Yamaha has released details of a new semi-automatic gearbox. The Y-AMT system, which stands for Yamaha Automated Manual Transmission, offers both fully automatic transmission (AT) and manual transmission via paddles on the steering wheel. A traditional gear lever is missing.
When Honda introduced the Dual Clutch Transmission on the VFR1200 in 2010, they were thought to be crazy. An automatic transmission on a motorcycle, how dare they. It was sacrilege, shifting gears was simply part of riding a motorcycle and with an automatic transmission you could just as well drive a scooter, no matter how emotionless.
However, Honda persisted, continued to develop the DCT transmission and significantly expanded the model line with DCT models, with the result that of all models available with DCT, more than half are now sold with that automatic transmission.
The popularity of DCT has made other manufacturers think. The disadvantage of DCT is the excess weight due to the double clutch, but wouldn’t that also be possible with a traditional clutch? Do you really need, as was Honda’s philosophy, two gearbox shafts with a clutch each, one for the even and one for the odd gears?
Advanced electronics have made the up/down quickshifter commonplace in a short time and the American clutch specialist Rekluse had already developed an automatic multi-plate clutch, which at MV Agusta has resulted in the SCS, which stands for Smart Clutch System, a clutch operated via an up/down quickshifter. gearbox with automatic clutch. Add electronics to automate the shifting and you’re done.
All manufacturers now seem to have seen the light. BMW presented the Automated Shift Assistant (ASA) in early May 2024, which is expected to be used for the first time on the R 1300 GS Adventure, KTM took part in the Erzbergrodeo with its 1390 Super Adventure with semi-automatic transmission and teased a photo of the fixture on the handlebar, while Honda has now launched an e-Clutch system in addition to DCT and Kawasaki has provided a semi-automatic transmission on its two hybrid models Ninja 7 Hybrid and Z 7 Hybrid.
They have now also changed tack at Yamaha. Although strictly speaking, the brand with the crossed tuning forks was actually the pioneer in this area with the YCC-S (Yamaha Chip Controlled Shifting) system that was introduced on the FJR1300 five years before Honda’s DCT. YCC-S was basically a conventional gearbox with an automatic clutch, where shifting could be done via paddles on the steering wheel or via an electronic gear lever.
The second version of the system introduced automatic downshifting when the speed dropped below 30 km/h, but that was it. The YCC-S died a quiet death when the FJR1300 was discontinued.
You could therefore say that the Y-AMT now announced by Yamaha can be seen as an evolution of the YCC-S. With the Y-AMT system you have – just like Honda’s DCT, BMW’s ASA and the transmission of the Hybrid Kawas – the choice of fully automatic (AT) or manual (MT) shifting, the latter of which can only be done via the paddles on the steering wheel. are done.
The flippers on the steering wheel are unique to the Y-AMT system. Switching can be done in the DCT way via two paddles – a plus flipper for upshifting and a minus flipper for downshifting, operated with your thumb and index finger. But in addition, the plus flipper can also be pulled out to shift up, and pressed to downshift. According to Yamaha, this has the advantage that the thumb does not have to be removed from the handlebars.
In the case of automatic transmission, Yamaha gives you two choices: D and D+, the latter having a sportier shift pattern and shifting at a higher RPM. Of course, the paddles on the handlebars can also be used at all times in AT mode.
Yamaha says it has developed the Y-AMT system, which weighs a total of 2.8 kilos, from a sporting point of view. “To enhance the purity of sporty riding, so that the driver can now concentrate even more on the exciting aspects of the ride,” Yamaha said in its press release.
According to Yamaha, it will start introducing Y-ATC in a range of models in the near future, to apply this application to sports riding, touring and commuting, but – of course – does not yet mention man and horse. We are betting on the Tracer 900, which is currently Yamaha’s most touring model.
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.