When fuel injection began to take over the street bike scene, the change over was relatively rapid. Next, it will be dirt bikes.
Beginning next year, and continuing over the next two to three years, expect to see most motocross bikes switch from carburetion to fuel injection. One of the best selling motocross bikes in the United States, the Honda CRF450R, will likely be fuel injected next year, with most Japanese motocross bikes fuel injected in production form within the next three years.
It will be interesting to see how this affects motocross bike maintenance. Fuel injection systems are inevitably more complicated than carburetors, but changing the air/fuel ratio could be much easier (although more expensive) than swapping carburetor jets. “Reflashing” an ECU that controls the fuel injection system, as is now done on many street bikes (or using a piggyback system like the power commander) will become the means of “rejetting” your dirt bike. Fuel injection systems on motocross bikes, of course, will have to be far more robust than those found on street bikes given the nature of motocross, itself.
