AutoblogGreen

No more carburetors on Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Down deep in a review of the new Harley-Davidson Nightster (shown) is a note that the company is now 100 percent fuel injection. The Sportster line, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a H-D brand, no longer uses a carburetor. Even as the Dyna, Softail and Electra Glide received fuel injection on the advanced EVO engine in other Harley models, the Sportster stayed with carbs to keep the price down on the company's entry-level line. But attention to smog controls and growing demand from customers who appreciate EFI efficiency has prompted the venerable American icon to join the 21st century this year.

To please old timers, engineers tried to rough up the idle to retain the familiar "potato-potato-potato" soundtrack from the exhaust. But reviewer Susan Carpenter, who likes the overall package, says, "At idle, the slash-cut dual exhaust still sounds imperfect and arrhythmic because a computer is calling the shots." Well, Susan, sometimes there are trade-offs in cleaning up our planet.

[Source: Susan Carpenter / Los Angeles Times via San Francisco Chronicle]