashville ALSO recommend a slow break in... FUCK! The MOTHERFUCKING ENGINEERS AT EVERY SINGLE MOTHERFUCKING MANUFACTURER in the GADDAMN world ALL, without fail, recommend a slow break in.... Now enters you... mulletman the backyard mechanic... "Nah... what do all those fancy engineers with them titles and them years of education know?" "the length of my walrus mustache and the curls on the back of my head all tell me that I kno better than all these snobs..." If you had a shred of understanding of physics you would know, but we all know you failed that class since you were on the back sniffing the glue instead of using it for your homework... Dude, have you ever thought that maybe your vehicles all got lucky and DESPITE your pretty aberrant break in they managed to survive? Maybe due to superb engineering? And your friend's mt07 might be failing due to other reasons?

[@stephenjoshuawayno5599]

my proff said FI saves more fuel than a CARBURETOR.

[@darshenjason3164]

Do 2 stroke vs 4 stroke pleaseee

[@GraveDigger388]

2 Stroke: RAAAAAAAAAAAAP 4 Stroke: RUUUUUUUUUUUUM

[@EastriderKiran]

Very helpful.