Important news arrives from Japan. Yamaha has decided to make a real change by bringing new technology to its bikes.
In Italy the two-wheel market continues to increase. Even in May, despite the vagaries of a colder and rainier than usual spring, there was a 6.3% increase in sales compared to May 2023. A sign that there is a great desire to move “freely”, something that these means of transport have always offered. But here too, as with cars, technology is advancing and is literally disrupting the market.
In scooters, electric is advancing, but among motorcycles the issue is more complicated. Not only are purists upset by the introduction of similar technology on two wheels, which have always been characterized by their unmistakable sound, but also some historic brands. So much so that someone has already announced that he will not produce electric motorcycles from here on out. But there are also other technologies that are spreading, such as automatic transmission. More widespread among cars, for some time it has been increasingly entering some motorcycle models. And there is a house that has announced a turning point in this sense: the Yamaha.
Yamaha, a change is coming in every sense
The Japanese company, which is making important changes (just think of what will become of the legendary Booster), has decided that it will soon equip its motorbikes with the system Yamaha Automated Manual Transmission. It is basically a manual-automatic gearbox, which will make the driving experience completely different than in the past. It is actually an evolution of the Chip Controlled Shift introduced 20 years ago on the FJR1300 sport-tourer.
This decision, according to Yamaha leaders, will allow drivers to concentrate only on the road and how to drive the vehicle, which is a real revolution. the peculiarity of this gearbox designed by the three tuning forks brand is that it has the double manual or automatic mode. In practice, to change gear you will only need to press a button on the handlebars instead of the classic hands-pedals combination, which allows the rider to concentrate on the accelerator and brake, the lean angle, the body position and everything else.
For those who still want to have a certain “power” when climbing, Yamaha with this system allows you to make changes with the index finger and thumb, via two levers. However, with fully automatic transmission, you can choose between two programs, easily selectable by simply pressing the “mode” button.
