The electric shift is pretty good! After riding a 2000 Kodiak this past weekend, my next quad will problaly be a automatic. It seems like most 4x4 are headed in that direction.

 

i just sold my 99 kawasaki praire auto. i have had it since november and i have put it through the worst condtions imaginable. i had 26" vampires on it. we do alot of mud riding and wooded trails. the bike had 525 miles on it and the belt needed changing. i got the tranny wet 3 times. now i have a honda 450s with 27" tri-claws and i love it. i feel that the mudriding with the aggesive tires and trying to push over trees and such will just keep wearing ou the belts. don't get me wrong the auto was a blast and a real smooth bike to ride but for extreme 4x4ing i feel that the shifter is the way to go

 

I like the idea of a continuously variable transmission that would keep the engine operating at peak torque, but I don’t want to compromise weight, power transfer efficiency and size of the transmission. I don’t like the idea of a drive train that relies on a component that is notoriously unreliable such as a belt. The hydrostatic type transmission used on the new Rubicon may be the answer.

I have read some posts, which use the Sports Car analogy that shifting gears is more fun and I agree with that. Part of the fun is being in control of the engine RPM and the ground speed. Still, CVT is a good idea for torque transfer and maybe the operator adjust mode of the Rubicon will allow the operator to anticipate engine speed for the terrain just like a manual transmission.

I wonder if Honda could build one of those for a sport machine.

 

You'll Prolly Never see the hydro tranny in a high performance machine, it takes WAY too much power. It would make the "high performance" machine, very un high performance

 

I am an auto-tranny kind of rider myself. I feel that for the riding I do it is the best. That is all I will say to avoid friction...

 

Being an ex-350X rider going full auto was not an easy decision. But now I'm wondering what was stopping me?

I used to like to mud race and I lost to a Polaris once so ever since then I wondered about
them. Now that I've got 2 of them I think they are
way better than getting stuck or off to push backwards. Ask a drag racer or a mud racer if they would put a manual shift in to go faster? I don't think they'd be reaching for the wrenchs!

 

Manual shift is nice for race bikes but they should be manual cluched also or it defeats the purpose of shifting.For general riding I like the auto for example you can accerate up a long steep incline try that with auto shift tranny that has to drop it's RPM to go to the next gear and almost comes to a stop to get into 2nd and forget about 3rd you would stall and be rolling back down the hill.And on long rolling rough trail where you can't go faster than a jog pace it's a drag to shift from 1st to 2nd and back every few seconds on a 30 mile run.

 

Has anyone ever stoped and thought about automobiles. The engine components all run on belts and people drive them all across the country with no problems. Also have you ever seen a A/C compressor or smog pump freeze up the belt brakes without major damage. Thats an easy thing to fix instead of other broken parts. I would buy what I liked instead of worring about belts.

 

According to an article in the current issue of Guns and Gear, Yamaha is introducing a new automatic transmission design in this year's product line. Cannot remember the details but it will be unlike the conventional belt designs found on most automatics today.

I guess it means there will soon be three design options for those looking for an automatic.

 

And snowmachine put out 100 HP also with the same belt and drive system as the 30 HP bikes.