Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced that it has developed the Dual Clutch Transmission, the world’s first fully automatic motorcycle dual clutch transmission for large-displacement sport bikes. The new transmission provides riders sporty riding enjoyment with easy operation, while its superior transmission efficiency delivers fuel economy equal to or better than a conventional manual transmission. A new VFR large-displacement sport bike equipped with the new transmission will be released in Europe and North America in 2010, with sales to commence in Japan at a later date. American Motorcyclist
This new addition features a “light, compact design that allows it to be combined with existing engines without substantial layout modification.” But what of extra rotational mass introduced by the dual clutch design? That’s the kiss of death when power is priority, which might explain why Honda says the gearbox debut on “a new VFR large-displacement sport bike.” That’s undoubtedly the VFR1200 we’re expecting next year.
The transmission includes three ride settings allowing the rider to select from a regular “D” mode, a sporty automatic “S” option and a conventional six-speed manual mode for traditionalists who want to be reminded that they are in fact riding a motorcycle.
We called Honda so we could feed your voracious appetite for details like how much it’ll cost, how fast it’ll do and when we might see it on other models, but Honda says you can starve. It isn’t saying anything more until later this fall.
As for Honda’s competition, there’s nothing on the horizon with a dual-clutch box on a sportbike. Yamaha offers clutchless shifting on the FJ1300AE to minimize clutch-hand fatigue on continent-crossing rides, and Aprilia offers the Mana 850 with a continuously variable automatic transmission. We’re just waiting for the end-of-days when the pilot is riding bitch. Wired
The dual clutch system uses two co-axial drive shafts, the internal shaft for the odd numbered gears and an external shaft for the even gears. Each drive shaft is connected to its own independent clutch.
Dual clutch gearboxes have been used in race cars since the ‘80s. For use in motorcycles, Honda needed to make the transmission more compact. The new system uses dual input shafts, a new in-line clutch design. Motorcycle.com
The new transmission features a dual clutch transmission configuration in which independent clutches are employed for the odd gears (1st, 3rd, 5th) and even gears (2nd, 4th, 6th), respectively. The two clutches operate alternately to effect gear changes. For example, when changing from 1st to 2nd gear, the computer detects the up-shift and engages 2nd gear, then releases the 1st-gear clutch while engaging the 2nd-gear clutch to achieve a seamless gear change. While some existing dual-clutch transmissions are bulky, the new system employs original technologies such as dual input shafts, an innovative in-line clutch design, and concentration of hydraulic circuitry beneath the engine cover to achieve a compact design. Compactness and lightness is further enhanced through the use of a simple shift mechanism design based on that of a conventional motorcycle shift drum. Optimised shift scheduling achieves fuel economy equal to or better than that of a fully manual transmission, enabling Dual Clutch Transmission to deliver both sporty riding and environmental performance combined. Autoblog
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