Are you sold on EFI ??

[Stig / Major Tom]

Boyhowdy, I sure am!!
It was a major selling point to me .....maybe second only to the general KYMCO reputation....Especially after seeing that it seems like 80 percent of all scooter posts have to do with some poor soul trying to sort his carb troubles on his old or new scooter.....the solution of which seems to be more art, than science .
When I do look for another scoot....it must have fuel injection to even be considered.
Stig

[AMAC1680]

I personaly haven't had a carb problem in years. I run my machines. Boats, cars, scoots get used.

My Lance Cali Classic gets stored for the winter while I'm in florida with the bigger scoots. I add a fuel stabilizer and walk away. Even after a very cold 5 months I turned the key and she started, she always does. I took her out for a 50 mile ride and she runs as she did last fall.

I do love the FI on my DT300. Instant starts and good throttle response.
But as far as a service problem carbs have been good to me and I would not let a lack of FI stop me from buying a bike I like.

Maybe I've just been lucky.

Be Big,
AMAC

[BettinANDlosing]

Factory EFI is pretty solid. I tried to used the ecottons kit on my B&W and it sucked balls. Carbs are great but only if you know how to tune them and service them properly.

[ophelia]

You get people asking about problems carb or not on a scooter forum because they aren't as likely to be here if they aren't having problems. It's like going to a hospital and observing that people are sick or injured in some way, so people in general must be sick or injured everywhere. People don't tend to hang out at hospitals or clinics to say life is going superb. 

I would buy and ride a carb bike. Bikes don't like to sit unused. Even EFI bikes will have other problems from neglect, like dead batteries. In North America, bikes aren't treated as daily commuters. They're fun toys like boats and sports cars and snowmobiles that sit for half the year or longer. Look overseas in places where people use these to get around instead of cars. I expect much fewer requests for carb cleaning, and maybe more requests for high mileage engine rebuilds or tire choices.

I have never had a carb issue on my Bet and Win 250, and it is still humming along at 23000 km for the third owner. I don't even recommend that my friend cleans the carb out for the heck of it.

[ophelia]

Don't get me wrong though, I wouldn't mind if EFI became standard to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy. But I wouldn't let it restrict my choices in bikes.

[BettinANDlosing]

I still like to dust out the car now and then because of ethonal crap, but then again I enjoy going into the carb and making little changes.

[Porkie]

Carb's are proven technology and very simple in their operation. People run into problems normally because the carb gets plugged up due to old gas/ ethanol gas becoming almost a gum/ varnish if not ridden frequently or put away with a quality stabilizer.

The other problem with owner's of carb'd bikes is that they make changes to their air filter and/ or exhaust, without considering they have drastically leaned out the mixture by allowing more air in and out, without added fuel.

Injected bikes are great but if the system fails a person is stranded and they are very expensive to diagnose and fix. Here's a recent FI problem discussed on the NT forum I belong to:

http://www.nt-owners.org/forums/showthread.php?8412-EFI-sensor-trouble

A scoot with a carb will get you home, even if it's plugging up but in most cases, a fuel injection problem will just stop your joy ride:)

Sam:)

[2wheelfun]

There's a reason ALL cars sold have FI nowadays, hmm I wonder what that reason might be. In 20 years of owning FI cars I've never once had a FI problem. Fuel pumps don't count!

[Porkie]

The reason why, is to meet emission standards and fuel injection decides it's own fuel/ air ratios but always on the lean, cleaner side.

Carb's can be fooled with to produce a rich situation that is more polluting.

Sam:)

[Stig / Major Tom]

There's a reason ALL cars sold have FI nowadays, hmm I wonder what that reason might be. In 20 years of owning FI cars I've never once had a FI problem. Fuel pumps don't count!

Look out!
Here comes the carb gang....!

[2wheelfun]

Let the carbs come, by the time they decide to ride we'll be on our way with wind in our faces.

[AMAC1680]

Not a matter of carbs or FI to me I own a few of both. All my stuff starts first time every time.
Just never had a carb problem or have I had a ethanol issue.

Both in my experience are overblown.

Be Big,
AMAC

[JJJoseph]

On the practical side, the FI models have a lot of very expensive parts, and they're totally dependent on an expensive fuel pump.  So I prefer the simpler carb'd models mostly because parts are so incredibly cheap.

[MassScoot]

I own both carbs & EFI. EFI hands downs is so much better! Carbs you need to "baby" them. Adding in ethanol, fuel stabilizers etc. The reason I don't care for cards as much, is I leave a scooter Super 8 & now a SYM HD200 @ my mothers home in Florida. Sometimes it might be 6-7 months before I make it down there. It does start-up every time, but might takes me a few minutes.

EFI "always" starts-up within the 1st pull. Even when my GT300i is sitting thru a New England winter for 6+ months. Yes...I use additives for EFI as well, but it's an "instant" start every time. EFI is so worth the extra coin IMHO.

[08087]

If I were in a rural setting or in a situation where I found myself being poor, I'd want a carb, I can service it myself and the cost for the extra fuel burn isn't going to stop me from operating.

In any normal situation I prefer going EFI but as stated if the right option came along (my 09 peoples 200 with 700+ mile in 011 for $1,600) I'd grab the carb and not look back.