[James.]

Got to say since 2014 I have had 4 EFI  motorbikes and had no problems with the EFI systems.Being old school and spending half of my motorcycle maintenance life with carbs on the kitchen table I think the EFI is so much more reliable and less maintenance free.

[AzCal Retred]

When it works it's great. You are mostly at the mercy of the shop technician though, just like for all my Hybrid EFI automobiles. Because electronics constantly evolve, EFI will necessarily follow along. Keeping a new(er) EFI bike become more or less mandatory. Electronic parts obsolescence can easily make your older used bike DOA unless the aftermarket comes thru. Cars are made by the millions. Even 30 year old auto parts can be tough to source. The much more limited motorcycle (& scooter) markets parts supplies dry up pretty fast. You can clean up a clogged carb, a computer driven EFI system not so much.

EFI obviously works well. For the frugal and/or those that like or prefer older hardware, EFI can be a deal breaker. Sparks are fairly easy to make happen at the right time, resurrecting an aged computer driven engine management system much less so in the absence of readily available replacement parts.

[SteveThackery]

As AzCal says, carburettors are sustainable indefinitely, whereas ECUs (for any function, not just fuel injection) are much less so. Repairs are sometimes possible, but require very specialist skills and test equipment.

Generic ECUs (such as the Megasquirt) can, in theory, replace a failed OEM unit. However, they need setting up to suit your particular engine, and to do that properly requires some hours on a dyno. If you are lucky, someone will already have done that for your model of bike, and might be willing to share the setup files.

I've been riding - and working on - bikes for 51 years and driving cars for 49 years, and in all that time I've only ever had one ECU fail. It was the boost control ECU on an old Saab Turbo. That is literally the only failure in half a century's worth of bikes and cars. Perhaps I've been lucky, but ECUs are, in general, extremely reliable and durable.

EFI is better in every way in terms of engine performance and behaviour, allowing for much more accurate and sophisticated control of the fuel/air mixture. Therefore I would never normally replace it with a carburettor. If, however, I did suffer an ECU failure and I couldn't get a replacement (new or used), then I would fit a carb. Not before.

[Richard230]

I had a couple of EFI modules fail every 8K miles on a 1985 Kawasaki EX 305. For some odd reason Kawasaki decided to mount the EFI device directly on top of the engine, about 1/2" above the valve cover. When checked after each failure it was found that a thermister (sorry about the spelling) inside the EFI was toasted.

[DB12 OXF]

Hello,
I have a 2015 500 classic which iv been changing around and have come to a sticking point. I have removed all the electric in favour of a M unit blue and for the most part got it all in place but now I’m not sure what to do with the spark. I have live key on power from the M unit (ignition) and then the breaker wires from the alternator where I’m stuck is I assume I will need a cis unit for this all to work but can’t seem to find one to suit.

Any recommendations please ?

Thanks

[James.]

Hello,
I have a 2015 500 classic which iv been changing around and have come to a sticking point. I have removed all the electric in favour of a M unit blue and for the most part got it all in place but now I’m not sure what to do with the spark. I have live key on power from the M unit (ignition) and then the breaker wires from the alternator where I’m stuck is I assume I will need a cis unit for this all to work but can’t seem to find one to suit.

Any recommendations please ?

Thanks

You have posted this in the wrong bit bud....look at the home page and where you see the 500 uce engine post there