I Test Rode A Dual Clutch Transmission Today

[angrygirafe]

1 hour ago, 1moreroad said:

I got to test ride a Zero. As part of the safety review, they said, do NOT blip the throttle at a stop. You will get to know whoever is in front of you and their insurance agent very well. 

I would guess a DCT would be similar. Are you ever in neutral?

When my wife and I only owned manual transmission vehicles, it was an adjustment to drive an automatic and compensate for creep in stop and go traffic. 

That’s a good question about the DCT and neutral. Something I’ve loved about the Zero is the balance and straight line stability when in crawling traffic; like 1-2 miles an hour. Without having to modulate a clutch I can keep my feet up and track a straight line at almost no speed. Does the DCT work the same for that?

[betoney]

7 minutes ago, angrygirafe said:

That’s a good question about the DCT and neutral. Something I’ve loved about the Zero is the balance and straight line stability when in crawling traffic; like 1-2 miles an hour. Without having to modulate a clutch I can keep my feet up and track a straight line at almost no speed. Does the DCT work the same for that?

I cant speak to crawling through slow speed traffic, I quickly got away from traffic and onto rural 2-lane roads.  The closest I got to slow speed maneuvering was a few feet up u-turns. 

One thing was evident though was the absence of ANY on/off throttle snatchiness, NONE.  Whether it was the actual fueling or a combination of fueling with the seamless transmission engagement, throttle actuation felt like a big scooter, a V4 scooter with 129hp!  😎

[PhotoAl]

Thanks for the well written review.  I've not considered them before but now will have to contemplate.  Have thought about the VFR800 but not the 1200 but they fall by the wayside due to the weight.  

@johnmark101 yes the GT3 is an amazing car, GT3 RS is even better!  I see them a lot on the track, Porsche owes me a hot lap ride which I need to collect on one of these days.  My brother-in-law just did a Porsche drive thru the mountains of Spain - his son took him. He had a blast, 12 cars in a Porsche tour with stops and hotels included.  I need to suggest to my kids that is a great idea haha.  Pretty cool to watch a good driver in a GT3 during a track day, seriously fast cars.

[oregonian]

I have a VFR1200X DCT and a VFR 1200F DCT.  The transmission was considered cutting edge in 2010 (when the F came out) and wasn't very popular.  Honda limited power in first and second gears (in order to save the gearbox from abuse) and a lot of riders complained.  Now, they sell 4 Goldwings with DCT for everyone one bike with standard transmission.

The bikes share the same engine, but with completely different tuning and some other changes that give the X more torque in the middle of the powerband.  The X is great for long range use and the F is a 175 hp rocket.  I typically ride the X in sport 3 mode and the F in manual paddle shift mode.  

Both bikes are ridiculously large due to the size of the engine.  My 2016 FJ 09 is much more enjoyable for standard riding due to the weight and responsiveness of the engine.  If I had to only have one bike, the FJ would be it.  

[Garz747]

I totally agree with the quick shifting and ability to fly through the gears. I have a BMW SUV with the incredible ZF 8 speed automatic. Having said that, for a bike that you are not commuting with I love the rider involvement with the clutch and gear lever.  I actually feel more in tune with matching revs to road speed and road conditions than just flicking my finger like an X Box. To each his own- long live the manual!

[larolco]

On 12/4/2021 at 8:12 AM, angrygirafe said:

That’s a good question about the DCT and neutral. Something I’ve loved about the Zero is the balance and straight line stability when in crawling traffic; like 1-2 miles an hour. Without having to modulate a clutch I can keep my feet up and track a straight line at almost no speed. Does the DCT work the same for that?

You just use the brakes and let the engine idle. Same as an automatic car. 

I test rode the VFRX (Crosstourer) with DCT a few years back. I did not like the DCT. I felt the shifting was slow and removed any personality the bike might have had. Boring. I wish I could have ridden a non-DCT version to compare. I might have bought a manual-shift version as the bike was a good fit for me and what I use a bike for. 

I parked that 1200 and hopped on a DCT Africa Twin. Totally different experience. The lesson for me was not all DCT bikes behave the same. The AT was much sharper in shifting and I felt more "in control" of things. Much more fun to ride.

Anyway, I didn't buy any Honda and ended up with the Yammy a couple of years later when my Strom aged out. 

I'd sure like to take a Zero out for a spin. Kinda out of my price range, though, and probably not ideal for what I do to a bike. Still, I'm intrigued. 

How's that battery last at below freezing temps? While running heated gear? I'd need minimum two hours range. 

[angrygirafe]

16 hours ago, larolco said:

You just use the brakes and let the engine idle. Same as an automatic car. 

I test rode the VFRX (Crosstourer) with DCT a few years back. I did not like the DCT. I felt the shifting was slow and removed any personality the bike might have had. Boring. I wish I could have ridden a non-DCT version to compare. I might have bought a manual-shift version as the bike was a good fit for me and what I use a bike for. 

I parked that 1200 and hopped on a DCT Africa Twin. Totally different experience. The lesson for me was not all DCT bikes behave the same. The AT was much sharper in shifting and I felt more "in control" of things. Much more fun to ride.

Anyway, I didn't buy any Honda and ended up with the Yammy a couple of years later when my Strom aged out. 

I'd sure like to take a Zero out for a spin. Kinda out of my price range, though, and probably not ideal for what I do to a bike. Still, I'm intrigued. 

How's that battery last at below freezing temps? While running heated gear? I'd need minimum two hours range. 

I can’t speak to below freezing, since I have the opposite problem in Phoenix. It works great all winter! 😂

 

Charging is a PITA in the summer though; I have to be very attentive to the battery temp while riding so that it won’t overheat when I plug in to charge. It’s not dangerous, but the charging will stop until it cools off more. Not great for the on board charger at those temps either. 
 

I have a 15mile commute, 14 miles on the interstate averaging 80-85mph. State of charge usually drops 30-35% for that, requiring about 3kWh worth of charge. My battery is a 13kWh one. So freeway range obviously isn’t great, but it goes WAY up on surface roads. 
 

It’s great for commuting, worthless for anything else. 

[roy826]

I owned a 2017 Africa Twin DCT for two years and 17k. Great bike not one issue with it. Took it off road many times it excelled at it. Grew up in dirtbikes but it wasn’t hard to ride the AT DCT off road for me. Honda has the DCT technology nailed down. It work! 
 

I had ohlins suspension front and rear on it. Great setup that was. 

[betoney]

On 12/4/2021 at 8:15 PM, oregonian said:

I have a VFR1200X DCT and a VFR 1200F DCT.    The X is great for long range use and the F is a 175 hp rocket.  I typically ride the X in sport 3 mode and the F in manual paddle shift mode.  

Both bikes are ridiculously large due to the size of the engine.  My 2016 FJ 09 is much more enjoyable for standard riding due to the weight and responsiveness of the engine.  If I had to only have one bike, the FJ would be it.  

Do you have any regrets owning any of the 3 different bikes? and do any one of them get much more or less saddle time than the others?  I'm kind of curious if the X is too similar to the FJ to own both.