| Author | Message | ||
     Electraglider_1997 |
This is something to ponder over. Why have a fixed transmission when you could have a transmission that could be different depending on how you want to ride that day. If you don't feel like shifting then you wouldn't have to. If you wanted 6 speeds then it could do that also. And if it's lighter and and adds to fuel efficiency then it's even better yet. http://www.gizmag.com/go/8147/ | ||
| New12r |
Cool stuff! I would like to have it. | ||
| Cyclonedon |
cost??? | ||
| Leeroy_jenkins |
aprilia has the mana auto 850 coming soon. Infinitely Variable Transmission (CVT)  | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I don't know how these CVT's do what they do but it sure seems that if you could set it for economy, dragstrip, trail riding, or whatever, then I say, bring it on. | ||
| Bertotti |
Heck I don't know if I like the idea or not. I would have to try it. I do know that Aprillia is a sharp bike. | ||
| Froggy |
I hate CVTs in cars, i can only imagine how horrible and lifeless it would make a bike feel. Not that it couldn't be done right, it just hasn't. As far as i know most scooters are CVT. | ||
| Metalstorm |
Well...Buell is pretty damn good at figuring out how to make things work the way they were meant to..... I doubt they have the time or resources to even consider it but if they did I'd bet they could vastly improve it. It's a pretty neat idea, though I don't know if my left hand could ever get use to not having a clutch lever  | ||
| Thunderbox |
They are not realy infinately variable they are Continuosly Variable. Not quite the same thing. Electronically you could select a 5,6,7,8 or any speed transmission your heart desires or you could just make it take your engine to the sweet spot and keep it there as you excellerate. Wow,. | ||
| Bearly |
I rented a few cars with similar transmissions and it does feel weird. I do one thing, I wouldn't want a automatic transmission in my sports car. Having transmission that you have to wait even a small amount of time for at the apex is not for me. | ||
| Arcticktm |
Don't forget about the place that CVT's have been used the most: Snowmobiles. They have also been carried over into ATV's, though these are not exactly performance models. There are production sleds out up to around 170 hp currently, and they all use a CVT/belt transmission. They are not selectable by the driver, though. If you want to make a change, you have to adjust or swap parts out. The next level in evolution would be like the Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter uses. It is a electronically controlled CVT (ECVT), so you can use it in fully automated mode, select a "sport" mode, or select a mode that mimics having gears and lets you "shift" between pre-selected ratios in the transmission. When I was working at Arctic Cat, we looked into this for some new style sleds we were thinking of, but Suzuki wanted too much money for the ECVT, and we didn't have the engineering resources (or vision) to develop one. We did buy one of these scooters, and it was fun playing around with the modes. The "sport" was the most useful, as the pre-selected ratios are kind of meaningless when you have that kind of transmission. That scooter would easily do 95mph on a very short oval test track. The CVT's on snowmobiles are actually very cost effective (since you eliminate the entire gearbox), but would be a bit challenging to package or make safe at sportbike engine RPM's (no RPM problem for air-cooled Buell's though!). Snowmobile engines are generally developed with the clutch RPM limits in mind. | ||
| Chrisgrant |
Love it on my King Quad ATV, but I would not buy it on a bike. It kinda takes the whole bike fun-factor out of it for me. |
