Following my little guy down the trail this past weekend got me thinking and wondering.

When coming down a long trail/graded road of maybe 4-5%(thinking 15-20 mph) on a manual shift bike the transmission and engine are working to compression brake the bike and you can shift up/down to control speed and the engine RPMs vary with speed.

How does that work with the drive system on the LT80 and other bikes that are the clutch driven/CVT type where you just hit the throttle and go? I'm wondering does the clutch keep the engine engaged so the RPMs are up or does the clutch disengage and the engine is essentially idling?

 

Several videos you can watch on this. Engine Rpm and load determine how a cvt system works for the most part. On a lot of the youth machines that have centrifugal type rear clutches,the shoes expand and grab the drum and transmits power to the gear case.

 

Thanks!