The wonders of fuel injection...

[Jay GTI]

Carbs really are dead, EFI is the future…

Was out at Woodhill on Saturday, itching to get the bike out as TMG had put the 2012 EFI map on my bike when they did the gearbox recall and I wanted to see what it was like. I was told it makes a big difference and gets rid of the slightly woolly bottom end, making it a bit more punchy out of corners. I’d have to say while it’s not like a completely different bike, it is more aggressive at low revs, definitely has a bit more punch, as I was told. In the past, unless you were in the meat of the mid-range, it was pretty tame, to the point where popping the front wheel over an obstacle needed either a good tug on the bars and some decent weight re-distribution, or a handful of clutch. Now front wheel lofting is all off the throttle, which is much more fun. Overall it’s just more responsive to throttle input, it has swapped some of it’s friendly nature, which was at times frustrating, for a bit more of that big bore bite. Still nothing close to the bottom end of my mate’s 450SX-F, but where it used to be super-friendly power everywhere, now there is just a bit of angriness to it. Overall I was very surprised at how much the nature of the bike has changed, considering absolutely nothing else has changed, just the engine map. Hence why EFI really is the future, a simple tweak at the dealer and my bike is a different beast. No pipe, no jetting, no drilling airboxes, no ¼ turn throttles, just plug in the laptop/EFI module and say hello to your new power delivery. Lots of fun!

What wasn’t fun was the 3rd gear corner exit where the new throttle response just caught me off guard and lifted the front wheel before I had time to get it upright and point it in the right direction, meaning that by the time I recovered it was time to get up close and intimate with a bank… I was thrown over the bars and landed on my back a good distance from the bike and now can barely walk! Next time I have any mapping changes done, I think I will be a little more reserved with the test riding… at least until I know what to expect.

[dafydd roberts]

There OK until they decide to shut down leaving you stranded.

[jt119]

[takitimu]

There OK until they decide to shut down leaving you stranded.

You're onto it, my hint would never get one that relies on the battery & be careful with fuel filters .

JD do a really cool mapping tool though, black box that fits under the seat, kinda like a power commander. I'm not real keen on having my laptop anywhere near my dirt bike.

[Jay GTI]

Ha ha christ, just read that waffle again this morning, think I might have been enjoying the painkillers a little too much yesterday...

There OK until they decide to shut down leaving you stranded.

Yeah that is definitely a concern, I've heard of a couple of EFI failures on KTM bikes, but mostly it's the fuel blockage issue (which can be mitigated with an inline fuel filter).

However I do love the fact that "jetting" for different altitudes is now done by starting the bike and letting it idle for a minute and even then that isn't strictly necessary. I hated trying to correctly jet my old RM and ended up finding a base tune and just leaving it.