Even though I won’t be able to afford it. π
More and more details are being slowly leaked of the new Honda V4. It seems there will be 3 versions, a Sport/Tourer to replace the VFR and the Blackbird, a full-dress tourer with all the fruit to replace the ST1300 and, towards the end of next year, an adventure bike based on the same engine.
Of most interest to most riders will be the VFR/Blackbird replacement. To be sold with a Dual Clutch Technology gearbox. From what I can understand of the technobabble, it means that 1st, 3rd and 5th gear are controlled by one clutch and 2nd, 4th and 6th gear by the other. This means that, in both upchanging and downchanging scenarios, the next gear that you are going to need is already engaged, thus making for much faster gear changes. This system is already in use in several Porsche models and works brilliantly. This will be the firsttime the DCT technology has been fitted to a bike.
As well, it appears that the transmission will be available in either a fully manual (normal clutch and gear lever) mode, a semi-auto mode (no clutch or gear lever – gears changed by paddle shift on the handlebar) and a fully auto mode (not sure how this is going to be implemented)
It is to be hoped that it will not be innovation for innovation’s sake, but, I, for one, can’t wait to have a test ride.
Here’s a spy photo of the bike on test in Death Valley in the USA in June. This one looks like the “fully manual” version.