How Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) Has Improved Motorcycle Performance

Motorcycle brands around the world chose to equip their bikes with EFI a while ago. Indian bike brands, on the other hand, chose to stick with the traditional carburettor technology. Sure, some bike brands equipped their bikes with electronic carburettors back in the day. But, the overall performance of a traditional carburettor and e-carburettor will never even come close to an EFI.

However, this changed when the BS-6 emission norms were enforced in India. To make sure that their bikes are complying with BS6-emission norms, bikes in India are now equipped with EFIs (electronic fuel injection systems).

What is EFI?

An EFI is an electronic device that optimizes fuel usage in a bid to reduce air pollution causing particle presence in the exhaust fumes of an engine.

Working Principle of an Engine

Every internal combustion engine works using the following steps.

An internal combustion engine is basically a pump. It sucks in the air from the atmosphere. This is known as the intake stroke. The sucked-in air is then compressed. This is known as the compression stroke. During this stroke, fuel is injected into the compressed air. A spark plug ignites the fuel-air mixture. The energy from the controlled explosion of the fuel + air mixture inside the cylinder then pushes the piston. This is known as the power stroke. The piston then moves the crankshaft which then transfers the energy to the driving wheel through the transmission system. As the piston moved back to its compressing position, the exhaust valve is opened. The exhaust valve removes the exhaust fumes from the cylinder. This is known as the exhaust stroke.

Additional Read: Best Fuel Injection Bikes In India 2023

Carburetted engines are inefficient. Hence, it is natural for them to emit fumes that have fuel particles and other pollutants in them in large quantities. This was accepted in India as long as BS6 norms were still a regulation on paper. When the BS6 norm became a reality, bike brands had to equip all their bikes with fuel injection systems.

A carburettor is an entirely mechanical device. A fuel injection system on the other hand is a complicated electronic device that uses advanced electronics to function. 

Working principle of EFI

The working principle of an electronic fuel injection system is simple. The system is designed to regulate the fuel flow to the combustion chamber of an engine. Hence, the system has to rely heavily on a high-pressure fuel pump. The amount of fuel that the pump moves from the fuel tank to the combustion chamber is then decided by the ECU. The ECU (Electronic Control Unit) is a miniature computer that keeps tabs on multiple parameters of a vehicle.

The parameters are mentioned below.

  • The oil temperature
  • The load exerted on the engine
  • The position of the engine throttle body
  • The speed (RPM) of the engine.

The ECU then crunches the raw data consisting of the above parameters. After that, the ECU calculates the amount of fuel the engine needs at any given point. Then the ECU instructs the fuel injectors of the EFI to inject the required amount of fuel. The EFI obliges and injects the required amount of fuel through its fuel spraying nozzles. The fuel spraying nozzles are connected to the combustion chamber of the engine.

Additional Read: What Is Fuel Injected System In Bikes?

Benefits of Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) System

Engines equipped with electronic injection systems tend to entail the following benefits. 
  • Fuel-injected engines make more power than carburetted engines.
  • Fuel-injected engines are capable of optimizing their performance on the fly.
  • Fuel-injected engines consume less fuel.
  • Fuel-injected engines emit less air pollution causing particulate matter by efficiently burning every drop of fuel.
  • Fuel-injected engines are more reliable than carburetted engines.
  • Fuel-injected engines need less time to repair and the expenses to repair them are also low.
  • Cold-starting a fuel-injected engine is easier than a carburetted engine.
  • Fuel-injected engines perform well at high altitudes. Carburetted engines tend to lose their overall efficiency at high altitudes.

The electronic injection system is a boon for the motorcycle sector of India. By equipping their motorcycles with EFI, bike brands in India have helped spark enthusiasm for motorcycles here once again. Furthermore, every Indian motorcycle now offers impressive performance despite the displacement of its engines. This is yet another contribution of the EFI. If the reader of this post has more technical queries then it is best to seek help from a professional automobile engineer.

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