If a spy shot from Europe is on the money, it looks as if Honda may be working on a new dual-clutch bike with an automatic transmission.
The photo, which ran Tuesday on MotorcycleUSA.com, shows a naked motorcycle minus the usual clutch lever. The standard-styled bike has its engine well-hidden behind the radiator, so it’s a little unclear what displacement and configuration the motor will come in. But, there’s nothing fancy about the conventional front forks and single disc brake, so the theory is that this is a mid-sized entry-level motorcycle.
We don’t know when more Honda will tell us more about the bike, but we may learn more at the Milan bike show.
I’m not sure why Honda is trying to cram “Hondamatics” onto the market…isn’t that what scooters are for? Why would you want to remove part of the connection to the bike? are you planning on paying less attention to riding and maybe start texting while you ride??
It’s bad enough that it is getting hard to find cars & trucks with manual transmissions (with mindless drivers behind the wheel that are paying less and less attention to the task of driving), do we really need the same issue with a bike?
But what do I know, I’m obviously in the minority when it comes to cars & trucks or the manual transmission would be more popular…
Later.
Glad to see Honda hasn’t given up on the auto bike.
The DN 01 was a monumental failure, not because it was an automatic, but because the ergonomics were bizarre as hell.
The fact that the original price could also buy you a nicely equipped Honda Civic didn’t help matters.
Check out the VFR1200 with auto transmission.
Now that’s a cool machine, with nice ergo’s.
It,s about time we have a choice of automatic transmission on motorcycles, since many years ago we have most automobiles, school buses and big trucks with automatic transmission, why not bikes too ? we have to keep up with technology; lets bring the clutch less bikes.