NT1100 coming to the USA - FOR REALS!

Road Slug said:
The Niken by yamaha is unique. Apparently it handles really well.
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What is the point? I get regular trikes for folks that due to age or health cannot ride a regular motorcycle anymore and still want the open air experience. But a leaning trike has zero benefit that I can see and plenty of negatives.
 
I've ridden a Niken, it was surprisingly normal to ride

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and my NC 750 DCT is a great motorcycle. The DCT trans is brilliant, and I'm pretty sure I know how to ride a motorcycle having ridden almost daily on the street since 1965. Don't kid yourself, shifting is not that big of a deal. I've seen 6-year-olds doing it expertly on a motocross track. Enjoying doing it is a lot different than mastering it. Enjoying it is a preference.
 
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the Ferret said:
I've ridden a Niken, it was surprisingly normal to ride

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and my NC 750 DCT is a great motorcycle. The DCT trans is brilliant, and I'm pretty sure I know how to ride a motorcycle having ridden almost daily on the street since 1965. Don't kid yourself, shifting is not that big of a deal. I've seen 6-year-olds doing it expertly on a motocross track.
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Lucky that you got to ride one! Jealous!
 
What is the point? I get regular trikes for folks that due to age or health cannot ride a regular motorcycle anymore and still want the open air experience. But a leaning trike has zero benefit that I can see and plenty of negatives.
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Its big advantage over a regular trike is that it leans over going around curves like a two-wheeled motorcycle does. This provides the same sensations that is one of the big reasons why many people ride motorcycles to begin with. A regular trike does not lean and many people find it more like being in a convertible than being on a motorcycle. The added stability of three wheels in contact with the road makes it easier for people with mobility/health/balance problems to handle than a two-wheeled motorcycle and allows them to continue riding where they might not otherwise be able to.
 
In its beginnings, the DCT was geared towards performance being able to change gears "instantly" without the need for a manual clutch. Several sports cars used them, notably the Bugatti Veyron, NIssan GT-R, and others....then it waned. They didn't have the longevity when used in more and more street/daily use. Then Ford came along and destroyed its reputation by putting it in their econobox Focus. How they got away with that disaster without a formal recall is still beyond me.

Anyhow, Honda has used it successfully in several motorcycles as far back as 2009 (I use succesful as a relative term, I've heard they also have issues in daily driving use). But the key fact to remember is this: the manual transmission in cars/trucks is almost gone. My bet is that 98% of new drivers for the past 20+ years have NEVER driven one. And that is the market they are aiming for, not us old, arthritic, fatties that can barely close a hand around a beer bottle or whiskey glass. Just like Windows made the computer easier for people to use, so will DCT for those drivers who want to ride. We may not like it, but times change. So enjoy your smooth shifting 1100s and 1300s while you can. I WILL.

REF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-clutch_transmission
 
But the key fact to remember is this: the manual transmission in cars/trucks is almost gone.
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In North America this is definitely the case, not the case in many other parts of the world. Outside of North America they haven't adopted automatic transmissions to anywhere near the same degree that we have in North America for some reason. With the exception of the car rental business in very many places outside of North America you are still more likely to encounter manual transmissions in private vehicles even though I have noticed that automatics are more common now than they were years ago.
 
If DCT was for the inexperienced or beginners, then why did Honda introduce it in the VFR 1200X and then in the Goldwing? Hardly beginners or inexperienced rider's bikes. Why not in a CB 300 for instance? or a Rebel 500? Why are there still no models smaller than 750cc with a DCT trans?

Why are DCTs the most popular transmission models sold in models that offer both manual and DCT according to Honda?

but of course, up and down quick shifters are readily accepted, demanded even .... even though you only need to pull in the clutch at stop signs. Ironic huh?

and of course, nobody that doesn't own one, realizes you can shift exactly when you want to with a DCT by putting it in manual mode and using the up and down shift paddles, and shift quicker and smoother than you can with a clutch or a quick shifter.

The DCT trans is brilliant once you've ridden one more than a 15 minute test ride. The more you ride, the more you realize just how brilliant it is.

Did you know the DCT trans is actually banned in MotoGP racing because it is too efficient.

I bought my DCT in June 2021. That year, I rode 283 days and 16,520 miles. In 2022, 318 days and 20,037 miles, in 2023 340 days and 20,740 miles, in 2024 335 days and 18,577 miles and so far this year 54 days and 2,211 miles. In my opinion, I'm pretty much a daily rider. From -2 degrees to 113 degrees in every weather imaginable. In that 1,330 days of riding and 78,085 miles, a total of 56,785 of those miles were ridden on my 750 DCT and the other 21,300 miles were ridden on my 6-speed manual CB 1100. I have not had any issues with either bike (typical Hondas). Certainly no transmission issues with the DCT equipped bike. Often while riding I wish my NC 750 had the CB 1100s motor, or that the CB 1100 had a DCT depending on which bike I'm riding at the time.

Some people just refuse to believe there is another way to ride other than the way they grew up with.

BTW the Beatles are still the best band ever ! (see I can resist change too lol)
 
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