Yeah, sure, why make motorcycles easier to ride and safer?
Because everybody might want one and you won’t be so special anymore?
IIRC this was tried back in the 70s only the manufacturing technology hadn’t caught up with the concept.....this time it’ll work.
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I’ve got a bigger problem with E bikes than this......some of those people are a freakin’ menace to society....not to mention themselves.
I’m not sure if you’re a rider or not but you have said something that at least suggests you’re not.
When on a bike, especially with a passenger, power delivery is key. A rider must know that power is available in the amounts necessary to right a bike in a corner.
With an auto transmission this can be sketchy. Concerns of whether it will be at the proper rpm (and capable of planned per delivery at that RPM) is enough to dump it.
That said , and this is for the rest of the forum, the Honda e clutch that I rode has a clutch lever.. but you don’t need to use it. It’s similar to the slipper clutch now being sold for many ADV bikes - such as my bmw. It’s there, but I don’t have to use it. If I’m on a hill at a light though it’s very helpful especially when carrying precious cargo - a passenger.
I am sure the immediate uptick in motorcycle deaths will be folded in with other mortality rates.......
They aren’t safe. True Darwin machines. I have had a dozen.
No shifting does not make a motorcycle safer. It actually makes low speed handling more difficult. If you can’t learn to feather a clutch you probably shouldn’t get on a motorcycle in the first place.
Remember that the easier you make it the less attention the driver/rider will pay to what he’s doing. And that’s deadly.
Try farting around and texting with your cell phone when you’re driving a five-speed manual shift in a car.
There were automatic motorcycles before this & as I recall, Honda even made one. I rode only one automatic cycle & it was a Moto-Guzzi. As I recall, Guzzi’s was basically like an old Chrysler product; a manual trans behind a torque converter & manual clutch. You used the clutch mainly just to shift gears; it did not shift automatically. It was a 2-speed & a nice ride.