Fuel Injected Motorcycles, is India ready?

While I was going through the P-220 when & where thread at BCMTouring.com, I came across replies made by a few of my friends. Who are sure Fuel Injected motorcycles by Indian motorcycles manufacturers are not such a good idea, at least for the next couple of years.

I have come to realize that majority of people in India are apprehensive about this “new technology”, even the informed enthusiast are some what apprehensive. While the discussions are on regarding the Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi and Hero Honda Karizma Fi, which incorporate goodies like Fuel Injection and higher cubic capacity, some where in the back of every ones mind is a big question about Fuel Injection.

Is Indian junta and Indian motorcycle manufacturers ready for fuel injection?

To see where we stand lets look at few facts:

Pros:

1. Necessity: Fuel Injection is inevitable for most Indian motorcycles due to the upcoming stringent pollution control norms. This is where fuel injection comes in; it offers a way for the manufacturers to reduce emissions.

2. Efficiency: Another trump card in favor of fuel injection. Fuel Injection can be tuned to give a good compromise between fuel efficiency and power, while at the same time give better rideability than carbureted motorcycles. This is due to the fact that, unlike carburetor which is single unit that performs every function, Fuel Injection has dedicated components to take care of specific tasks. To know how Fuel Injection works, click here…

3. A step in right direction: for motorcycle enthusiasts it would be a step in the right direction, which ultimately should lead to introduction of large capacity twins and four cylinder motorcycles. After all change and new technology should always be welcomed.

Cons:

1. Cost: Hero Honda Glamour Fi sells for Rs. 55,990 ex showroom Delhi, which is a whopping Rs. 7740 more than the similar spec carbureted Glamour. This translates into 172 liters of petrol i.e. over 10000kms of street riding! So even if the Fi Glamour gives better mileage, the price in the mind of customer is not justified. This is coupled with the fact that a customer would have to stick to authorized service centers for the service and repair of their vehicle, which may turn out costlier than local mechanics.

2. Skilled Labor: This according me is even larger stumbling block than the price, even today most of the mechanics don’t know how to properly diagnose problems and end up ruining our bikes. Only god knows what will happen when they have to fix or tinker with fuel injection.

3. Imperfect Injection: putting a fuel injection system is the easy part, tuning it to work efficiently is the tough part. Even the earlier models of superbikes have suffered from flat spots and abrupt throttle response and few models even suffer from it today. Perfecting it for the small capacity bikes available here would be a tough to say the least, but I will let more bikes with Fuel Injection to come out before saying any thing more.

Conclusion: while after reading the cons you might be wondering the same thing as most, that whether or not our Indian motorcycle manufacturers will be able to pull it off properly, my recommendation would be to reserve your judgment till there are few more Fi bike models in the market.

After all costing factor can be successfully dealt with when these bikes start selling in significant numbers, also the advent of more competition should bring price down as well.

While better after sales service should be a priority for every manufacturers no matter which bike is being sold.

As for imperfect injection, it is some thing I am sure all the manufacturers have already thought about and would have done some serious research and R&D on.

Hopefully our worries will prove unnecessary and we are on the verge of a revolution in the Indian motorcycle arena…