Harley Fuel Injection Solved The Carburetor Problem (Created Others)

Harley fuel injection solved the biggest issue with the carburetor, we couldn't tune both cylinders individually. Fuel injection opened up a lot of new avenues and possibilities with tuning your Harley-Davidson, but you have to give something up for something. The carburetor was simple, easy to work on and you just can't beat the sound of a carbed Harley's idle. Fuel injection in a Harley is very easy to tune once you get the hang of the flash tuner and is theoretically maintenance free. Harley fuel injection is very reliable, but if there ever was a problem it's not likely something that can be fixed on the side of the road. Harley fuel injection and the flash tuners available are evolving but the carburetor is still a very viable fuel system.

Random and Funny Videos!!

Bikes on the channel:

Motorcycle: 2016 Harley-Davidson Sportster XL1200CP (Sportster 1200 Custom)

Custom Parts Installed:
Screamin' Eagle Heavy Breather air cleaner
Harley-Davidson Reach Seat
Harley-Davidson Chrome and Rubber Collection grips
Drag Specialties Offset Clevis Footpeg Conversion Kit
Aftermarket Detachable Back Rest
Harley-Davidson Air Flow timing cover
Harley-Davidson Air Flow clutch cover
Screamin' Eagle spark plug wires
Screamin' Eagle spark plugs
Flipped Down Stock Mirrors

Motorcycle: 2017 Harley-Davidson Sportster XL1200X (Sportster Forty-Eight)

Custom Parts installed:
Harley-Davidson Factory Security System
Screamin' Eagle Exteme Billed Air Cleaner (Black)
Harley-Davidson Burst Collection Foot Pegs
Harley-Davidson Burst Collection Grips
Harley-Davidson Burst Collection Shifter Peg
Screamin' Eagle spark plug wires

[GixxerFoo]

Have you ever had any issues with fuel injection out on the road?

[stbuchanan]

I noticed when you needed an example of a perfect Harley idle, you went Shovelhead. I concur.

[Prairie_Barbarian]

Still running a carb, but I rebuilt it completely with the CV Performance deluxe kit. Very snappy and responsive, plus with their mix screw kit, I can adjust my carb with my fingers, don't need a screwdriver to do it!

[charlessexton]

Love cabs. Just the love Simplicity on a Motorcycle.

[everydaycaveman]

My 01 Deuce and my 06 Heritage are both carbureted. My 21 Roadking Special is of course, FI. That Roadking runs smoother than any other Harley I've ever ridden, and naturally the 114 blows away my 88s. But there's still nothing I love better than the sound and feel of my Deuce. I'm not saying it's an objectively better bike, but its definitely got more soul.

[BusaNova]

I’m an old school guy, I’ve got a fuel injected 103 and a carbureted 80” Evo, I’ve always been a carb guy but once I got into tuning my softy with an fp3, I used my extensive carb tuning knowledge to get the fi dialed in, it ran good with the canned tune once I did the cams, but, once I used my buddies fp3 pro to dial in the ve tables, used that info to tweak my target/seen AFR to get it to where I wanted to be. Had it dyno’d and the dyno guy was impressed (so he said anyway) that I tuned it myself. It’s like anything else, once you learn how things work, doesn’t matter if it’s carb or fi or whatever, know the basics, the rest is easy. And the fp3 is actually reasonably capable but kind of a pain to change things around.

[phillip]

You need to do a video about lectron carbs on a Harley. I done some research but not a lot out their on the YouTube.

[schachat]

My 2008 Screamin Eagle Race Tuner (SERT) has been a great diagnosis and tuning tool over the years. It has enabled me to find very complex Delphi ECM/EFI related problems on many differents HD models. Unfortunately it was discontinued many years ago. TTS Mastertune also has a similar approach to the SERT.

[christophervasquez]

This video was able to help me make a better decision of whether to buy a newer fuel injected Harley or go old school with a carb. I’m choosing to go old school. 97 springer softtail. Thanks for the info. I feel I’m making the right choice. I grew up with carb motors and a single carb is my final decision

[_hitmn_]

I had an evo 92 fatty...man i loved the i agree, efi is jus peace of mind. Thx bro

[FeatheredDino]

I'm okay with more rudimentary fuel injection systems, like early throttle body injection... because it's basically just an electronically controlled carburetor. But more modern EFI systems add way, WAY too many sensors and electronics to function, all of which are additional potential points of failure.

As a guy who's owned 2 Japanese cruisers and 2 Harleys, I always envied how easily accessible Harley carbs were. It absolutely sucks to work on Japanese cruiser carbs because they bury them between the cylinder and usually tucked up under the tank

[SuperdogRW]

Same as with Scream' Eagle tuner...your stuck with it . BUT I recently went with the ThunderMax and it did solve my throttle response problem on my CVO 110. Happy with it so far.

[jondoe]

Yep. Got a twin cam 99and 01 carbied sound grouse cammed .. 08 and 09 injected just fly but idle to smooth and almost 8 and 15 ci larger

[tonyputman]

Another very informative video. You mentioned the ThunderMax. Could you do a video on it?

God bless y'all!!

[readtheinstructions]

I don't mind my twinky idle at all, even though I really liked the sound of my 84 shovel idle.
My current 2007 twinky had a no start after a month of owning it.
Local dealer came and picked up the bike, took me home, fixed the problem (something to do with the carb) and it has run with no problem since.

[breakawaymotorsports]

Shovel! Love my '79 FXS 93" 10.5-1.

[billeyolinger]

6 7 800 rpm is called chugging chugging leads to overheating like cruising down the street in to high of a gear carbureted harley idles at 1050 efi at 2000

[frankqu]

Great video. Does anyone know why fuel injected sportsters take much longer to idle down than the big twins ? I was told that the fuel injected system on the sportsters is one of the worse. Why? I own a fuel injected sportster and a carb big twin. I will take the carb any day of the week. Thanks, Frank

[richardahola]

Have never owned an injected bike. Cars are pretty much trouble free. Turn the key and it runs perfect. I'm ready to bite the bullet and buy a newer bike. Looks like there are not very many problems and fuel economy is better. As for the carburetors they work. Don't like long dry periods but I have a bike that sits for 8 or 9 months then I fire it up and ride all summer. Never had a carburetor fail on the road. Is it worth it to get a injected bike that is much harder to fix?

[richardpitts]

A nice, little bit rich, carburator, was always good for cooking . Also with lead in gas . Now a days it's mystery oil in with the gas !