EFI VS CARB??

speede72 · 05-08-2007, 1:42 AM

I would first like to say Hi and thanks for all of the already useful info. Im in the market for a bird and Im trying to decide which is better. Is a EFI bike better that a carb bike?? From what I gather the EFI bikes have more HP. But Im concerned about reliability and cost of repairs down the road. Any insight or opinions whould be greatly appreciated and noted. Thanks in advance and keep the info on these bikes comming!!!!

shovelstrokeed · 05-08-2007, 1:53 AM

No more HP, a little more fuel tank capacity, a little bigger alternator. Reliability is probably not an issue. Early bikes (carbed) did have some issues with voltage regulators and maybe a wiring harness issue on the early EFI bikes. Biggest advantage an EFI bike holds over carb bikes only comes into play with large changes in running altitude. EFI will compensate for lack of air by leaning down, carbs can't do that so power falls off more with change in altitude. Shouldn't be a problem in Illinois.

flitemdic · 05-08-2007, 3:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shovelstrokeed

No more HP, a little more fuel tank capacity, a little bigger alternator. Reliability is probably not an issue. Early bikes (carbed) did have some issues with voltage regulators and maybe a wiring harness issue on the early EFI bikes. Biggest advantage an EFI bike holds over carb bikes only comes into play with large changes in running altitude. EFI will compensate for lack of air by leaning down, carbs can't do that so power falls off more with change in altitude. Shouldn't be a problem in Illinois.

Yeah, but carby 'birds are sexier.

PJNXX · 05-08-2007, 9:16 AM

speede72. If you ride all year 'round like I do you should hold out for an EFI model. No fiddling with a choke lever when it's 25 degrees outside. Just hit the start button and it fires right up and settles in at the right fast idle speed.

flblackbird · 05-08-2007, 9:24 AM

A little better throttle response on the FI as well.

speede72 · 05-08-2007, 3:40 PM

Well I thank you all for the input. I dont ride all year round but it does get cold sometimes in chicago. I think the FI model is probably the better choice for me. Now I have to find the right one, anyone out there selling a FI bird in the illinois area????

Lumpy · 05-09-2007, 5:30 AM

Power on the EFi models is down on the carbed, especially the later ones. EFi bikes are a little slower too, especially if they are red. The additional fuel capacity is there to compensate for the worse fuel consumption of the EFi too. With a Power Commander, they may be set up better, but the only advantage of the EFi is the missing flat spot at 5k. IMHO.

OZDave · 05-09-2007, 9:35 AM

Actually the power on the later FI bikes is the same as the carbed bikes. I believe the earlier one were down a bit but this was corrected. A lot of people confuse the climb out of the dip the carbed bikes have as extra power. The fuel consumption figures are a little worse. The blue bikes with FI are the fastest. FI give far less trouble than carbs (Honda's anyway). It is a fuss free superior system IMHO.

erlingj · 05-09-2007, 10:34 AM

RED IS THE FASTEST FI BIKE

OZDave · 05-09-2007, 10:43 AM

Oh C'mon, why do you think they stopped making them in red? The blue ones are a vastly superior bike. (...and just to rub it in

) the blue 2007 models are just breathtaking.

They have however supplied some silver (battleship grey navy WW2 surplus paint) ones for the riders who are a little intimidated by the blue bikes. ..and some black ones...but nobody talks about them much

.

flblackbird · 05-09-2007, 10:46 AM

You guys are hilarious, we all know the '02 silver Bird is the rarest & fastest

erlingj · 05-09-2007, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OZDave

Oh C'mon, why do you think they stopped making them in red?

they wher to FAST so they had to stop making them

slyxdevil · 05-09-2007, 12:14 PM

its a black bird there fore black being the best color i have that pic of the black with the sr71 air plane(jet)fighter looks awsome together same fairings...lol

ironmike · 05-10-2007, 1:43 AM

I don't think anyone else has mentioned it yet... but the '99+ EFI bikes have true "ram air" - and it's one of the most efficient ram-air systems ever used in a street legal application.

Madcow · 05-10-2007, 8:59 PM

Here's a couple of articles on ram air;

Sport Rider-RAM AIR: More power for the Kawasaki ZX-9R through forced air induction

Sport Rider-ram air induction test for sport bike motorcycles

Partsguy · 05-10-2007, 9:25 PM

You're all missing the most important reason.
It's much much easier to put a turbo on a f.i. bike.

If I ever find the money.

fzrcbrklxrider · 05-10-2007, 10:55 PM

As you can see there is a difference in the FI model's to :
'99-'00 has a fuel pressure of 43 psi
'01-'03 has a fuel pressure of 50 psi

MuayThaiFan · 05-14-2007, 6:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OZDave

Oh C'mon, why do you think they stopped making them in red? The blue ones are a vastly superior bike. (...and just to rub it in

) the blue 2007 models are just breathtaking.

They have however supplied some silver (battleship grey navy WW2 surplus paint) ones for the riders who are a little intimidated by the blue bikes. ..and some black ones...but nobody talks about them much

.

Just to share an amusing tidbit, a "blue bird" in the Hokkien (Fujian) dialect sounds very similar to a vulgar slang for a penis. It's also a cuss word.

This is why blue birds are not very popular in my country.

birdxxx · 05-14-2007, 12:56 PM

i dont mean to disappoint all those bird riders out there but the true blackbird is black( its not called a bluebird or redbird etc.)
The fastest and most powerful of the three versions was the 99-2000 models before they restricted them and added catalytic converters.
in conclusion the fastest bird is a black "99" of which i ride(well not a the moment still in the shop stator/rectifier problem)

slyxdevil · 05-14-2007, 1:34 PM

i disagree a 98 with proper carb settings and pipe is the fastest !!
bone stock it was the fastest production bike built to date till 99 when the hayabusa came along

fzrcbrklxrider · 05-14-2007, 4:14 PM

Actually the Kawasaki ZX-11 & Honda CBR1100XX basically tied for first place. Some say ZX-11 some say CBR1100XX it was too close to call in my opinion