- 1 day ago
The motorcycle gearbox can be a great mystery but Kevin Cameron is here to help us all understand how it works. Why do we have six-speeds and constant mesh (mostly)? Kevin and Mark Hoyer also divert into DCT, helical gears vs. spur, and how to make your dogs happy. Join them for another Cycle World Podcast.
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Find us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/cw/CycleWorldPodcast
Kevin and Mark's Patreon features extra videos not posted on YouTube, both regular long-form and new short-form episodes. Additional bonus podcasts are posted each week, and you can watch every episode posted here on YouTube, as well--but commercial-free on Patreon. Subscribe and get all the Cycle World podcasts and every new episode without commercial interruption!
Become a Channel Partner: https://octanemedia.co/home/become-an-advertiser/
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6CLI74xvMBFLDOC1tQaCOQ
Read more from Cycle World: https://www.cycleworld.com/
Buy Cycle World Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/cycleworld
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00Welcome to the Psycho World Podcast. I'm always tempted to do radio voice and really throw it out there and
00:00:04get the welcome.
00:00:06Welcome to the Psycho World Podcast.
00:00:09Yes, but we'll just carry on. As per usual, I'm Mark Hoyer, the Editor-in-Chief.
00:00:15I'm with Kevin Cameron, our Technical Editor. Thanks for joining us.
00:00:18The topic this week is gearboxes. How does a gearbox work? Why do we have a gearbox?
00:00:23We'll answer some fundamental questions and we'll talk about maybe some things to help them work better.
00:00:29Obviously, the gearbox is critical. We want you to learn how to do stuff, but this is down to you,
00:00:36folks.
00:00:36You take your gearbox apart, it's down to you. We're going to try to help people understand and give you
00:00:41some tools to move forward on your own
00:00:43to figure out how to fix your gearbox and get the most out of it if you want to do
00:00:47that.
00:00:48Otherwise, it'll be an informative program. As usual, Kevin has spent many, many times, well, hours and many times inside
00:00:56gearboxes.
00:00:57And in fact, you've talked about visiting a factory where the guy showed you the factory gearbox and we improved
00:01:05shifting by doing X.
00:01:06And you're like, hey, great. So did I in 1972 with my Kawasaki.
00:01:12Before we get going on the podcast, we would like to invite you to see us on Patreon.
00:01:19We're doing everything on Patreon will be commercial free.
00:01:22So all of our normal Wednesdays, we'll continue doing this on YouTube.
00:01:26Those will be as per usual with advertising, etc.
00:01:30But on Patreon, you can get this podcast and others without commercial breaks,
00:01:34in addition to the fact that we are putting extra content up.
00:01:37So Kevin and I are joining more times per week and we're getting some short topics in.
00:01:43So we'll have shorter conversations.
00:01:44There's one called The Excellence of Butter.
00:01:47And don't worry, it's related to motorsports and it's also related to staying alive and enjoying a good meal.
00:01:55So if you want to figure out how we make gravy, we might even broach that subject in that podcast,
00:02:02short form, shorter form.
00:02:03They're still long. We're still conversing quite a bit.
00:02:06So join us on Patreon. There's a link in the description.
00:02:09And if you subscribe with us over there, it'll be commercial free.
00:02:13And we appreciate any support you got.
00:02:16And thank you.
00:02:16So let's talk about the gearbox, Kevin.
00:02:19Let's do.
00:02:21Why?
00:02:22Why, indeed, do we need a gearbox?
00:02:26And, of course, by comparison with many electric vehicles, battery driven,
00:02:35the electric motor is either connected to the wheel or wheels through a reduction ratio,
00:02:44which is constant in most cases.
00:02:46Or in the case of hub motors, the electric motor drives the wheels directly.
00:02:53And there can be a motor in every wheel.
00:02:56A little bit of a hit on unsprung weight there.
00:02:59Well, there is a hit.
00:03:01And Ferdinand Porsche, back in the days of even before World War I, he had a lot of knowledge about
00:03:12electrical systems.
00:03:14And he built a road train, which was electrically powered with hub motors on every car in the train.
00:03:24And there was a power car at the head, which had a powerful engine, IC engine, driving a generator.
00:03:33And from the generator flowed the electricity to drive all the wheels.
00:03:37And that constant ratio is not practical for all but the lowest powered, slowest of vehicles, mopeds, the most basic
00:03:55kind.
00:03:55Because the range of the engine, RPM range of the engine, is much less wide than the speed range of
00:04:08the vehicle.
00:04:11Now, in the case of a moped that has an automatic clutch, you turn the grip, the engine speeds up,
00:04:20it carries you away.
00:04:22You pick your feet up and put them on the pedals.
00:04:27And up to about 25 miles an hour, the engine just drives the thing.
00:04:31And at 25 miles an hour, it's at its peak power.
00:04:35And away you hum to work in downtown Paris, perhaps.
00:04:41And, but the problem is, comes when engine power increases and so does top speed.
00:04:51Because if we build a stronger engine and we gear it directly to the rear wheel, in the early days
00:05:02it was a belt.
00:05:03Great big things.
00:05:05Flapping, lovely leather, I'm sure.
00:05:09And we do the ratio so that the top speed that is made possible by the greater power we've built
00:05:19into the engine,
00:05:22then the engine has trouble at low speeds.
00:05:26Because it's fallen below its zone of best torque.
00:05:30And it's kind of ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk.
00:05:33So we say, okay, here's what we'll do.
00:05:38We'll add a second speed.
00:05:41The one ratio will be for road cruising and top speed.
00:05:47And the other ratio will be for starting from rest and accelerating until when we shift to the second speed,
00:05:56the RPM of the engine doesn't fall so far that it's going.
00:06:02Quick sidebar.
00:06:03Quick sidebar.
00:06:04Suzuki Hayabusa.
00:06:08I did the math and also experimented on the road, you know, 100 pound-feet of torque on that rear
00:06:14wheel on our dyno.
00:06:16And you could use third gear on a Hayabusa from about 18 to 20 miles an hour.
00:06:25And it would pull until about 145, as I recall.
00:06:29Yes.
00:06:30Good range.
00:06:31So pretty tractable.
00:06:33Pretty wonderfully tractable engine and gargantuan amounts of torque.
00:06:37And if you did some clutch slipping, it was not inconceivable to pull away smoothly in third gear on a
00:06:43Hayabusa.
00:06:43In 1911, Indian, which was manufactured down here in Springfield to the south of me,
00:06:55brought two-speed race bikes to the Isle of Man, and they swept the event, one, two, three,
00:07:02and they had two-speed gearboxes.
00:07:04So the engines they brought were very tractable, and the first ratio was for the lower-speed parts of the
00:07:15course,
00:07:15and the higher ratio was for the higher-speed parts.
00:07:18But now we increase engine power again, and top speed rises.
00:07:27But the ability of the engine to start from rest may not.
00:07:37So now we need an intermediate speed between the two,
00:07:41because what we don't want is when we shift out of our first ratio to our top ratio
00:07:48that the engine RPM has been pulled down so far that we have chain snatch.
00:07:56And, or we've pulled the engine down into an RPM range where its torque is too weak to continue the
00:08:03acceleration,
00:08:04which would be like, well, you could try it by shifting, engaging only three speeds.
00:08:15Anyway, they added the intermediate speed between first and top to give a three-speed gearbox.
00:08:22And this is where American motorcycles stayed for years for special reasons,
00:08:30because American oil fields were generous, and they were abundant.
00:08:37And this meant that gasoline was not terribly expensive.
00:08:41It didn't have to be important.
00:08:43So motorcycles were given great big engines that had a mile-wide pulling range.
00:08:49These were literally tractor-like engines.
00:08:53Three speeds were plenty for those things.
00:08:58But in petroleum-free Europe and in England,
00:09:04do you ever remember seeing photos of oil derricks in England?
00:09:11The more they tuned up engines to allow smaller displacement engines,
00:09:19which are more economical, using less of the expensive imported gasoline,
00:09:25the narrower the range of the engine became,
00:09:28because they were having to make use of RPM-sensitive tuning methods.
00:09:34The basic one is to extend camshaft timing.
00:09:39But when you do that, the power range tends to narrow.
00:09:44You are boosting cylinder filling at higher RPM
00:09:48by borrowing from bottom end and somewhat from mid-range.
00:09:56Because if the cam timing is long enough to fill the cylinders at maximum RPM,
00:10:02then at lower speeds, the piston rises on compression.
00:10:06Oh, the intake valve is still open.
00:10:09Oops!
00:10:10And whoosh!
00:10:11Part of the charge that you just pulled into the cylinder gets blown out.
00:10:15So that's how hotter cam timing results in weak mid-range
00:10:21and possibly non-existent bottom end.
00:10:26So three speeds were it in Europe until around 1930.
00:10:34There had been some four speeds built for racing and for production bikes.
00:10:40There were a few production bikes with four speeds.
00:10:42But when they got to the point of racing at the Isle of Man,
00:10:54three speeds didn't do it anymore.
00:10:55After they had got their engines tuned up
00:10:59and they saw the direction in which things were going.
00:11:03For example, megaphones, tuned length intake and exhaust pipes.
00:11:10Now, the reason that the two-stroke engine has such a narrow range
00:11:16is that the exhaust pipe is a resonant duct.
00:11:21There are waves bouncing back and forth inside that thing,
00:11:25and as well as smoke.
00:11:27And the range over which they help your engine is maybe 1,200 RPM wide.
00:11:36So as engines were tuned up to produce more and more power,
00:11:43but over a narrow range,
00:11:46bear in mind that the most popular displacement in Europe and England,
00:11:51as Harley executives found on their 1924 fact-finding trip,
00:11:57was 350 cc's, whereas in the U.S., 1,000 cc's was normal.
00:12:04So a third the displacement.
00:12:06So they're having to get whatever power it is that they need to get around
00:12:11out of this little engine.
00:12:12So they're going to have to push the compression ratio.
00:12:16Compression helps torque at all speeds.
00:12:20They're going to push the valve timing,
00:12:22which tends to raise, push the power toward the top of the RPM range.
00:12:28They're going to use the tuning effects of pipes,
00:12:33exhaust and intake.
00:12:34These operate only over a few hundred RPM.
00:12:38So again, if you're trying to get more out of less displacement,
00:12:45you're going to push the torque and the power up towards higher revolutions.
00:12:50So they added a fourth gear.
00:12:57So through the 1930s and into the 50s,
00:13:02British racing motorcycles and production bikes had four-speed transmissions.
00:13:12But then came the war, which meant everyone stopped racing,
00:13:18start thinking about making parts for hurricanes and Blenheims and Lancaster bombers
00:13:26and what have you for the duration.
00:13:30And when the racing business started after the war and the whole motorcycle industry in Britain
00:13:39and in the United States began to produce motorcycles again,
00:13:44not military ones at that,
00:13:49four speeds was the norm.
00:13:51So all those British parallel twins that came into the US in the 1950s were four speeds.
00:14:00And they would stay that way until early 70s when five speeds came in.
00:14:09And again, there's this speed effect.
00:14:14As you increase the top speed,
00:14:18the RPM of the engine is farther away at top speed
00:14:24from the RPM at which you can pull away in your lowest gear.
00:14:30So what's happening is that first,
00:14:34the whole gearbox is being re-geared to serve the higher top speed.
00:14:39And now there's a gap between what you'd like to pull away from rest and what you have.
00:14:47So for street bikes,
00:14:51RD350's first gear was a starting gear.
00:14:54It was so far below second gear that you almost never used it in just riding around.
00:15:01It was just for starting that uphill stoplight with your girlfriend on the back.
00:15:10Very tedious.
00:15:11So the low starting gear.
00:15:13And also in the 1950s,
00:15:18two strokes were getting developed.
00:15:20In the spring of 1951,
00:15:24here comes Erich Worf,
00:15:26an engineer at DKW in Germany,
00:15:31inventing a very modern looking two-stroke expansion chamber,
00:15:39which has two tapers.
00:15:41It tapers out like a megaphone.
00:15:44There's a center section that is cylindrical.
00:15:46And then there is a tapering back down,
00:15:49which the Germans called Gagenkonus,
00:15:52the counter cone,
00:15:54which reflects a pressure wave back to the cylinder.
00:15:59Any fresh charge that has looped around the cylinder
00:16:04and gone out the exhaust port.
00:16:06Ah, freedom!
00:16:08Oh, here comes the pressure wave.
00:16:12Pushes it back into the cylinder.
00:16:14What began to happen is those engineers realized,
00:16:18we have the beginnings of an acoustic supercharger,
00:16:22which uses exhaust energy to supercharge the engine through the exhaust port.
00:16:31Well, when they started making real power with two-strokes,
00:16:37that is 20 horsepower from a 125,
00:16:41which was about equal to what the four-strokes were making in the late 50s,
00:16:48125s,
00:16:49they found that the more power they made tended to make the power band absolutely disappear.
00:16:59So they added more gearbox speeds until finally,
00:17:04there was one 50cc racer that had a dual-range transmission,
00:17:09three times,
00:17:11two times nine,
00:17:13three times six,
00:17:1418 speeds.
00:17:15It had three ranges
00:17:17and six speeds.
00:17:21So can you imagine rowing your way through that thing?
00:17:24Suzuki's little 17,500 RPM 50
00:17:28had 14 speeds.
00:17:31Its gearbox shafts were so long
00:17:33that they had to have support bearings in the middle
00:17:35so they didn't sag.
00:17:39So
00:17:41this whole thing
00:17:42with gearbox ratios
00:17:48had become ridiculous.
00:17:51And
00:17:52even the four-strokes.
00:17:54Even the lowly Honda Trail 90.
00:17:57I had a 1969 Honda Trail 90.
00:18:00It had a dual-range gearbox.
00:18:02And I took it off-road.
00:18:03I did 100 miles off-road one day on that thing
00:18:06and dirt roads up in the mountains here.
00:18:09And I was riding the regular range
00:18:11and I thought,
00:18:11well, this is perfectly fine.
00:18:13You know, I don't need this low range.
00:18:15It seems redundant.
00:18:16And I got to a sandy, kind of bumpy uphill
00:18:19and I was struggling to get up.
00:18:20And I said,
00:18:20well, this is probably a good time to try this thing.
00:18:23And I shifted it.
00:18:24There's a lever on the box
00:18:25and you shifted to low range
00:18:27and I got back on.
00:18:28And I couldn't believe how great it was.
00:18:30It was a real difference.
00:18:32It was really good.
00:18:33So I guess
00:18:34I don't even remember.
00:18:35I think that's a four-speed.
00:18:37So I would have had an eight-speed.
00:18:39Not that you would use them,
00:18:40you know,
00:18:42in the way that you described
00:18:43in the racing motorcycle.
00:18:45But
00:18:46highly useful.
00:18:47It was good.
00:18:48Yes.
00:18:49Charming.
00:18:49Charming.
00:18:50The four-strokes were getting up there.
00:18:54Seven, eight, nine, ten speeds.
00:18:58More speeds for the smaller, screechier engines
00:19:01like the 21,500 RPM 50cc of 1965.
00:19:08So
00:19:09all the Japanese companies
00:19:12quit racing
00:19:13in 1967.
00:19:16I think Yamaha continued with their factory stuff for a year.
00:19:20But
00:19:20basically,
00:19:22the big four
00:19:22stopped.
00:19:24And the FIM,
00:19:26the sanctioning body,
00:19:28said,
00:19:30who's going to use a 14-speed gearbox
00:19:34that he made in his cellar?
00:19:37Maybe nobody.
00:19:39Maybe one or two very clever Dutchmen
00:19:42who have
00:19:43an extreme desire
00:19:46to make fast 50s.
00:19:47But here's what we're going to do.
00:19:50We're going to limit the number
00:19:51of gearbox speeds
00:19:52to six.
00:19:55And they limited the number
00:19:57of cylinders for
00:19:59500 and
00:20:01350 to four.
00:20:02And for the
00:20:05250 and 350
00:20:06to two cylinders.
00:20:08And for the 50cc
00:20:10to one cylinder.
00:20:11So suddenly,
00:20:13well,
00:20:14we learned how to make power
00:20:15when we knew
00:20:16we had this
00:20:17fantastic gearbox
00:20:19that weighs more than the engine.
00:20:21What are we going to do now?
00:20:23Get busy
00:20:24widening the torque curve
00:20:26of your engine.
00:20:28And
00:20:29at this point,
00:20:32the advantages
00:20:33of four valves
00:20:34over two
00:20:37consist
00:20:37in terms of performance
00:20:39that
00:20:40four valves
00:20:42don't need to be open
00:20:43as long
00:20:44because they have
00:20:46more
00:20:47curtain area
00:20:48as they open.
00:20:50The
00:20:51exposed flow area
00:20:53is the lift
00:20:53of the valve,
00:20:54how far it is
00:20:55off its seat,
00:20:56times the distance
00:20:57around
00:20:57the two valves
00:20:59in the case
00:21:00of a four valve.
00:21:01And
00:21:03allowing
00:21:03a shorter
00:21:04timing
00:21:05means
00:21:06that you don't
00:21:07have to have
00:21:07cam timings
00:21:08such as I described
00:21:10that are so long
00:21:12that they only work
00:21:13on top end
00:21:13because at lower
00:21:14speeds
00:21:15they're pushing
00:21:16the mixture
00:21:19out of the cylinder
00:21:20through this
00:21:21late intake
00:21:22closing.
00:21:24Okay,
00:21:26the four strokes
00:21:27have been taken care of.
00:21:29Four valves
00:21:30are going to
00:21:31broaden their range
00:21:32so that
00:21:33they're going to do
00:21:34just fine
00:21:36with
00:21:37six speeds.
00:21:40And
00:21:41the two strokes
00:21:44they
00:21:44began to
00:21:46play with
00:21:47just how
00:21:48far
00:21:49they could
00:21:50push the
00:21:51port timing
00:21:51and still
00:21:53get the benefit
00:21:54of exhaust
00:21:55waves
00:21:56and they found
00:21:56that there
00:21:57at that time
00:21:58it was like
00:21:58there was
00:21:59limitless power.
00:22:00Every year
00:22:00they could add
00:22:01five more
00:22:01horsepower
00:22:02and that's
00:22:04what happened
00:22:04in racing
00:22:05in 1975
00:22:06all Grand Prix
00:22:08classes were
00:22:09won by
00:22:09two strokes
00:22:10and it stayed
00:22:11that way
00:22:11until
00:22:122002
00:22:13when
00:22:15MotoGP
00:22:16began.
00:22:17But
00:22:18six speeds
00:22:19and
00:22:20even today
00:22:22that remains
00:22:23the rule.
00:22:23Now let's
00:22:24think about
00:22:25what happens
00:22:26when a MotoGP
00:22:27bike
00:22:27whose top
00:22:28speed
00:22:29is 225
00:22:31miles per
00:22:31hour
00:22:32and it
00:22:33has a
00:22:33fairly close
00:22:34ratio
00:22:34gearbox
00:22:35that gearbox
00:22:35set of
00:22:36ratios
00:22:37is moved
00:22:38over
00:22:39so the
00:22:40top gear
00:22:40is 225
00:22:41miles per
00:22:42hour
00:22:42bottom
00:22:44gear
00:22:44is
00:22:45112
00:22:46and a
00:22:47half
00:22:47miles
00:22:47per
00:22:47hour.
00:22:49What?
00:22:51So
00:22:52this
00:22:53brings us
00:22:57tricks
00:22:58that have
00:22:59been used
00:23:00to make
00:23:00six speeds
00:23:02into
00:23:03a workable
00:23:04situation.
00:23:05The
00:23:06cassette
00:23:06gearbox.
00:23:08A
00:23:09cassette
00:23:09gearbox
00:23:10is a
00:23:11system in
00:23:12which if
00:23:12you take
00:23:13off the
00:23:13clutch
00:23:14and the
00:23:14clutch
00:23:14cover
00:23:15and undo
00:23:17the screws
00:23:17around the
00:23:18plate that
00:23:19has the
00:23:19two
00:23:20gearbox
00:23:20shafts
00:23:21in it
00:23:21you can
00:23:22pull that
00:23:23thing out
00:23:24of the
00:23:24motor
00:23:24in one
00:23:25unit
00:23:27and you
00:23:27can change
00:23:28the individual
00:23:29gear ratios
00:23:31if your
00:23:31rider is
00:23:32saying I
00:23:32don't know
00:23:33man turn
00:23:34five I'm
00:23:35just hanging
00:23:35there and
00:23:37I need
00:23:38another 300
00:23:39revs to
00:23:40get the
00:23:41engine pulling
00:23:41no problem
00:23:43we put in a
00:23:44ratio that
00:23:44does that
00:23:45for you
00:23:45and set
00:23:46the previous
00:23:47ratio aside
00:23:48at MV
00:23:50who always
00:23:51raced
00:23:53four strokes
00:23:54after
00:23:551950
00:23:57they had
00:23:58in the
00:23:59race shop
00:24:00they had
00:24:00a big
00:24:01board
00:24:01which was
00:24:02like
00:24:02three feet
00:24:03square
00:24:04with pegs
00:24:05in it
00:24:06peg peg peg peg peg peg
00:24:07rows and rows of
00:24:08pegs and on
00:24:09every peg
00:24:10was a stack
00:24:11of gears
00:24:13and these
00:24:14were their
00:24:15alternate ratios
00:24:16so that
00:24:16and they
00:24:17of course
00:24:17there was a
00:24:18wonderful
00:24:20book of
00:24:21useful information
00:24:22that told you
00:24:23which ratios
00:24:23for which
00:24:24racetrack
00:24:27and so
00:24:28that was a
00:24:28dodge that
00:24:29allowed them
00:24:30to tailor
00:24:30the gearbox
00:24:31to the
00:24:32circuit
00:24:33thus making
00:24:34it possible
00:24:35to have
00:24:35six speeds
00:24:36and not
00:24:37fall off
00:24:39the bottom
00:24:39or suffer
00:24:41some other
00:24:41a podcast
00:24:42in itself
00:24:42Kevin
00:24:43it is
00:24:44the application
00:24:44of ratios
00:24:45to different
00:24:46racetracks
00:24:46and you're
00:24:47running out
00:24:48of revs
00:24:48between
00:24:48corners
00:24:49because you're
00:24:49trying to
00:24:49get a drive
00:24:50and the
00:24:51straight's
00:24:51just a little
00:24:52too long
00:24:52but you're
00:24:53losing time
00:24:53if you
00:24:53shift
00:24:54yes
00:24:55it's really
00:24:56it's a lot
00:24:57of complicated
00:24:57math
00:24:58I suppose
00:24:58analytics
00:24:59now
00:24:59with everybody
00:25:00having
00:25:02data acquisition
00:25:04that they
00:25:04can
00:25:06somehow
00:25:06calculate
00:25:07the ratios
00:25:08a lot
00:25:08easier
00:25:08I can't
00:25:09imagine
00:25:09it's much
00:25:11of a challenge
00:25:12these days
00:25:12the one
00:25:13thing
00:25:13that you
00:25:13must
00:25:14observe
00:25:14is
00:25:14rev drops
00:25:16at
00:25:17upshift
00:25:18because
00:25:19in order
00:25:20to make
00:25:21your bike
00:25:21pull
00:25:22in the
00:25:23next
00:25:23higher
00:25:23gear
00:25:25the rev
00:25:26drop
00:25:26must not
00:25:27pull it
00:25:27down
00:25:28to a
00:25:29RPM
00:25:30at which
00:25:30the engine
00:25:31can't
00:25:31accelerate
00:25:32the bike
00:25:34and that's
00:25:35why those
00:25:36first gears
00:25:36on RD
00:25:37350s
00:25:38and other
00:25:39bikes of
00:25:39that kind
00:25:41without
00:25:42big
00:25:42displacement
00:25:43to drag
00:25:44the bike
00:25:45away
00:25:45no matter
00:25:46what the
00:25:46ratio
00:25:49what you'll
00:25:50find if you
00:25:51write down
00:25:51the ratios
00:25:52and figure
00:25:53out what
00:25:53the RPM
00:25:54drops are
00:25:54from first
00:25:55to second
00:25:56second to
00:25:57third and
00:25:57so forth
00:25:57you'll find
00:25:58the rev
00:25:59drops get
00:26:00smaller as
00:26:00you go up
00:26:01the gearbox
00:26:01why
00:26:02at the top
00:26:03of the
00:26:03gearbox
00:26:04most of
00:26:04the engine's
00:26:05power is
00:26:06overcoming
00:26:06aerodynamic
00:26:07drag
00:26:09so
00:26:09you don't
00:26:10want the
00:26:11RPM to
00:26:11fall very
00:26:12far for
00:26:13that fifth
00:26:13to sixth
00:26:13upshift
00:26:14because the
00:26:15engine might
00:26:15just go
00:26:16bow
00:26:18I can't
00:26:19pull that
00:26:20wide
00:26:21so
00:26:22they make
00:26:24the
00:26:24rev drops
00:26:26large at
00:26:27the bottom
00:26:27where it's
00:26:27easy to
00:26:28accelerate the
00:26:29motorcycle
00:26:29air drag
00:26:30is practically
00:26:31zipped
00:26:31and there's
00:26:32not a lot
00:26:33of energy
00:26:33in the
00:26:33motorcycle
00:26:34at 25
00:26:35miles an
00:26:35hour
00:26:36so they're
00:26:37wide at the
00:26:37bottom and
00:26:38they get
00:26:38narrower and
00:26:39narrower and
00:26:39narrower toward
00:26:40the top
00:26:41yeah that's
00:26:41why your
00:26:42one two
00:26:42shift is so
00:26:43clunky
00:26:43sometimes the
00:26:44relative speed
00:26:45of the ratios
00:26:46is quite
00:26:46wide
00:26:47it is
00:26:48and so
00:26:49when you
00:26:49shift the
00:26:50dogs into
00:26:51the next
00:26:51one it's a
00:26:52pretty good
00:26:52clunk and
00:26:53it's one of
00:26:53the reasons
00:26:54that on the
00:26:54Honda
00:26:56Goldwing DCT
00:26:57the dual
00:26:58clutch automatic
00:26:59is they added
00:27:00another ratio
00:27:01so the first
00:27:02gear and the
00:27:02sixth gear
00:27:03are the same
00:27:04as the manual
00:27:04Honda Goldwing
00:27:05but they added
00:27:06a ratio for
00:27:07one two and
00:27:08three to narrow
00:27:09those gaps
00:27:09to smooth
00:27:10that response
00:27:12so you have
00:27:12a seven
00:27:12speed since
00:27:13we're not
00:27:13racing Goldwings
00:27:14we should I
00:27:15guess but
00:27:15we're not
00:27:17and I
00:27:18heard years
00:27:19ago that
00:27:21this might
00:27:22not be true
00:27:23today but
00:27:23the lap
00:27:25record for
00:27:25gold ring
00:27:26around Willow
00:27:27was faster
00:27:28than that
00:27:29of a major
00:27:30US
00:27:31manufacturers
00:27:32any
00:27:33any motorcycle
00:27:34that it
00:27:34made
00:27:36for
00:27:36production
00:27:38now
00:27:41Goldwing
00:27:43that's a
00:27:44special thing
00:27:45anyway
00:27:46well it is
00:27:46I mean the
00:27:47Goldwing
00:27:47just to give
00:27:48props to
00:27:49Honda on
00:27:49the flat
00:27:50six it
00:27:50makes about
00:27:51100 to
00:27:52108 foot
00:27:53pounds
00:27:53it makes
00:27:54about I
00:27:54think it's
00:27:54100 foot
00:27:55pounds at
00:27:551000 RPM
00:27:56oh I
00:27:57thought it
00:27:57was 12
00:27:58RPM I
00:27:58knew it
00:27:59was low
00:27:59well the
00:28:00peak the
00:28:01torque peak
00:28:01the 108
00:28:02is is
00:28:05is something
00:28:05like 1200
00:28:06and then it
00:28:07just tapers
00:28:08off after that
00:28:09and that was
00:28:09an intentional
00:28:09tuning
00:28:10it doesn't
00:28:10taper a lot
00:28:11it just
00:28:11keeps on
00:28:13pulling that
00:28:14chain
00:28:14yeah it's
00:28:15remarkable
00:28:17shaft drive
00:28:18what's wrong
00:28:18shaft drive
00:28:19yeah
00:28:20well now
00:28:21imagine
00:28:21Bonneville
00:28:21you've built
00:28:22a motorcycle
00:28:23that's geared
00:28:24for 400
00:28:24miles an hour
00:28:25how do you
00:28:26start
00:28:26from rest
00:28:27you don't
00:28:28traditionally
00:28:29a souped
00:28:30up pickup
00:28:30truck
00:28:31with boards
00:28:32bolted to
00:28:33the front
00:28:33of it
00:28:33pushes you
00:28:35up to a
00:28:36speed where
00:28:38you can get
00:28:39going in
00:28:40wherever your
00:28:41lowest gear
00:28:42is but
00:28:43there have
00:28:43been some
00:28:44mishaps
00:28:45because at
00:28:45low speed
00:28:47streamliners
00:28:47are not
00:28:49terribly stable
00:28:50the
00:28:51intentions
00:28:52of the
00:28:54driver of
00:28:55the streamliner
00:28:56and those
00:28:56of the
00:28:57driver of
00:28:57the souped
00:28:58up pickup
00:28:58truck may
00:28:59differ from
00:28:59time to
00:29:00time
00:29:01so there's
00:29:02been a
00:29:02move to
00:29:03build
00:29:04eight-speed
00:29:04special
00:29:06eight-speed
00:29:06transmissions
00:29:08for streamliners
00:29:10so that they
00:29:11can start
00:29:11from rest
00:29:12they have
00:29:13the little
00:29:13training wheels
00:29:14that come
00:29:15down
00:29:15they close
00:29:17the lid
00:29:17the thing
00:29:18is going
00:29:18racketa
00:29:19racketa
00:29:19and away
00:29:21it glides
00:29:23so
00:29:25another
00:29:26thing
00:29:26that is
00:29:27related to
00:29:28rev drop
00:29:30from gear
00:29:31to gear
00:29:31is gearbox
00:29:33range
00:29:34which is
00:29:36dividing
00:29:37top gear
00:29:38into first
00:29:39gear
00:29:40on a
00:29:41trials bike
00:29:41that might
00:29:42be 3.25
00:29:44because a
00:29:45trials bike
00:29:46has to be
00:29:47able to
00:29:47authoritatively
00:29:48climb up
00:29:49one side of
00:29:50a boulder
00:29:53they do
00:29:53the most
00:29:54amazing
00:29:54things on
00:29:55trials bikes
00:29:56and they
00:29:56they need
00:29:57that low
00:29:57down grunt
00:29:59if you want
00:30:00to see
00:30:00somebody go
00:30:00look up
00:30:01tony bow
00:30:01b-o-u
00:30:03if you
00:30:03haven't
00:30:04followed
00:30:04trials
00:30:05just what
00:30:06kevin said
00:30:06is so
00:30:07profoundly
00:30:07true
00:30:08tony bow
00:30:09t-o-n-i
00:30:10b-o-u
00:30:10look him up
00:30:11he's remained
00:30:13on the top
00:30:13of that game
00:30:14for a long
00:30:15time and
00:30:15it is
00:30:16unbelievable
00:30:17what he
00:30:17does
00:30:18sorry but
00:30:19we got it
00:30:19we have to
00:30:20get
00:30:20it seems
00:30:21like
00:30:22the rubber
00:30:23used in
00:30:24such
00:30:24machines
00:30:25is
00:30:26actively
00:30:27glue
00:30:29anyway
00:30:30because
00:30:31they do
00:30:32such
00:30:32fabulous
00:30:33things
00:30:33so
00:30:34gearbox
00:30:34range
00:30:35trials
00:30:35bike
00:30:363.25
00:30:38lower
00:30:38power
00:30:39street
00:30:40bikes
00:30:40somewhere
00:30:42from
00:30:423
00:30:42to
00:30:432.6
00:30:44because
00:30:46they have
00:30:46to have
00:30:47that lower
00:30:47gear
00:30:48to start
00:30:49from the
00:30:50uphill
00:30:51stoplight
00:30:52with a
00:30:53passenger
00:30:53and
00:30:56powerful
00:30:57sport bikes
00:31:00may have
00:31:01as little
00:31:02as
00:31:022.25
00:31:04and 2.25
00:31:06is what
00:31:06the TZ750
00:31:07had
00:31:08it had
00:31:09to have
00:31:09a somewhat
00:31:11wider range
00:31:12than the
00:31:12usual
00:31:132.0
00:31:13which
00:31:14for years
00:31:15and years
00:31:15was
00:31:18the thing
00:31:18that road
00:31:19race
00:31:19bikes
00:31:20had
00:31:20because
00:31:21it had
00:31:21a very
00:31:22high top
00:31:22speed
00:31:23for its
00:31:23time
00:31:25180
00:31:27185
00:31:28miles
00:31:29per hour
00:31:29so
00:31:30that
00:31:31meant
00:31:31that
00:31:31the
00:31:33range
00:31:33of the
00:31:33gearbox
00:31:34had to
00:31:34be
00:31:34stretched
00:31:35a bit
00:31:36because
00:31:37of that
00:31:37the broader
00:31:38range
00:31:39of speeds
00:31:40that the
00:31:40motorcycle
00:31:40could reach
00:31:43then there
00:31:44are the
00:31:44special needs
00:31:45motorcycles
00:31:45the heavy
00:31:47tour bikes
00:31:49they need
00:31:50first of all
00:31:51the lovely
00:31:52bottom
00:31:53torque
00:31:54that Mark
00:31:54just talked
00:31:55about
00:31:55I think
00:31:5780%
00:31:58of peak
00:31:59torque
00:31:59is available
00:32:00at 850
00:32:01on that
00:32:01gold wing
00:32:04850
00:32:06and
00:32:09so
00:32:10they
00:32:10need
00:32:11a
00:32:12low
00:32:13first
00:32:14for making
00:32:15a dignified
00:32:15exit
00:32:16you don't
00:32:17want to be
00:32:18fussing
00:32:18with the
00:32:18clutch
00:32:19and
00:32:19slipping
00:32:20the clutch
00:32:21and all
00:32:22that
00:32:22nonsense
00:32:24so
00:32:25we have
00:32:26a low
00:32:26first
00:32:27then we
00:32:27have
00:32:28a range
00:32:28of four
00:32:29speeds
00:32:29in the
00:32:30middle
00:32:30that
00:32:31will
00:32:31handle
00:32:31the
00:32:32hills
00:32:32and
00:32:32dales
00:32:33of
00:32:35doing
00:32:36a
00:32:36thousand
00:32:36mile
00:32:37day
00:32:38and
00:32:39for
00:32:40the
00:32:41straight
00:32:42and
00:32:42four
00:32:42lane
00:32:43part
00:32:43of
00:32:43your
00:32:43day
00:32:44we
00:32:45have
00:32:45an
00:32:45overdrive
00:32:46sixth
00:32:47which
00:32:48pulls
00:32:48engine
00:32:48RPM
00:32:49down
00:32:49so
00:32:50that
00:32:50the
00:32:52soles
00:32:52of
00:32:53your
00:32:53feet
00:32:53the
00:32:56ischial
00:32:57region
00:32:57of our
00:32:58posterior
00:32:59and our
00:33:01hands
00:33:01don't
00:33:02feel
00:33:03such
00:33:03vibration
00:33:04that they
00:33:04feel a bit
00:33:05sleepy
00:33:06and so
00:33:08that's a
00:33:08special
00:33:09kind of
00:33:09gearbox
00:33:12it's
00:33:13notable
00:33:15that all
00:33:17modern
00:33:17gearboxes
00:33:18with few
00:33:19exceptions
00:33:19are
00:33:20indirect
00:33:23British
00:33:24transmissions
00:33:24older
00:33:25transmissions
00:33:26were
00:33:27the
00:33:29clutch
00:33:30drove
00:33:30one
00:33:32shaft
00:33:32and
00:33:33the
00:33:33output
00:33:35sprocket
00:33:35driving
00:33:36the rear
00:33:36wheel
00:33:36was on
00:33:38the same
00:33:38axis
00:33:40sometimes
00:33:41behind
00:33:42the
00:33:42clutch
00:33:42sometimes
00:33:43in front
00:33:44of the
00:33:44clutch
00:33:44depending
00:33:45on how
00:33:45the
00:33:45designer
00:33:46don't
00:33:47even
00:33:47make me
00:33:47save
00:33:47Elisette
00:33:50I won't
00:33:51make you
00:33:51I'll just
00:33:52allude
00:33:52to it
00:33:53we know
00:33:56and
00:33:57the
00:33:58power
00:33:58comes in
00:33:58on one
00:33:59shaft
00:33:59it goes
00:34:00to a
00:34:00counter
00:34:00shaft
00:34:02in all
00:34:03gears
00:34:03except
00:34:03top
00:34:04in which
00:34:05the
00:34:06output
00:34:07sprocket
00:34:07is locked
00:34:08to the
00:34:08clutch
00:34:09shaft
00:34:09so you
00:34:10have
00:34:10one-to-one
00:34:10there
00:34:11but in
00:34:12an all
00:34:13indirect
00:34:13gearbox
00:34:14a six
00:34:14speed
00:34:14there are
00:34:15six pairs
00:34:16six on
00:34:16each
00:34:17shaft
00:34:17and
00:34:18they are
00:34:20selected
00:34:21by
00:34:21shift
00:34:22forks
00:34:22which
00:34:22are
00:34:23moved
00:34:23by
00:34:23some
00:34:24form
00:34:24of
00:34:24cam
00:34:25plate
00:34:26or
00:34:26cam
00:34:28slotted
00:34:28shift
00:34:30drum
00:34:30shift
00:34:31drums
00:34:32are
00:34:32the
00:34:33most
00:34:33common
00:34:34now
00:34:34so
00:34:35those
00:34:37are
00:34:37that's
00:34:37what
00:34:38the
00:34:38basic
00:34:39gearbox
00:34:40type
00:34:40is
00:34:41today
00:34:42except
00:34:43for
00:34:45the
00:34:49DCT
00:34:51and
00:34:52DCTs
00:34:53are a
00:34:53little
00:34:53bit
00:34:53different
00:34:56there are
00:34:57people
00:34:57who
00:34:57who
00:34:59just
00:34:59cannot
00:35:00allow
00:35:01themselves
00:35:02to enjoy
00:35:03something
00:35:03that could
00:35:05be better
00:35:06than the
00:35:06traditional
00:35:07four or
00:35:08five
00:35:08six
00:35:08speeds
00:35:09because
00:35:10a real
00:35:12motorcycle
00:35:12has a
00:35:13clutch
00:35:13it has
00:35:14a
00:35:14throttle
00:35:14and there's
00:35:15nothing
00:35:16automatic
00:35:16about it
00:35:17it is
00:35:17under
00:35:18your
00:35:18control
00:35:21before
00:35:22the
00:35:22motorcycle
00:35:23people
00:35:23rode
00:35:23horses
00:35:24and the
00:35:25horse
00:35:25has
00:35:26something
00:35:26that no
00:35:27motorcycle
00:35:28has
00:35:29its own
00:35:30opinion
00:35:30and so
00:35:32there's
00:35:33a
00:35:33politics
00:35:33between
00:35:35the
00:35:35rider
00:35:36and the
00:35:36horse
00:35:37which
00:35:37fortunately
00:35:38motorcyclists
00:35:39don't have
00:35:39to endure
00:35:40or master
00:35:41to the
00:35:42degree
00:35:42possible
00:35:43so
00:35:47those
00:35:49constant
00:35:50mesh
00:35:50pairs
00:35:51are
00:35:54engaged
00:35:55to a
00:35:56splined
00:35:57shaft
00:35:58here's
00:35:58a
00:36:00splined
00:36:00shaft
00:36:01and
00:36:02here is
00:36:04a gear
00:36:05with
00:36:06visible
00:36:07splines
00:36:07in it
00:36:10and on
00:36:11either
00:36:12side
00:36:12of a
00:36:13gear
00:36:13that has
00:36:14splines
00:36:15may be
00:36:16gears
00:36:16that are
00:36:17free
00:36:17spinning
00:36:18on the
00:36:18shaft
00:36:18and
00:36:20when you
00:36:21wish to
00:36:21engage
00:36:22one of
00:36:22the
00:36:23free
00:36:23spinning
00:36:23gears
00:36:27it is
00:36:28one or
00:36:29the
00:36:29other
00:36:29gears
00:36:30is
00:36:30moved
00:36:31along
00:36:31the
00:36:31shaft
00:36:32to
00:36:33engage
00:36:33these
00:36:33big
00:36:34pegs
00:36:35that
00:36:35are
00:36:35on
00:36:36the
00:36:36face
00:36:38of
00:36:38the
00:36:39gear
00:36:39and
00:36:39they
00:36:40correspond
00:36:40with
00:36:40big
00:36:41pegs
00:36:41on
00:36:41the
00:36:42adjacent
00:36:42gear
00:36:42so
00:36:43when
00:36:44you
00:36:44shift
00:36:44you're
00:36:45moving
00:36:45this
00:36:46gear
00:36:46has
00:36:47a
00:36:47shift
00:36:48fork
00:36:50groove
00:36:50in it
00:36:51that
00:36:51allows
00:36:52it to
00:36:52be
00:36:52moved
00:36:53while
00:36:53it's
00:36:53spinning
00:36:54moved
00:36:55axially
00:36:55along
00:36:56the
00:36:56shaft
00:36:56so
00:36:57that
00:36:57clunk
00:36:57it
00:36:59locks
00:36:59itself
00:36:59to
00:37:00the
00:37:00adjacent
00:37:01gear
00:37:01which
00:37:02is
00:37:02then
00:37:02through
00:37:03the
00:37:03splines
00:37:03in
00:37:04this
00:37:04gear
00:37:04locked
00:37:05to
00:37:05the
00:37:05shaft
00:37:06while
00:37:06the
00:37:07mate
00:37:08to
00:37:08this
00:37:08splined
00:37:09gear
00:37:09is
00:37:10a
00:37:10free
00:37:10spinning
00:37:10gear
00:37:10so
00:37:11that
00:37:12a
00:37:12double
00:37:13engagement
00:37:13is
00:37:14not
00:37:14possible
00:37:16unless
00:37:17something
00:37:17very
00:37:18bad
00:37:18yeah
00:37:19just
00:37:19as a
00:37:20note
00:37:20you
00:37:20really
00:37:21want
00:37:21to
00:37:21do
00:37:21everything
00:37:21you
00:37:22can
00:37:22to
00:37:22avoid
00:37:22a
00:37:22double
00:37:23engagement
00:37:23which
00:37:23is
00:37:24why
00:37:24it's
00:37:24so
00:37:24sensitive
00:37:25working
00:37:25on a
00:37:26everything
00:37:27has
00:37:27to
00:37:27be
00:37:27just
00:37:28right
00:37:30and
00:37:30of
00:37:31course
00:37:32our
00:37:32experience
00:37:33is
00:37:33that
00:37:33once
00:37:34it
00:37:34is
00:37:34just
00:37:34right
00:37:35gear
00:37:35boxes
00:37:35run
00:37:36for
00:37:37a
00:37:37long
00:37:37time
00:37:38it's
00:37:38not
00:37:39like
00:37:39they
00:37:39are
00:37:40hidden
00:37:41crocodiles
00:37:42with only
00:37:42their
00:37:43nostrils
00:37:43showing
00:37:44that
00:37:44are
00:37:44waiting
00:37:45to
00:37:46rise
00:37:47up
00:37:47and
00:37:47do
00:37:48something
00:37:48unpleasant
00:37:48well
00:37:49there
00:37:49is
00:37:49a
00:37:50lot
00:37:50of
00:37:50mysticism
00:37:50in
00:37:51the
00:37:51gearbox
00:37:51and
00:37:52there
00:37:53is
00:37:53a
00:37:53lot
00:37:53of
00:37:54like
00:37:54with
00:37:55anything
00:37:55there
00:37:56is
00:37:56a lot
00:37:56of
00:37:56attention
00:37:56to
00:37:57detail
00:37:57you're
00:37:57holding
00:37:58up
00:37:58gear
00:37:58dogs
00:37:59and
00:38:00there's
00:38:00three
00:38:00gear
00:38:01dogs
00:38:01there
00:38:01and
00:38:01some
00:38:02of
00:38:02them
00:38:02have
00:38:02more
00:38:03but
00:38:03three
00:38:04is
00:38:04pretty
00:38:04common
00:38:04but
00:38:05the
00:38:07shape
00:38:07of
00:38:07those
00:38:08gearbox
00:38:08will be
00:38:08different
00:38:09on
00:38:09on
00:38:10on
00:38:10sporting
00:38:10motorcycle
00:38:11because
00:38:11we
00:38:12want
00:38:12them
00:38:12to
00:38:12suck
00:38:13into
00:38:13each
00:38:13other
00:38:13and
00:38:14to
00:38:14be
00:38:14incredibly
00:38:14positive
00:38:15with
00:38:15no
00:38:15shift
00:38:16rejections
00:38:16under
00:38:17great
00:38:19duress
00:38:19and
00:38:19then
00:38:19you
00:38:19also
00:38:20want
00:38:21that
00:38:21would
00:38:21cause
00:38:22a lot
00:38:22of
00:38:22if
00:38:23anyone
00:38:23can
00:38:23see
00:38:24this
00:38:24but
00:38:24these
00:38:26pegs
00:38:26are
00:38:27slightly
00:38:27undercut
00:38:28the
00:38:29engaging
00:38:29surfaces
00:38:30have
00:38:31been
00:38:31milled
00:38:32at an
00:38:32angle
00:38:32there
00:38:33like a
00:38:34trapezoid
00:38:35basically
00:38:35so that
00:38:36the
00:38:36edges
00:38:37are
00:38:37are
00:38:38turned
00:38:39this
00:38:39way
00:38:39once
00:38:39catch
00:38:40there's
00:38:41a force
00:38:41tending
00:38:42to draw
00:38:42them
00:38:42together
00:38:43into
00:38:43full
00:38:44engagement
00:38:45and
00:38:46that's
00:38:46called
00:38:46undercut
00:38:48so
00:38:50a lot
00:38:51of street
00:38:51bikes
00:38:51don't have
00:38:52any
00:38:52undercut
00:38:52they work
00:38:53perfectly
00:38:53well
00:38:55as long
00:38:56as you
00:38:56aren't
00:38:57trying to
00:38:57do
00:38:59shaky
00:39:00things
00:39:03British
00:39:04bikes
00:39:04had
00:39:05cam
00:39:05plates
00:39:06which
00:39:07was a
00:39:07plate
00:39:07that was
00:39:08moved
00:39:08by a
00:39:09ratchet
00:39:09mechanism
00:39:10controlled
00:39:10by your
00:39:11foot
00:39:11on the
00:39:12lever
00:39:13dating
00:39:14back
00:39:14to
00:39:141927
00:39:15when
00:39:16Harold
00:39:16Willis
00:39:17at
00:39:17Vellis
00:39:19came up
00:39:20with
00:39:21this
00:39:22system
00:39:23that we
00:39:23use
00:39:23now
00:39:23where
00:39:24between
00:39:24shifts
00:39:25the
00:39:25shift
00:39:25pedal
00:39:26goes
00:39:26back
00:39:26to
00:39:27its
00:39:27normal
00:39:27position
00:39:28it
00:39:29doesn't
00:39:29go
00:39:30first
00:39:30second
00:39:31third
00:39:31and you
00:39:32can
00:39:32imagine
00:39:32the
00:39:33cramping
00:39:34of your
00:39:34leg
00:39:34muscles
00:39:35as you
00:39:35try
00:39:36to
00:39:37make
00:39:38something
00:39:38like
00:39:38that
00:39:38work
00:39:39it's
00:39:39a fine
00:39:40system
00:39:40tank
00:39:41shifts
00:39:41were like
00:39:42that
00:39:42you had
00:39:43your
00:39:43you know
00:39:45let your
00:39:45clutch
00:39:45out
00:39:46or you'd
00:39:46have a
00:39:46foot
00:39:46clutch
00:39:47and
00:39:47you'd
00:39:48let your
00:39:48clutch
00:39:48out
00:39:48and ride
00:39:49away
00:39:49and then
00:39:49first
00:39:50was up
00:39:50here
00:39:51and you'd
00:39:51pull it
00:39:51click
00:39:52into
00:39:52second
00:39:52and there's
00:39:53a big
00:39:53chrome
00:39:53thing
00:39:54with teeth
00:39:54on it
00:39:54and notches
00:39:55and you'd
00:39:56there's
00:39:57second
00:39:57gate
00:39:59you know
00:40:00it's a
00:40:01fun
00:40:01operation
00:40:02I mean
00:40:03I'm tired
00:40:04of
00:40:05the
00:40:06shifter
00:40:06returning
00:40:06to the
00:40:07center
00:40:07and in
00:40:07fact
00:40:07I'm tired
00:40:08of
00:40:08MotoGP
00:40:08riders
00:40:09not needing
00:40:10to pull
00:40:10a clutch
00:40:11or do
00:40:11anything
00:40:11like that
00:40:12at all
00:40:12it's
00:40:12annoying
00:40:12I think
00:40:13we should
00:40:13go back
00:40:13to tank
00:40:14shift
00:40:14and give
00:40:14them
00:40:14something
00:40:15to do
00:40:15that's
00:40:15a real
00:40:15motorcycle
00:40:16that's
00:40:17a real
00:40:17rider
00:40:18yes
00:40:19I love
00:40:20the concept
00:40:21that they
00:40:21don't have
00:40:22enough
00:40:22to do
00:40:22hobbies
00:40:23I like
00:40:24hobbies
00:40:24and my
00:40:25hobby
00:40:25is
00:40:27setting
00:40:27magneto
00:40:28timing
00:40:28and
00:40:29shimming
00:40:29ancient
00:40:31gearbox
00:40:31gears
00:40:32and smelling
00:40:32the
00:40:33chlorinates
00:40:33in the
00:40:34gearbox
00:40:34oil
00:40:34and all
00:40:35that
00:40:35that's
00:40:36my hobby
00:40:36when I
00:40:38go racing
00:40:42I want
00:40:43the
00:40:43I want
00:40:44a perfect
00:40:44gearbox
00:40:45I love
00:40:46seamless
00:40:46shifting
00:40:46I love
00:40:47quick
00:40:48shifting
00:40:48up and
00:40:49down
00:40:49when I'm
00:40:50trying to
00:40:50set a
00:40:51lap time
00:40:51that's
00:40:52great
00:40:52I love
00:40:53racing a
00:40:54vintage
00:40:55bike
00:40:55up shifts
00:40:56down shifts
00:40:56using the
00:40:57clutch
00:40:57you blow
00:40:57that one
00:40:59it's
00:40:59pretty bad
00:41:00but we
00:41:00practice a
00:41:01lot we
00:41:01like it
00:41:02but I
00:41:03want to
00:41:03go faster
00:41:03and that's
00:41:04where we
00:41:05get M1000
00:41:05double R's
00:41:06with quick
00:41:06shifters
00:41:07it's nice
00:41:08well
00:41:12should we
00:41:13move on
00:41:14to common
00:41:15gearbox
00:41:16problems
00:41:16well I
00:41:17wanted to
00:41:17talk about
00:41:18ratios that
00:41:18you know
00:41:19in a
00:41:19perfect
00:41:19world we'd
00:41:20pick perfect
00:41:21ratios for
00:41:21our application
00:41:22and everything
00:41:24would be
00:41:24wonderful but
00:41:25there are some
00:41:26exceptions to
00:41:26that and
00:41:28one of those
00:41:28is noise
00:41:29regulations so
00:41:30if you take a
00:41:31dual sport bike
00:41:32some of the
00:41:32dual sport bikes
00:41:33have ratios that
00:41:34are chosen to
00:41:36lower the RPM
00:41:37at the speed of
00:41:38the ride by test
00:41:39so that the
00:41:40motorcycle passes
00:41:41the sound check
00:41:42and so one
00:41:44example that
00:41:45pops to mind is
00:41:46the Honda
00:41:47XR650L
00:41:48and it's
00:41:49it's got a
00:41:50gap and the
00:41:51second gear
00:41:52ratios are
00:41:52called is the
00:41:53one that you
00:41:54know we
00:41:54have a
00:41:55we're pulling
00:41:55the RPM
00:41:56down pretty
00:41:56hard so if
00:41:57you're gearing
00:41:58that for
00:41:58off-road you
00:41:59can sort of
00:42:00gear it to
00:42:01use second
00:42:03but what you
00:42:03do is you
00:42:04pick the
00:42:04off-road
00:42:04gearbox and
00:42:05pick the old
00:42:06XR ratios and
00:42:07and drop them
00:42:08in and then you
00:42:09have ratios that
00:42:11don't have to
00:42:11pass a sound
00:42:12check right
00:42:13and that's how
00:42:13we do that
00:42:14so there's just
00:42:14a few
00:42:15exceptions there
00:42:16sometimes you
00:42:17pick you know
00:42:17as you said on
00:42:18a touring bike
00:42:19you pick your
00:42:20sixth gear as a
00:42:22nice overdrive so
00:42:23you just lope
00:42:24into the torque
00:42:25and uh and
00:42:26you're just kind
00:42:26of yes
00:42:27chuffed down the
00:42:28road on a
00:42:29Harley you know
00:42:29you have a
00:42:30rubber mounted
00:42:30on the touring
00:42:31models you have
00:42:32a rubber mounted
00:42:32v-twin of great
00:42:33displacement and
00:42:34much inertia and
00:42:35mass probably 40
00:42:37pounds of flywheel
00:42:39and a pretty tall
00:42:40six there's I think
00:42:42one thing we haven't
00:42:42talked about is
00:42:43it's a it's a
00:42:44detail but there
00:42:45are helically cut
00:42:46gears and then
00:42:47there are straight
00:42:47cut gears
00:42:48these are straight
00:42:50cut and that's a
00:42:53great strong also
00:42:55can make some
00:42:56noise and that
00:42:57was the thing
00:42:57that hardly
00:42:58noise yes
00:42:58because as one
00:42:59tooth gives up
00:43:00the load and the
00:43:02next tooth takes
00:43:02it up um the
00:43:06teeth bend and
00:43:07unbend a little
00:43:09bit more wine they
00:43:10can be pretty darn
00:43:11quiet if the if
00:43:12the clearances are
00:43:13really nice you can
00:43:14make that pretty
00:43:14quiet but harley
00:43:15in 2000
00:43:21nine they made
00:43:22fifth gear a
00:43:23straight cut gear
00:43:24in their touring
00:43:25models and the
00:43:28oh nine bikes you
00:43:29shift into fifth and
00:43:30you had a little bit
00:43:31of gear noise and
00:43:32then by 2010 they
00:43:34had enough people
00:43:34complain well this
00:43:36fifth gear some
00:43:37must be wrong with
00:43:37it that they because
00:43:39six was helically cut
00:43:40so when you shifted
00:43:41into six it was just
00:43:42quiet city so the
00:43:43the the helical is a
00:43:46curve and the way
00:43:47that they engage is
00:43:48more gradual and i
00:43:49think tighter so
00:43:50more teeth are in
00:43:51mesh yeah at the
00:43:53same time which is
00:43:55uh it's a a way of
00:43:59reducing noise so
00:44:00you will notice if
00:44:02you've if you've done
00:44:03any mechanical work
00:44:05at all you'll notice
00:44:05that primary gears are
00:44:08always helical because
00:44:09they're uh spinning the
00:44:11the pinion is spinning
00:44:13at crank speed and so
00:44:17so on but if there's
00:44:19a sporting version a
00:44:20race version it will
00:44:21have straight cut
00:44:22gears because they
00:44:23don't want the side
00:44:24thrust that results
00:44:26from that and it's
00:44:30just adapting to the
00:44:32requirements of the
00:44:33job at hand
00:44:38one final thing is
00:44:40final drive if you
00:44:42uh make your final drive
00:44:43taller the space
00:44:46between the ratios
00:44:47mathematically gets
00:44:48farther and if you
00:44:49make it shorter then
00:44:50you effectively
00:44:51mathematically have a
00:44:52shorter uh a closer
00:44:54ratio gearbox is that
00:44:56is that true kevin
00:44:59um i haven't thought
00:45:01about that one i did
00:45:03the math i did the math
00:45:04i did the math because i
00:45:06was interested in changing
00:45:08final drive and and what
00:45:09it would have you know
00:45:10what would happen i
00:45:10think as a service
00:45:12before we move on to
00:45:13common gearbox problems
00:45:14um we're going to ask
00:45:16kevin to write down a
00:45:18few uh gearbox uh math
00:45:21tools and he's going to
00:45:23send them over and we're
00:45:24going to we're going to
00:45:25put them down in the
00:45:25description so we're going
00:45:26to have an information
00:45:27block that says here
00:45:28please use this math
00:45:30calculate find the ratios
00:45:32of your motorcycle and
00:45:34calculate the top and
00:45:35bottom the spacing and
00:45:37then look at the ratios
00:45:39and calculate what
00:45:40would happen if you
00:45:41change from a 17 to an
00:45:4418 front and look at
00:45:45the the mathematical
00:45:47change that one tooth
00:45:48at the front makes
00:45:49versus one tooth at the
00:45:51rear two teeth at the
00:45:51rear play with that and
00:45:53understand that and you
00:45:54will see a whole new
00:45:55world of understanding of
00:45:57what you might try to
00:45:58achieve with your xs 650
00:46:00all the way up to your
00:46:02yamaha yzf r1 m
00:46:03here's another curiosity
00:46:07um back in the late
00:46:10nine eight the late 80s
00:46:13people figured out that
00:46:16what riders were
00:46:17complaining about on
00:46:19corner exit was that the
00:46:24back of the motorcycle was
00:46:26squatting down and taking
00:46:28weight off the front and
00:46:30pushing the front end
00:46:32and so we you know we
00:46:35know that cars squat down
00:46:37when they accelerate
00:46:38because the force
00:46:40accelerating the car
00:46:41exists at ground level
00:46:42and the mass of the car
00:46:44behaves as if it is at
00:46:46the center of mass which
00:46:47is above so there is a
00:46:49torque being exerted that
00:46:52tends to take weight off
00:46:54the front and put more
00:46:55weight on the back and
00:46:57you know that there's a
00:47:00this uh effect pushing
00:47:06the front is bad don't
00:47:08want so what they
00:47:11realized is that if they
00:47:13got the angle of the
00:47:16chain to the plane of the
00:47:18swing arm just right the
00:47:22tangent force generated by
00:47:23the chain would cancel the
00:47:27squat force generated by
00:47:28acceleration and the
00:47:30motorcycle would no longer
00:47:32squat and push well once
00:47:36they got that angle right
00:47:38there was a temptation to
00:47:40say well let's not change
00:47:42the gear ratios ever
00:47:43because we got it good now
00:47:45we don't want it what did
00:47:47they do they have gear
00:47:49cutting machines at the
00:47:51factory they cut new
00:47:53primary gears yeah so
00:47:55rather than changing the
00:47:56final drive which is going
00:47:57to change the angle of the
00:47:58chain ever so slightly
00:47:59because you're changing
00:48:00the the tangent of the
00:48:02force yeah it's uh oh the
00:48:05final drive and chain pull
00:48:07is a podcast i think we've
00:48:09we've certainly touched on
00:48:10it many times but uh i think
00:48:13it did exist as its own
00:48:14podcast because i was just
00:48:15thinking about shaft drive
00:48:16racing motorcycles such as
00:48:18ones that i've raced like a
00:48:23and all and that's why dr john
00:48:27whitner came up with his
00:48:28parallelogram suspension for
00:48:30guzzi's that canceled the uh
00:48:32the elevator or yeah the
00:48:34elevator ride sometimes you'd
00:48:35go up sometimes you go down
00:48:37depending where you
00:48:38accelerating or decelerating so
00:48:39a different kind of force but
00:48:41a similar effect harder to get
00:48:43rid of on a shaft drive bike
00:48:44than on a chain drive so if you
00:48:46look at um some super bike
00:48:49regulations they say no
00:48:52alternate primary ratios will
00:48:54be permitted and well this was
00:48:57the birth of the adjustable
00:48:58swing arm pivot and in usually a
00:49:01homologation special type like
00:49:03you know your zx7 rrs and all
00:49:05those they had ride height
00:49:06adjustment and they had a pivot
00:49:08height adjustment where you could
00:49:10change the relationship of the
00:49:11swing arm pivot to where the
00:49:13sprocket is and there are it's
00:49:16another way of changing the
00:49:17angle between the drive chain
00:49:19and the central plane of the
00:49:21swing arm yeah there was a
00:49:23period of time i i'm sorry go
00:49:25ahead finish determines it
00:49:27determines the uh angle of the
00:49:30chain to the central plane of the
00:49:33swing arm which determines the
00:49:36lift force that can counter the
00:49:38squat force so that your bike does
00:49:40not squat and push back in the old
00:49:42days of tz750s which is 50 years
00:49:46ago what 50 years ago i watched tz750s
00:49:53come off of turn nine laguna as it
00:49:55was then turn nine and as the rider
00:49:59got on the gas they lifted and they
00:50:02topped pretty hard so those things had
00:50:08they had thought about it but it
00:50:10wasn't yet a science and then in
00:50:131988 a japanese engineer was charged
00:50:19with improve this chassis it's lousy so
00:50:24he decided to get more grip by a
00:50:30encouraging weight transfer and you
00:50:33could see that thing coming off of turn
00:50:3511 it would squat down at the back
00:50:38yeah by the time it was 11 because we
00:50:41added the infield to slow down that
00:50:43fast left it squatted and pushed so
00:50:46yes they got the weight transfer they
00:50:48wanted but they couldn't get off
00:50:50corners um so they couldn't use that
00:50:55chassis they had to had to come up
00:50:57with something else pretty quick
00:51:00so looking at um common shifting
00:51:05problems the ones you love to discover
00:51:10are in the external shift linkage which
00:51:13means you don't have to take anything
00:51:14apart look at the linkage as you move
00:51:20the shift pedal to full stroke and see if
00:51:25if the um linkage in the clevis some of
00:51:31these systems use clevises some use
00:51:33heim joints if it binds somewhere if it
00:51:36hits the throat of the clevis and
00:51:40resists
00:51:43letting the shift mechanism go to full
00:51:45stroke either up or down and very often
00:51:50people have uh had shin splints from
00:51:55holding their foot at an unnatural angle
00:51:58have finally sought relief by adjusting
00:52:01the height of the shift pedal it's
00:52:03possible when you do that to arrange it
00:52:08so that it binds so this is the first
00:52:10thing to check
00:52:10well use used bikes especially but even
00:52:13new bikes for setup um used bikes you
00:52:16kind of want to you want to make sure
00:52:18you're set on the spline properly
00:52:21yeah so you so that you're you're
00:52:24shift shaft spline your shift shaft
00:52:26everything is arranged in a way that
00:52:28you're getting a the range of shifting
00:52:32exactly when you want it in the range of
00:52:34what's happening on the shift drum or
00:52:36cam plate on the with no bind with no
00:52:39bind yeah
00:52:41uh another grim one potentially grim one
00:52:46um and it's so frustrating when it
00:52:48happens
00:52:48is can't find neutral you you increase
00:52:54the pressure more more more clunk it
00:52:57jumps from first to second straight
00:53:00through neutral so then you exert
00:53:03pressure the other way clunk it jumps
00:53:05back to first but it will not stop in
00:53:08the neutral detent which by the way is
00:53:10usually shallower
00:53:12then the other five and
00:53:17uh six seven pardon me and
00:53:21so what's happening here if there is
00:53:25some clutch slip for example maybe
00:53:28your engagement is at a rather low
00:53:31lever position which means that when
00:53:34you lift the clutch you're not lifting
00:53:36it as far as if the engagement was
00:53:38farther out this may be adjusted as
00:53:43simply as just raising the clutch
00:53:45lever
00:53:47lifting the plates farther apart so that
00:53:51they don't exert this awful pressure
00:53:56dog to dog that is opposing your
00:54:00effort to smoothly move from first to
00:54:08neutral
00:54:09but it may be that that doesn't fix it
00:54:12well clutch setup is really something
00:54:14i mean so you i know you're going to
00:54:16get into your clutch plates are warped
00:54:19and we'll let you do that but from the
00:54:22very beginning particularly if you have
00:54:23a cable clutch with an arm
00:54:26sometimes uh there is a hash mark like
00:54:29on a wr250 dual sport bike which i have
00:54:31replaced the clutch on mine
00:54:33there's a hash mark and you have to get
00:54:35that hash mark of that lever set
00:54:37properly with the relationship of a
00:54:39an adjuster on the clutch push rod
00:54:41that positions its position and it
00:54:43shouldn't be rubbing all the time
00:54:44there's a lot of detail here that you
00:54:46need to read about and study so that
00:54:49you can have an exceptionally good
00:54:51clutch so when your motorcycle is
00:54:54running and you're sitting in the
00:54:55parking lot of your driveway and you're
00:54:58in neutral and it's idling and you pull
00:55:00the clutch in and you click into first
00:55:02gear pay attention to where the clutch
00:55:05engages how close to the bar and if
00:55:08it's very close to the bar look into
00:55:10why that is because it might not need to
00:55:12be like that you might get much better
00:55:14engagement particularly if you're having
00:55:15a hard time finding neutral and you can
00:55:18adjust that you can adjust the range and
00:55:20there's all the things through the clutch
00:55:22from the push rod and a little ball or
00:55:24throw out bearing and then there's
00:55:26usually an adjuster down here on the
00:55:28clutch push rod that then will help the
00:55:30lever arm be in the right position which
00:55:33then will be in the right position for
00:55:35the clutch pull on old british bikes
00:55:37there are two kinds of levers and the
00:55:40offset of the pin to where it picks up
00:55:42the cable is different and if you mix
00:55:44those up they're terrible you get an
00:55:46incredibly hard clutch pull so these
00:55:50are things that i've learned the hard
00:55:51way i'm just i'm not giving you the
00:55:53answer i'm giving you the opportunity to
00:55:56go out and say like hey i have this i
00:55:58have this issue my clutch is very close
00:56:00to my grip or man my triumph clutch
00:56:02pull is ridiculously heavy why is that it
00:56:04shouldn't be like that and then find the
00:56:07answer go out there and put the light in
00:56:09the dark place
00:56:10yeah all right kevin tell us about warped
00:56:13clutch plates and stuff well uh the clutch
00:56:16plates in a modern clutch have separator
00:56:19springs between them or they may be made
00:56:22out of some synthetic rubber and the idea
00:56:25is that these separator springs are easily
00:56:28compressed by the clutch springs so when
00:56:31you release the clutch uh to drive away
00:56:35uh they are not causing clutch slip they're
00:56:39just strong enough to separate the plates
00:56:41you hope fingers crossed a lot of people
00:56:45i've seen a lot of gearboxes where those
00:56:48those things were discarded people didn't
00:56:50want them for whatever reason but uh are the
00:56:54separators present that can be a question
00:57:00um because there's always the story of the
00:57:03person who i believe it was a triumph in
00:57:05this story an old time triumph the clutch
00:57:08plates sat overnight with the clutch
00:57:11springs squeezing the oil out from between
00:57:14the plates and the fellow comes out
00:57:19starts the thing up and when he tries to put
00:57:21it in first
00:57:22it stops the engine
00:57:26because the clutch does not break loose
00:57:29it is glued
00:57:31fully engaged
00:57:34and this particular person said
00:57:36sort of shrugged
00:57:37pushed off down the hill
00:57:39clonked it into first
00:57:42started the thing that way and once the engine
00:57:46got warm found that by pulling the clutch in
00:57:48and giving it the gas that the clutch plates would
00:57:51finally
00:57:53release their fond embrace
00:57:54and normal functioning would
00:57:57a virtually non-existent problem on a modern motorcycle
00:58:00right
00:58:01yes but this is part of of the um
00:58:07old curmudgeon
00:58:09problems that fascinate some of us
00:58:12oh it's wonderful i mean it again it's a hobby you know but if you if you need to
00:58:16make it to work on time or you pick your kid up at school you need something that
00:58:20runs that's the that's it you know the stress factor of that that idea that i'm it's it is
00:58:27enticing it's possibly connected to gambling um will i make it
00:58:34did i set the points just right is my clutch set perfectly well i don't know let's find out
00:58:40that that is a hobby and as long as you don't have real life getting in the way that's why
00:58:46we
00:58:46sell new bikes old junk's not for everybody it's for me i like playing with it but i do love
00:58:51a modern bike you know you take your 750 hornet back here we're not going to be touching that
00:58:56clutch for a long time unless we do really dumb things to it starts runs that's what we want
00:59:02so uh coning if if somebody makes a lot of hot starts it can be that the steel plates become
00:59:14distorted because the sliding like with brick discs the sliding velocity is highest at the outer
00:59:21edge of the clutch disc and at a minimum at the inner edge of the friction
00:59:25uh surface and what this does is it stretches the disc to a larger size when it's hot and it
00:59:34permanently stretches the inside part so when it cools the only way that it can coexist with itself is
00:59:42to boink form a it's a very slight cone and coned plates um produce clutch drag that can't be adjusted
00:59:54out
00:59:56and so this is for the guys who have to make a lot of hot starts in order to feel
01:00:04that serene union with
01:00:06the machine and i give a i want to give a practical field piece piece of field advice so i
01:00:12learned this
01:00:12from a drag or learned this from a professional drag racer uh who did a lot of street bike like
01:00:17non
01:00:18wheelie bar uh drag racing very talented person and um if he did several runs in a row he would
01:00:27not just
01:00:27park the bike and throw it on the side stand and walk away or throw it in the stand and
01:00:33walk away
01:00:33you ran the motorcycle with the clutch pulled in and the reason you did that is the clutch plates were
01:00:39incredibly hot and by upholding the clutch lever to the bar while the engine was running you were
01:00:45circulating the clutch in cooling oil and he would cool off the clutch after a series of runs and i
01:00:51applied this to dirt bikes because one time was street gearing on my wr250 yamaha which was not
01:00:57which is good street gearing but it's not climb up a vertical hillside and i was uh i should have
01:01:04committed and carried more speed at the bottom of this hill to keep in the range of the gear the
01:01:10shortest gear that i had which was a street first before i put the big sprocket on the back and
01:01:16i
01:01:16slipped the daylights out of that clutch and when i got to the top of the hill the engagement of
01:01:20my
01:01:20clutch when it engaged had changed because i had ground off a lot of friction material to make the hill
01:01:28because i i didn't turn around and i got to that and i remembered mr drag racer and i knew
01:01:34my
01:01:34clutch had to be smoking hot so i pulled the clutch in and i held it and i'm sure or
01:01:39i hope
01:01:39i'd like to believe that i saved my clutch that day and it served me well for a long time
01:01:46before i
01:01:46had to change it in a way this this reminds me of um people turbochargers of course run very hot
01:01:55because exhaust gas is passing through them and they have plain bearings for the most part
01:02:01and uh they're lubricated by the engine oil system or by a separate oil system some competition people
01:02:10keep the oil circulation going after the engine has been shut down to to pump that heat out of the
01:02:17turbo so that it doesn't coke the oil and block the circulation so these these are things that that
01:02:26you can do to cool parts that desperately need it like i mean in addition to in addition to being
01:02:33driven by exhaust gas and being very hot uh you know your your turbo can spin 200 300 000 rpm
01:02:40also in some
01:02:41applications so lots of huge tiny little ishikawajima harima turbines they're they're marvelous to behold
01:02:53this tiny thing can turn your anemic motorcycle into a giant of performance or it can make your
01:03:02hayabusa into the most monstrous thing ever it's yes a stock hayabusa is a wonderful experience and
01:03:08then i rode a turbo that had 380 horsepower at the at the wheel you know tie down straps on
01:03:16the dyno like
01:03:17not just ones holding it down and a chalk but tie down straps pulling it to the rear so that
01:03:23doesn't
01:03:23launch forward so hard it was really so i rode it on the street and i had a night or
01:03:29sorry it had a
01:03:29dual boost button and you um it was wired to the horn button so there was no was no horn
01:03:35but if you
01:03:35really wanted to honk you held that button in and you got instead of whatever it was it was like
01:03:4012
01:03:41pounds you went up to 25 or 27 or something like that yes spicy goodness i bet that had a
01:03:48special clutch
01:03:48power is proportionate to the mass of fuel being consumed
01:03:54well uh if if you have visited race paddocks done that walk around possibly with
01:04:02children you hope to inoculate with their our strange disease uh you have seen motorcycles
01:04:12sitting with their clutches removed and all the clutch plates hanging from the right hand foot peg
01:04:20if you're doing clutch service where are you where else are you going to put the things
01:04:25oh here's this is the clutch plate bracket and uh that's just one of the things that
01:04:32that you'll see at racetracks and uh race team limits the use of a set of plates to one or
01:04:42two
01:04:42uh hot starts then the plates are all really replaced and um that's a one of those realities
01:04:53the clutch plates become a consumable like kleenex even though they cost good money
01:05:04well a district manager told me the following story he said
01:05:12all the complaints about clutch slip went back to the warranty departments
01:05:19and in japan they made the grave decision to make a bigger clutch
01:05:26and when the new model came out with the bigger clutch the snowfall of warranty reports increased
01:05:35it did not decrease and the dm said to me what we found was happening was that the word got
01:05:44around
01:05:44hey the new models got this great big clutch now you can do nine burnouts instead of four
01:05:51four and so they did nine burnouts yeah so this is this is why it's important for there to be
01:06:00liaison between the user and the manufacturer yeah the best quote i have from a product person
01:06:07at a manufacturer who was launching bikes and getting them out into the field was we can't believe
01:06:13what the consumer can break yes you know they thought they'd had a really uh complete test program and
01:06:19they really just they overbuilt and they did everything they could and then problems and so it's uh
01:06:26yeah development you know testing in the field yes we're all betas i guess at the end of the day
01:06:32for bigfoot the uh gear stomper um how many repair orders ro's are written let's say uh
01:06:45hard shifting first to second makes ratcheting sound uh won't go and what's happening there is
01:06:57that making one after another wide range first to second shift considerable speed difference between
01:07:05the gears instead of clicking neatly into full engagement the dogs are glancing
01:07:15off the edges of their uh engagement surfaces which are becoming rounded and polished so that when
01:07:24you try to push them together no they say naka naka naka the ratcheting sound as they bounce off of
01:07:31each other and refuse to make the second shift
01:07:37necessary engine out cases split this is your reward now the people who live for the four o'clock
01:07:48um impromptu drag race know this as a fact of life every now and then you're going to need new
01:07:58uh new gears
01:08:00there that's just something that that's necessary just like the two-stroke racer knew that the
01:08:07fresh cylinder that he just laid out good money for is good for 900 miles maybe 950 it's a consumable
01:08:19so today we have the quick shifter and the quick shifter causes when the when the shift
01:08:28linkage senses a shift is happening it sends a signal which turns off the engine for
01:08:37uh six hundredths of a second and
01:08:43just enough to unload the dog so that the shift
01:08:47is more or less effortless and it clunks into the next gear without
01:08:54ratcheting noises and
01:08:59let's have it i like it all the variable shift time on all the electronic stuff now
01:09:04is is beautiful it works very much like a semi-automatic you know you have to use most
01:09:11of the time you have to use a clutch to leave the line and then the rest of it up
01:09:13and down is
01:09:14is just shift at will pretty much uh pretty darn smooth not perfect uh dct is is great for the
01:09:21the engagement of the gears are are instantaneous because it's already engaged that's how dct works is
01:09:29there's two two shafts and
01:09:30it's a purpose-built automatic the automatic on the like the bmw um the automated shift assistant
01:09:38they call it automates shifting of a normal manual gearbox so the clutch has a motor that engages and
01:09:46disengages progressively and then the shift drum has a motor that turns it and gets you uh gets you
01:09:53through the gears it works it works pretty well but it's variable kill time and it's um it's pretty
01:10:00seamless and they've also moved the sensor you know the old time quick shifter way back in the day
01:10:04you had a dial where you could adjust the kill time and that was just the kill time for every
01:10:09gear so
01:10:09you're not really worried so much about the one two shift you're probably worried about second third
01:10:14fourth and getting your quick shift just so for those and you turn your dial on that and it had
01:10:20an external uh like a spring-loaded uh shift detector and it only worked going up and uh now we
01:10:29have it in
01:10:29both directions and they've moved many have moved the sensor to inside the gearbox so that it's more
01:10:33accurately feeling what's going on rather than way out on the oh yeah yeah it's pretty nice it's good
01:10:39stuff man it's so we have sensors on we have sensors on everything and it's yes it's really it's been
01:10:47wonderful because they've just found applications for those as we were more accurately measuring rpm and
01:10:54ambient air temperature and intake human beings are covered with sensors they're there to warn us
01:11:02you're damaging yourself stop that that's why it's hurting you're tired you should sleep
01:11:08get something to eat and so motorcycles which need protection from bigfoot
01:11:15uh are being are developing a nervous system and the brain is the ecu and this is inevitable this is
01:11:26not
01:11:27some kind of corrupting influence from uh laptops this is the future of the motorcycle and get used to it
01:11:38but why not sensors became reliable on automobiles i once talked to a guy who was in the sensor
01:11:49business he said call me sometime i never did i wish i had but to make sensors that cost 80
01:11:56cents to make
01:11:57and 300 to replace um is now a well-established art so shall we leave the internals to a later
01:12:08uh discussion i suppose we should yeah we should do for the laundry list of of problems um we'll uh
01:12:15we'll pick that up we've separate we've managed to talk enough yes we have
01:12:24uh we hope you got something practical out of this and a and a few little um you know uh
01:12:28lighted bits to
01:12:30see and understand a bit more what's going on um it's always a pleasure to talk anything with kevin
01:12:36gearboxes it's highlight of my week we love joining uh joining you here and you joining us
01:12:42again check us out on patreon um if you like what we're doing share with your friends we really
01:12:47appreciate it and this is another edition of the cycle world podcast can we do a close
01:12:53and we will catch you next time
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