10-09-2017, 12:08 PM
I have about 1,800 miles on a Honda Africa Twin Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) model. A DCT transmission is an automatic transmission of sorts. My understanding is that it has two clutches, one for gears 1,3, and 5 and the other clutch for 2,4, and 6. Shifting from 2nd into 3rd, for example, is the process of release one clutch and engaging the other one. The shifts can be so smooth at times that all I can detect is a drop or rise in engine RPM.
The bike always starts in neutral and once you put it into gear there is no blipping the throttle, or you will look a bit silly at the traffic signal as you lung forward. With the bike in automatic mode you can select from 1 of 4 shifting modes, D-Mode and Sport 1 thru Sport 3. These modes differ in the RPMs at which the bike will up shift or down shift. Down shifting is as smooth as up shifting. You can also put the bike into manual shift mode and use the handle bar mounted paddle shifters. You cannot shift into neutral when the bike is moving but you can manually punch a button and put it into neutral once you are stopped.
The Africa Twin (or CRF1000) has an optional foot shifter. This allows you to use your left foot to shift in the same way the handle-bar mounted paddle shifters work. But there is still no way to shift into neutral unless you are stopped.
The purpose of this post is that I have come to believe that what such bikes as this one really needs is a clutch lever. My big reason for this is that motorbikes in general don’t act like cars and trucks at very low speeds, either stopping or just starting out. Cars will never act the same as ‘we’ motorbike riders only have two wheels. Every riding knows what happens when your speed drops so low that it is hard or impossible to balance the bike. Also how is feels to start out in very slow speeds in stopped traffic or in a parking lot etc.
My assertion is that a DCT motorbike would be far more acceptable and ‘user friendly’ if Honda were to add a shift lever. If the bike is in automatic mode and the shift lever is pulled the bike slips into neutral but stays in automatic mode. Once the shifter lever is released the bike continues as before. The rider should be able to slip the clutch and thereby ease the difficulty of slow starts and stops. On a standard manual transmission bike I find that the ability to slip the clutch a bit comes in very handy from time to time.
Now if the rider squeezes the shift lever and also moves the left-foot shifter up or down then the bike changes into strict manual mode. In my view such a bike could be ridden very similarly to a bike with a conventional transmission. The only difference is that the rider is shifting ‘by’-wire’ or ‘by-computer’ so to speak as opposed to shifting by pulling a physical cable. In my view the shift lever should be made to respond to touch in much the same way as a ‘real’ shift lever.
I am attempting to have my cake and eat it too.
The bike always starts in neutral and once you put it into gear there is no blipping the throttle, or you will look a bit silly at the traffic signal as you lung forward. With the bike in automatic mode you can select from 1 of 4 shifting modes, D-Mode and Sport 1 thru Sport 3. These modes differ in the RPMs at which the bike will up shift or down shift. Down shifting is as smooth as up shifting. You can also put the bike into manual shift mode and use the handle bar mounted paddle shifters. You cannot shift into neutral when the bike is moving but you can manually punch a button and put it into neutral once you are stopped.
The Africa Twin (or CRF1000) has an optional foot shifter. This allows you to use your left foot to shift in the same way the handle-bar mounted paddle shifters work. But there is still no way to shift into neutral unless you are stopped.
The purpose of this post is that I have come to believe that what such bikes as this one really needs is a clutch lever. My big reason for this is that motorbikes in general don’t act like cars and trucks at very low speeds, either stopping or just starting out. Cars will never act the same as ‘we’ motorbike riders only have two wheels. Every riding knows what happens when your speed drops so low that it is hard or impossible to balance the bike. Also how is feels to start out in very slow speeds in stopped traffic or in a parking lot etc.
My assertion is that a DCT motorbike would be far more acceptable and ‘user friendly’ if Honda were to add a shift lever. If the bike is in automatic mode and the shift lever is pulled the bike slips into neutral but stays in automatic mode. Once the shifter lever is released the bike continues as before. The rider should be able to slip the clutch and thereby ease the difficulty of slow starts and stops. On a standard manual transmission bike I find that the ability to slip the clutch a bit comes in very handy from time to time.
Now if the rider squeezes the shift lever and also moves the left-foot shifter up or down then the bike changes into strict manual mode. In my view such a bike could be ridden very similarly to a bike with a conventional transmission. The only difference is that the rider is shifting ‘by’-wire’ or ‘by-computer’ so to speak as opposed to shifting by pulling a physical cable. In my view the shift lever should be made to respond to touch in much the same way as a ‘real’ shift lever.
I am attempting to have my cake and eat it too.