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Automatic Transmission- All you need to know

Riding a motorcycle is all about the connection between us and the bike. The twist on the accelerator, the shift of the gears, the pull on the brakes and the friction of the tyres to the road, each function connects to us personally. With time, there are a few aspects which have developed to maybe try and ease these to make our ride more serene. One of the aspect is the transmission.

Motorcycle transmissions have evolved substantially in terms of finesse and refinement, but not the actual functioning of it, until recently when automatic transmission motorcycles entered the market. Earlier, automatic transmissions were only limited to mopeds, some scooters, ATVs, jetskis, etc. But now, a lot of OEMs are coming up with automatic transmission motorcycles which also include all the electric motorcycles. What is automatic transmission and how is it better? Lets have a look.

What is Automatic Transmission?

In a standard motorcycle transmission, there is the gearbox, gear lever and the clutch. To engage or change gears, you pull on the clutch, shift the gear on the lever and then you release the clutch as you twist the accelerator a minuscule bit to get off or gain speed. Automatic transmission eliminates all of these steps. You simply twist the accelerator, and the bike will engage automatically and move forward.

The mechanism how this works is a bit complex, as well as contains multiple types. The current and most widely used transmission type is the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) and Dual-Clutch Transmission (DCT).

Both the types have their pros and cons, and OEMs use these depending upon which category the bike belongs to. There is no set standard or rules to it, but in the generic sense, low powered bikes tend to opt for CVT while the high powered and premium bikes opt for DCT simply owing to its high cost and refined ride.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Automatic Transmission

Automatic transmission is not perfect, but it holds many advantages over manual transmission, hence it is being used widely and is gaining traction consistently.

  • Automatic transmission is easy to use and helps bikers learn to ride with greater ease.
  • It reduces the number of parts to handle for the rider and hence results in better ride comfort and ease.
  • It helps reduce rider fatigue
  • Automatic transmission ensures the engine is running at a consistent RPM even within the gear shifts and hence delivers less stress to the engine as well as to the tyres.
  • Wear and tear on the engine and gearbox is reduced owing to smooth and proper shifts.

    • With these advantages in place, it only makes sense for companies to opt for automatic transmission in the future. But there are some disadvantages as well that is the major challenge to overcome.

  • They are expensive
  • Maintenance of automatic transmission is tedious
  • Availability of parts and expertise to repair is still lacking
  • Failure of one part in the system can wreck the entire unit
  • It makes the bike as a package more expensive.

    • Thus we can safely conclude that yes, automatic transmission is the future of automotive travel, considering the future is electric. Electric motorcycles use a single speed motor and hence the need for gears is eliminated as a whole. But even for internal combustion engine bikes, automatic transmission is the future and it will be more accessible and easy to use and adapt to in the future.

    By: Pratik Patole