What is the difference between carburettor controlled and electronic injection-controlled fuel supply?
Petrol engines, i.e. “controlled ignition” engines, need to be supplied a mixture of very precise proportions of air and petrol. The device which, traditionally, has always carried out this task is the carburettor, the operation of which is entirely mechanic. The current alternative, which has become state-of-the-art in motorcycle engineering, is fuel supply by electronic ignition: petrol is sprayed into the intake air by injectors controlled by the output of an electronic control unit (ECU), which controls ignition and injection in an integrated manner. In other words, it decides WHEN and HOW MUCH fuel should be proportioned and WHEN it should be ignited. The working inputs for an ECU are basically the engine rotation speed – n and the amount of air intake – a (i.e. the throttle opening), adjusted to surrounding atmospheric conditions (air pressure and temperature). The main difference between these two systems lies in the increased versatility, accuracy and controllability of injecti
