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Carb vs. EFI Carb vs. EFI
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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
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  #1  
Old 22 Mar 2011
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Carb vs. EFI
I love riding in the mountains in Colorado, where I live. One ride I like in particular starts at about 5300 ft. and goes over a 12,500 ft. pass. Almost any ride I pick will involve 15mph hairpin turns and steep climbing to get to a 10,000-11,000 ft pass.
I am planning several multi-day rides this summer, mostly on tarmac, and a 7500+ mile ride to Alaska and back in August, so I have two competing issues--ease of maintenance/repair, on one hand, and adaptability to significant altitude changes on the other hand. I'm pretty happy with this 650cc size motor as good all-around for my needs.

I ride a BMW F650GS Dakar right now (EFI), but she's a comparatively heavy, tall girl with a high C of G, which makes her a little awkward in the tight turns I see so often. I'm thinking of changing bikes, maybe to a DR650se, (more than 50# lighter and a lower C of G) but I'm wondering if I should even consider a carb'd bike because of the altitude I regularly ride. Any thoughts or guidance between these two bikes in light of these issues would be appreciated.
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Old 22 Mar 2011
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Hi Uhuru
I have no particular opinion on the topic. All the bikes I own have carbs, but that's more to do with me being cheap and riding old bikes, rather than not liking (more modern) efi. If you put

site:www.horizonsunlimited.com efi carbs

into a google search box you get lots of threads where this topic has been discussed already. Maybe there is some useful advice there?

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Old 22 Mar 2011
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Modern EFI is fantastic !!

It deals with altitude really well and the ecomony vs carbs is brilliant..

It used the be that EFI was snatchy while a nicely tuned carb was smooth but it's near impossible to tell these days.

The only downsides to efi is the extra electronics involved but it doesn't HAVE to be so complicated and is VERY reliable in modern bikes.

The "man down the pub" will always say "im never riding one of those FI bikes with all that stuff to go wrong"... Well, have you ever seen inside a CV Carb ?? All those springs, jets, needles, valves and diaphrams.


Anyway, back to the altitude issue... It's not like a carbed bike won't run or break down at that change in height.. You may not even notice it !
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Old 22 Mar 2011
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EFI has my vote any day. As mentioned by Ted, today's electronic is bullet proof.



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Old 22 Mar 2011
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Originally Posted by T.REX63 View Post
EFI has my vote any day. As mentioned by Ted, today's electronic is bullet proof.



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Old 23 Mar 2011
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It all depends which bike for EFI --my VStrom is not smooth at low rpm.
You are not going to get any more power out of the bike by using EFI just more convenience .If you don't like rejetting then steer clear of carbs .
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Old 25 Mar 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Uhuru View Post

I ride a BMW F650GS Dakar right now (EFI).
Difficult to improve on that combination, especially right now with fuel prices on the rise, the F650gs get's significantly better fuel efficiency compared to the carbed 650's.

The DR650se might be a bit lighter but it's still a fairly big tall bike.
If you want lighter and more peppy consider a WR250R, also a tall bike but a lot lighter weight.

The Dakar you got is a mighty good all-around bike. It's just a bit underpowered by my tastes.
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Old 14 Dec 2011
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Problem solved
In case anyone is curious, I sold my efi 2005 BMW Dakar and bought a 1983 BMW R80ST, and really haven't looked back. I love the airhead's much lower C of G. This is a far better handling bike for Colorado mountain roads than the Dakar. Best of all, there just wasn't a noticeable problem with high mountain passes despite going from efi to carbs. I do miss the Dakar's 60mpg, though--the airhead is only good for about 40mpg.
Thanks for everyone's input--most helpful.
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