Tech Tip - EFI

The mighty Harley is slowly losing its carburetor. For those of you who haven't noticed or are stuck back in the 80's, all the current bikes coming out of Milwaukee have fuel injection installed. International environmental concerns have slowly forced the change from carburetor to electronic fuel injection. Harley purists are mourning the loss of the venerable carburetor. The purist's are crying foul and talking about the "good old days" when they would repair their bike on the side of the road.

Let's take a retrospective view of the introduction of new technology to Harley-Davidson motorcycles and what current technology is available and what the future may bring. For the last 20 years, almost every change in technology to Harleys has been met with skepticism. What were some of the improvements and changes? Here are a few items of note.

• The change from Shovelhead to EVO engines.     
• The change from points and condenser to electronic ignition.     
• The change of chain to belt drive.     
• The change from butterfly to CV (constant velocity) carburetor.          
• The change from EVO to Twin Cam engines.     
• The introduction of the V-Rod.        

All of these improvements and changes had the H-D purists of the period complaining about the changes and how the motor company had forgotten its roots and their long time customers. Much of the criticism was harsh and unfounded. No company can remain static and stay in business, so Harley has been forced to move with the times. Government regulation and increased competition from the metric manufacturers forced Harley-Davidson to update their product line. Yet Harley riders thrive on nostalgia. Eventually, the new technology takes hold and becomes the new standard. We have all heard the stories from the Old Rider reminiscing about how many times he fixed his bike on the side the road with his pocketknife and a matchbook. Yes, older Harley's were more prone to breaking than the later generations of bikes. Do we really want to go back to the days when H-D could have easily meant "hardly driveable"? The change in technology introduced by H-D over the years has continually improved the breed. Maybe the "good old days" were not as good as we remember.

There is no reason not to expect EFI improving the reliability and performance of the venerable V-Twin engine. Harley-Davidson has proven their EFI efforts by having motorcycle that is smooth running, reliable and runs the just the same if your riding in Florida or in the mountains of Colorado.    

Tony D. & The Wild Fire Service Team