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.

[ggme]

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 YouTube videos online, every minute counts. You, Sir, are one of the best!

[tomcata]

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.

[adempenver]

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

[Last_one_before_I_go]

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

[santeriheikkila]

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

[papashuk]

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!

[adnan]

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.

[MrTn]

This video came at an opportune time. I was just beggining my research about EFI and carburetors, and this video will help me alot. Thanks MC Garage.

[matthewS]

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

[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

[mikeyaro]

This guy is the real winner !!! No bull shit before the video or bunch of nonsense, straight to the point he went !! The way he explained was top notch too!

[mattquarles]

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.

[HotrodsMotorcycling]

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

[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...

[noelchristophersanchez]

Nice video mate, more.... Its very educational. Thankyou for helping alot of riders who are not aware about it... More power to your channel, cheers!

[scarnage]

Another great vid MC. I always look forward to your videos. Thank you for doing what you do and for doing it so well!!

[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.

[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.

[terryhaught]

I have a vintage triumph carb bike and a 2014 efi bike, the efi is true enough very reliable but to slow down the tic over on the vintage and hear that beautiful sound is just magic!

[TamsenCooper]

Outstanding video- love the direct and yet simple approach to explaining things. Thanks for the video.