Hey guys - While I’m pretty sure Zero is going to keep their direct drive for a while, maybe in the future we’ll see high-tech electrics bikes use transmissions to obtain additional range or use a transmission for high speed track use or low gear performance for off-road bike racing.
As we all know, the most efficient transmission is one with standard gearing. CVT’s have their limitations and automatic’s have loss from slippage since they work on a hydraulic principle. It’s for this reason the dual clutch transmission was developed, they are somewhat simple in design, have the worlds fastest shifting and their operating system has the lowest loss of any transmission made. Until recently, DTC’s were only found in high-end Sports cars like Porsche 911, Mercedes GT-S, BMW M4, Alfa Romeo 4C, Acura NSX, and others since the DCT has no power loss, shifts faster and smoother than any human driver can.
In the past, some car manufactures used DCT’s but had quality control problems, but now DCT’s are making their come back in new vehicles like Ford and of course Honda Acura with its 8 speed DCT. I have heard that Honda spent over 100 million in development of the DCT so its pretty damn neat when you can jump on a bike like my Honda NC700 which I only spent around $8500 and have this technology. I presently own two bikes with DTC, a Honda NM4 and Honda NC700, after owning them for years, they still amaze me with their performance and technology.
Here’s how they work, first off there is no clutch lever or mechanical foot lever. On the right bar there is a button which has Neutral, Drive and Sport. when you move the switch to Drive, nothing happens until you add throttle. Drive is like an Eco Mode so the computer shifts very quickly to conserve fuel, at 38 mpg you’ll be in 6th gear if you use moderate throttle. My NC700 gets 60-65 mpg. and my NM4 with its aerodynamics gets 85-90 mpg with its 700cc 2cyl engine.
The more throttle you use the longer and further the processor will hold the shifts since it know you’re looking for performance rather than economy. It also has a kick down feature, if you’re in say 4th, it will downshift to 3rd or even 2nd if you open the throttle. The next mode is; Sport Mode, on the 2017 models there is a choice between three different Sport modes. In Sport, the transmission pretty much shifts as if you were driving a sport bike, it hold the gears longer and the engine rev’s much higher. Since its oriented on performance it won’t shift in to 6th gear until 60 mph.
Manual Shifting - If you like, you can choose “Manual Only†shifting - on the right handle there is a manual button which allows you to shift the bike manually with two levers on the left side of the bar. You can also downshift the bike as well. If you forget or just lazy, the processor will downshift the transmission for you. Another function of the manual levers is; if you are in the Drive or Sport mode and you decide you want to shift up or down a gear, you can hit the manual lever and it will shift the bike into that range.
In brief here’s how the transmission works, let’s say your in 1st gear then you want to shift to 2nd gear, At the “moment you shift†there is no mechanical gear shifting taking place from 1st gear to 2nd gear, both gears are already fully engaged and what happens is; it releases the clutch for 1st gear and engages the clutch for 2nd gear.
Honda’s DCT system incorporates two clutches, Clutch 1 is used for starting off and also controls odd number gears 1st, 3rd and 5th gears. Clutch 2 controls 2nd, 4th and 6th gears. The bikes processor controls the two clutches to operate in sync with each other in making gear changes. When the computer or rider changes gears, at the moment the shift takes place, the processor simply disengages the first clutch then engages second clutch or vice vera.
Regards - Mike