A few years back car brands introduced auto gear shift technology for cars which has picked up pretty well and is a sweet compromise between the convenience of an automatic transmission and the control of a manual gearbox. Now, the same technology has made its way into motorcycles as Honda has announced a new E-Clutch mechanism for geared motorcycles aimed to smoothen out clutch control operation.
The brand claims the E-Clutch to be the world’s first automatic clutch operation for multi-gear manual transmission in motorcycles. The clutch system is electronically controlled with the help of solenoids to disengage and engage the clutch in a smooth and non-jerky manner. The automatic operation of the clutch will assist during starting, shifting to a higher or lower gear and at the time of coming to a halt. The rider can override the system at any given time as the clutch lever will be present at the standard location and the operation of it continues to be as it is on most motorcycles today. According to Honda, the E-Clutch will provide “instantaneous, fine-tuned clutch control for optimum performance in situations where the driving force changes.”
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Honda believes that the new tech will allow the rider to comfortably concentrate on the pleasure of riding. In our opinion, the other perspective worth considering is that the E-Clutch tech is a more economical solution to provide the convenience of a non-geared experience on a geared bike. In our books, it makes a lot of sense for those who commute extensively in stop-and-go traffic on a daily basis and on the other end for touring motorcycles, where one can let the system take care of the clutch operation until required.
The implementation of the mechanism doesn’t require major changes to the existing engine layouts. Honda feels that the application is more suited to “fun” motorcycles and will be introduced “over time”.
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Of course, this is not the first innovation the company has devised for clutch operation. The Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) is a tried and tested tech that is very much on offer on production bikes like the Africa Twin, Gold Wing and the NT1100 sold in the international markets.
The E-Clutch tech isn’t that complicated of a tech, considering the testing and programming for the control unit for smooth operation of the mechanism in different scenarios will take some time before Honda introduces the technology to production motorcycles. That said, will there be an option to choose between a DCT or E-Clutch on motorcycles like the Africa Twin? Only time will tell.
