Try Everything on the Honda E-CLUTCH. Here’s how it works from a mechanical and electronic point of view – Tests

A device that Honda does not hesitate to define as revolutionary: we have tested it thoroughly and now it is time to understand how it works in electronic and mechanical details

April 15, 2024

FSince its appearance at EICMA 2023, the Honda E-Clutch has intrigued everyone: a device that literally allows you to forget about the clutch lever, if you want, and which was eagerly awaited for the road test, which was passed very brilliantly during the press launch of the Honda CB650R and CBR650R which we took part in in Marseille, and which are the first two bikes to be equipped with it.

There E-Clutch it is an innovative device that is halfway between a quickshifter and a DCT (the latter being Honda’s technological peak in this field) and is different from centrifugal clutches in many aspects starting from the point that the centrifugal clutch needs, in gear, of a quickshifter.

Honda simply thought about how to perform changing gear is simpler and more effective, both to accommodate beginners and to ensure greater comfort and efficiency in driving. the system consists of a traditional gearboxa traditional clutch (with attached lever on the left handlebar), what changes is that with an increase in weight of approximately 2 kg (and 400 euros on the list price of the two 650 cc) you can have as a factory option – therefore it is not possible to have it after purchase – the electronic clutch which does nothing but take care of everything, given that with the E-Clutch it is no longer necessary to use the clutch lever to start, stop or perform a gear shift or downshift.

THEtogether with Andrea Venturini of Honda Italia we therefore technically analyzed the E-Clutchwhose operation, as you can also read in the test, is very perfect and is not without interesting ideas: first of all the transition between the traditional mechanical drive and the electronic one is very fluid and “transparent”, furthermore the mechanical drive always has precedence over the electronic one through an ingenious mechanism, but there is no shortage of details such as the times in which the electronic part takes back control of the clutch below 1,650 rpm to facilitate, for example, parking maneuvers or at very low speed.

In short, the E-Clutch is not simply a device that opens and closes the clutch pack, but a complex system which is based on numerous sensors and is based on sophisticated software: this is precisely why we have decided to offer you a in-depth analysis which clarifies some aspects of its mechanical and electronic functioning.

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