Possible prototype pic of new F6B?

[six2go]

Looks good, but I'm old school, and I won't buy a bike with out a clutch. JMO

Better get ready to write a check cuz the DCT has 2 of 'em.

I think if more people really understood the DCT they would stop calling it an "automatic". True, you can use the mode where you don't have to do anything but twist and go, but it's really a regular transmission that is electronically shifted. No slushbox with a torque converter. If you use the manual mode, you can shift at your pleasure just like the antiques, or if in sport mode it will shift for you and ya better be hanging on because it will go like hell and shift faster than a human can with a handlebar mounted lever and toe shifter.
My VW GTI has this same technology and I wouldn't want to regress to a stick or true auto. This is the performance transmission of the future. Formula 1 has been using it for awhile now.
Just offering another viewpoint. Enjoy the ride, no matter what.

[Deerkiller]

I don't know about all this DCT. I can upshift pretty damn fast with what I have now. Just don't use the clutch, preload the shifter, and blip the throttle down with the flick of a wrist. It all happens rather quickly

I'd rather not have it any other way. A quick shifter and an auto-blipper setup on a regular transmission would be the cats ass. Along with a slipper clutch. And more power of course.

First time I ever rode a bike with a quick shifter I went from being confused as to what just happened to having the biggest dumb grin on my face once I started using it. Pretty sure there's no faster way to go thru the gears.

[BIGLRY]

Better get ready to write a check cuz the DCT has 2 of 'em.

I think if more people really understood the DCT they would stop calling it an "automatic". True, you can use the mode where you don't have to do anything but twist and go, but it's really a regular transmission that is electronically shifted. No slushbox with a torque converter. If you use the manual mode, you can shift at your pleasure just like the antiques, or if in sport mode it will shift for you and ya better be hanging on because it will go like hell and shift faster than a human can with a handlebar mounted lever and toe shifter.
My VW GTI has this same technology and I wouldn't want to regress to a stick or true auto. This is the performance transmission of the future. Formula 1 has been using it for awhile now.
Just offering another viewpoint. Enjoy the ride, no matter what.

How does DCT work?
http://world.honda.com/motorcycle-pi...ail/index.html
and
http://world.honda.com/motorcycle-picturebook/DCT/
and
http://world.honda.com/motorcycle-pi...nge/index.html

Yea a lot of guys have no concept of how the DCT(Dual Clutch Transmission) really works and you are correct it can shift faster and at a better RPM that you or I ever could.
Yes, they are proven in F1 cages, a few street cages and some MC for a few years now.
There is no slip like something with a torque converter before it locks up. I think of the DCT trans as having an RPM induced, electronically activated, hydraulically operated clutch that will operate faster than me without missing a shift.
Do I want one?....... that is a debatable question, while on one hand I might get quicker 1/4 mile times, but I'm still old school and love the tactile feeling of controlling the power in my hands, but there again DCT is coming and I think we are going to see it on more steel steeds as the public gets used to it.




Here is another reason the DCT is becoming so popular too. you'll notice there is no big drop in the torque when shifting from first gear to second gear with a DCT system. A very smooth transition that keeps the engine's torque continuously applied.

[ShanghaiDan]

What the little guy right above said...

DCTs are used in F1, Lamborghinis, Porsches, Ferraris, and pretty much all high performance cars. They shift faster than you can (literally 20-30 milliseconds - faster than a person can react), perfectly match throttle each time, and with two clutches - it's nearly always ready for the next shift.

I have a buddy who has the same scoot as I do - a CTX700. Mine is the DCT, his is manual. He raced professionally early on, and also has a few other sports bikes (uses the CTX as a commuter). He KNOWS how to shift fast, and the CTX is a really slick shifter. He weighs 140, I'm north of 300. When we race, he pulls away every single gear - until we shift. Or rather, he shifts and my DCT does its thing. I catch and pass him every time. Then he pulls ahead a bike length, we shift, and I'm in front again until he slowly inches ahead (due to a 20% weight differential).

Out-shifting a DCT is like saying you can out-brake an ABS system. MAYBE one out of 50 times you can "beat the computer" but you're gonna lose 49 times out of 50. And seriously, the freedom from NOT having to clutch and shift (especially in traffic) is a truly amazing thing. The art of riding becomes about riding, not kicking a lever... Nothing better than not clutching 100 times every block in LA city traffic!

But if you don't want a DCT - looks like Honda will offer it both ways, like they do the rest of their DCT-enabled bikes!

[BIGLRY]

What the little guy right above said...

DCTs are used in F1, Lamborghinis, Porsches, Ferraris, and pretty much all high performance cars.
I have a buddy who has the same scoot as I do - a CTX700. Mine is the DCT, his is manual. He raced professionally early on, and also has a few other sports bikes (uses the CTX as a commuter). He KNOWS how to shift fast, and the CTX is a really slick shifter. He weighs 140, I'm north of 300. When we race, he pulls away every single gear - until we shift. Or rather, he shifts and my DCT does its thing. I catch and pass him every time. Then he pulls ahead a bike length, we shift, and I'm in front again until he slowly inches ahead (due to a 20% weight differential).

Out-shifting a DCT is like saying you can out-brake an ABS system. MAYBE one out of 50 times you can "beat the computer" but you're gonna lose 49 times out of 50. And seriously, the freedom from NOT having to clutch and shift (especially in traffic) is a truly amazing thing. The art of riding becomes about riding, not kicking a lever... Nothing better than not clutching 100 times every block in LA city They shift faster than you can (literally 20-30 milliseconds - faster than a person can react), perfectly match throttle each time, and with two clutches - it's nearly always ready for the next shift.
traffic!

But if you don't want a DCT - looks like Honda will offer it both ways, like they do the rest of their DCT-enabled bikes!

I agree!
That would be cool.

[Deerkiller]

Interesting that MotoGP bikes don't use the DCT

Although, full disclosure, DCT are basically outlawed in MotoGP. So they use the seamless gearbox instead. The DCT adds quite a bit of weight over the seamless setup also. Not sure what would be better in the capable hands of Rossi, Marquez, and the like.

Bottom line is, no one here is capable of utilizing one over the other to its maximum potential. Because if anyone was, they would have a large contract with a racing organization. For the record, my old assed R1 can hang with the top A group riders without any electronic aids whatsoever. No quick shifter, no ABS, no traction control, no throttle restriction (last year of the throttle cable). Nothing. I can pass bikes with all that electronic wizardry simply by having the guts to outbrake them into turn one And I'm just a track day hack.

I prefer my manual transmission in a bike just because. And the bottom line is that we ain't racing here. Otherwise we wouldn't be riding these bikes. I wouldn't buy a bike with a DCT/automatic transmission right now because it wouldn't be as fun to ride. So there. No BS about anything. Just stating my personal opinion

[Jimmytee]

I like the idea of the DCT transmission, but I wonder how would be in the twisties. How long would it take to learn new riding techniques or acclimate? Riding aggressively, I am used to keeping the engine torqued up going into corners.

[ShanghaiDan]

I like the idea of the DCT transmission, but I wonder how would be in the twisties. How long would it take to learn new riding techniques or acclimate? Riding aggressively, I am used to keeping the engine torqued up going into corners.

I'm on my second set of floorboards on my CTX... I ride nearly every week in the Santa Monica mountains (Yerba Buena is my favorite ride - you're lucky if you find 20 yards straight). No problem with the twisties and walking away from cruisers and keeping up with sports bikes!

DCT can be switched to "manual". Meaning you have two toggle switches - on for "shift up" and one for "shift down". You can keep it in gear as long as you like. It will happily bang off the rev limiter if you don't upshift - but it WILL automatically downshift if you start to bog the engine (down around 1500 RPM).

For monthly hauls to SF, I leave it in automatic/drive mode, and sit back and enjoy the ride and the scenery. For in-city rides (Ventura, the valley, LA/OC), I use automatic/sport mode. More aggressive with the shift timings (higher RPMs, holds longer) so it works better as you need to "scoot quick" a bit more. And for the mountains/fun time I drop it into manual and go at it, deciding when and where I want it to shift.

[Hornblower]

I like the idea of the DCT transmission, but I wonder how would be in the twisties. How long would it take to learn new riding techniques or acclimate? Riding aggressively, I am used to keeping the engine torqued up going into corners.

Jimmy--If it's like the DCT in my tuned VW GTI, it is great in the twisties. Paddle shifters, both up and down, work flawlessly and shift better than I can manually shift with a clutch.