Highland Cycles has been selling, installing and testing Lectron carburetors for over a year now here is our long term follow up!
Lectrons have been around since the 70’s so they are nothing new but recently KTM put a Mikuni carburetor on the 17 and newer 2 strokes they have really taken center stage. The Mikuni is not our favorite carburetor but you can jet it and make the the bike run well. The biggest drawback to the Mikuni is that the fuel mileage isn’t great and the jetting seems to only work for a relatively narrow altitude and temp range.
The beauty of the Lectron carb is its very WIDE operating range. Altitude and temp don’t seem to effect the running of the bike much at all. We have personally raced a 300 with a lecton at 700 ft above sea level at the Oklahoma Gold Rush.
And ridden at 11,000+ feet above sea level in our home in Colorado without any adjustment at all!
Here is the other side of the story though. While the Lectron is very good and pretty much hassle free there are some draw backs. With the Lectron on the bike it feels like you are using traction control. Of course in the really gnarly stuff that is a great thing!
But when you want to light up the rear tire or lift the front wheel it takes a little more throttle opening and doesn't snap like the older KTM's and the YZ's we have had that use the Kehin PWK. The Kehin carb will bring those motors to life very quickly and that is a good thing in our opinion! Of course not everyone wants arm jerking power but some do and the Lectron doesn't deliver it the same way the Kehin does.
So here is the final score card:
Lectron Highs: GREAT fuel economy, very little hassle with tuning for any altitude or temperature, super smooth power delivery that feels like traction control.
Lectron Lows: Almost too smooth for some riders tastes, Choke is on the wrong side of the carb (right side), not enough snap from motor.
In the gnarly mountains of Colorado where we are located the Lectron makes a lot of sense. We ride from 5,000ft to 12,000ft all the time and some smoothness is welcome when the days get long and the arms get tired.
