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Living in Arizona, with a XR650L (basically the same motor) the fear of carbs is very well founded. I had to buy a another carb to solve a problem I couldn't sort on the original carb.
I test rode one back in around 91 or so. Thought it was a bit vibby (I thought it was a twin - what did I know? I had been out of motorcycles for ten years), very pricy for the size and power offered but knowing what I know now I would have waited till the prices drop and bought a couple. It's a huge reason why I got the CB.
Being cheap I can't justify one now unless I got it for a reasonable price; but it would be a very cool bike to have.
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Not so much fear as reality. I live at 8000' and frequently ride at 10,000 - 12,000'. Fuel injection seems to handle the higher elevations better than carbs. I sold a perfectly good, carbureted SV650 because it struggled with the elevation.
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(08-16-2016, 06:38 AM)LongRanger_imp Wrote: Not so much fear as reality. I live at 8000' and frequently ride at 10,000 - 12,000'. Fuel injection seems to handle the higher elevations better than carbs. I sold a perfectly good, carbureted SV650 because it struggled with the elevation.
That's a big deal at your altitude. Manufacturers used to sell jet kits to retrofit carbs that lived above around 5k ft. CV carbs could compensate a little better than the old slide carbs, but neither compares to fuel injection.
I've only had issues with carbs on bikes that sit for long periods. The carbs on my CB750 (which is ridden regularly) haven't been touched since they were new over 20 years ago.
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Being in the midwest carbs ( including motorcycles) can get iffy during particularly harsh winters with many snow days. It WAS an issue before I discovered Seafoam. Not since then. All my carbed stuff gets a Seafoam treatment when not being used, sometimes for months on things like chainsaws or mowers or weedeaters, and never a problem when they need to be fired up again.
