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DCT Manual Shifting

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Although I very much enjoy riding in automatic mode, especially in the city, I am slowly digging switching to manual shifting from time to time. I feel it works as good (if not better) than a manual shift bike except that you use the handle switch instead of a pedal. Anyone else likes manual shifting the DCT?
 
I've been shifting manually for the last 6 months and love it. The auto mode is good and I use that on the interstate. The paddle shifting is smooth and easy.


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There is a manual mode?
Automatic is fine with me.
I do override with the toggle shifter, a lot, lately.;)
 
I always forget that I'm in manual when I come to a light or stop sign, then wonder what the hell is going on when it stays in first as I pull away. Mostly I just leave it in D and hit the downshift button once or twice when the situation calls for it.
 
I mostly use manual mode on my DCT. Probably close to 80-90% of the time. Mostly in town riding. There are times when you can see what the traffic is doing up ahead and it's nice to have it not shift into a higher gear right when a light turns red or slower traffic. I'm 40 years old and think maybe it's because I played Xbox years ago and it feels natural to use a trigger finger to shift. I have the 2013 so it's just D and S and manual. I think how I ride is right in the middle of the two modes.


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I much prefer manual mode on my DCT. In my 2 1/2 years of owning my NC700XD I have tried auto about 6 times for about 30 seconds. All my cars have been manual and I prefer the control that provides. I am probably more aggressive than average and like to engine break, control down shifts and control the throttle thru corners.
 
I have fun using all the options. The DCT has really grown on me. When I go riding I have choices, which I think is cool. I bought the bike for the DCT.
 
I have fun using all the options. The DCT has really grown on me. When I go riding I have choices, which I think is cool. I bought the bike for the DCT.
It's good to have a choice.
Always wondered what it would be like, if :
DCT were a 'push button' option on a manual bike.
I think the DCT rider population would explode.
You can tell everyone your bike is a manual tranny
and ride off in DCT mode. 'Wicked'.:)
 
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It's good to have a choice.
Always wondered what it would be like, if :
DCT were a 'push button' option on a manual bike.
I think the DCT rider population would explode. :)
You can tell everyone you bike is a manual tranny and ride in DCT mode. 'Wicked'.

In my case, the DCT vs the manual is not so much the shift method, be it push button or toe lever, it's about no longer having control of the clutch. If Honda made an automatic or push button shifting transmission that still gave the rider control of the clutch, that would be an option for those looking for something in between. Most DCT riders praise no longer having to deal with the clutch, but I actually want one.

I keep thinking the next more "user friendly" motorcycle will have basically two controls. A throttle on the right grip, and a single combined brake system lever at the left grip. A secondary "parking" brake at the right grip would serve as an emergency brake system, but would not used in normal operations. The feet would be completely free of any control duties. Thus the five lever/twist controls on a present day manual transmission bike would be reduced to just two plus the transmission buttons, in the same way that automatic cars are today.

In a way, our Honda Reflex is almost already there. The left brake lever operates both front and rear brakes. There is no control of the clutch or transmission.
 
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Out of topic but what’s fastest have you guys gotten the nc with dct up too? My 2012 nc700x that I recently bought can’t pass . Just wondering if that’s normal? And does the dct usually feel or sound, hm idk thumpy lol? I should post this somewhere else
 
DCT manual shifting is all I use. Auto shifts way too early for my liking and tends to lug the engine.
In these hills of WV the manual DCT is so much fun to ride.

DOT had a 100 yard section of road to my farm closed for repair a few years ago.
I was able to ride across a hayfield and cross the creek in 2 areas to bypass the closed section.
However, I had to get off the bike and 'walk' it, (1 hand on the hand rail, the other on the throttle) to slowly help the bike along exiting 1 creek.
I would not have been able to do this safely with a standard shift bike.
 
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DCT manual shifting is all I use. Auto shifts way too early for my liking and tends to lug the engine.
In these hills of WV the manual DCT is so much fun to ride.

DOT had a 100 yard section of road to my farm closed for repair a few years ago.
I was able to ride across a hayfield and cross the creek in 2 areas to bypass the closed section.
However, I had to get off the bike and 'walk' it, (1 hand on the hand rail, the other on the throttle) to help the bike along exiting 1 creek.
I would have never been able to do this with a standard shift bike.
Curious; if the bike could be walked out of the creek, why couldn’t it be ridden out of the creek?
 
I would have needed more speed to carry the momentum through the mud.
I am senior. Slow and steady is a must for me now.
I run a Rokon and MF tractor on my farm. SLOW and TRACTION is key to safe operation. Speed kills.
Blue Skies Green Lights.
 
In my case, the DCT vs the manual is not so much the shift method, be it push button or toe lever, it's about no longer having control of the clutch. If Honda made an automatic or push button shifting transmission that still gave the rider control of the clutch, that would be an option for those looking for something in between. Most DCT riders praise no longer having to deal with the clutch, but I actually want one.
and here we are 5 years later and you have a no clutch Zero motorcycle which you seem to enjoy riding ....and.... Honda just announced an clutch system where you can use the clutch or not ..the Honda E Clutch..adaptable to older bikes (maybe your NC?)


I enjoy the automatic aspect of the DCT. If I wanted to shift and use a clutch I'd have bought a manual shift model NC 750X .
 
and here we are 5 years later and you have a no clutch Zero motorcycle which you seem to enjoy riding ....and.... Honda just announced an clutch system where you can use the clutch or not ..the Honda E Clutch..adaptable to older bikes (maybe your NC?)


I enjoy the automatic aspect of the DCT. If I wanted to shift and use a clutch I'd have bought a manual shift model NC 750X .
Speaking of clutch, no clutch, and the Zero. . .

Due to the limitations of gasoline engines, such as relatively narrow powerband, inability to run at anything close to zero RPM, need for a gearbox (or CVT), I prefer a manual clutch to manage the functions needed to keep the engine able to do it’s thing.

I greatly prefer my electric bike and car, in that the motor works and pulls from zero RPM to whatever RPM, does not require a multi ratio gear reduction, and does not need to be disengaged at a stop. (In the car, I don’t even need the brake pedal in most all circumstances. I operate the propulsion with one pedal - go and stop all in one). I prefer no need for a clutch at all, but if the propulsion system requires one, I want control of it.

The Honda e-clutch does look like an exciting enhancement. Perhaps it’s best of both ICEV transmission worlds without employing the complexities of an automatic transmission. Still, an electric motor driving a wheel through a constantly connected single fixed ratio is so much simpler.
 
Its funny, because I just read a comparison of 2 electric cars that have got some electronic system that mimics the shifting of a standard transmission, one even has modes for 3 different noises..a Toyota and a Hundai Ionic 5?

 
Its funny, because I just read a comparison of 2 electric cars that have got some electronic system that mimics the shifting of a standard transmission, one even has modes for 3 different noises..a Toyota and a Hundai Ionic 5?

Interesting. . . but most definitely not for me. Looks like an EV for people who are still deeply attached to internal combustion and transmissions. Reminds me of a bicycle accessory I once had as a kid. It was a plastic imitation engine, complete with the appropriate artificial noises.

I’m even annoyed with mandated the pedestrian warning song my electric car plays below 20 mph. Here we have what could be a perfectly quiet vehicle that intentionally makes a noise.

Sorry to get off track. This thread is supposed to be about manual operation of a DCT.

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When I first got my bike in June 2021, one day I must have somehow hit the manual button while coming to a stop. I took off from the stop sign and then couldn't figure out why it wasn't shifting into second. I sorta panicked, as it continued to rev. I hit the up paddle and it went in to second, so I figured it out pretty quick what had happened, and then proceeded to my son's house 4 miles away, using the +- paddle shifters for up and down shifting. When I got to my son's house, I put it back in automatic. It's hasn't been in manual shift since... 2 1/2 years and 37,000 miles lol. I also tried Sport mode once... and set up the User mode between standard and sport and used it once or twice. But I'm happy with just riding using the standard mode. I have never tried the rain mode.

I do hit the downshift button occasionally for passing, or going up a hill, or slowing down going downhill , which is a pretty cool feature, but other than that I just ride it in standard mode auto.

If I were 30 years younger I would probably be pounding the manual shift levers, but if I were 30 years younger I would have never bought a DCT in the first place.
 
Interesting. . . but most definitely not for me. Looks like an EV for people who are still deeply attached to internal combustion and transmissions. Reminds me of a bicycle accessory I once had as a kid. It was a plastic imitation engine, complete with the appropriate artificial noises.

I’m even annoyed with mandated the pedestrian warning song my electric car plays below 20 mph. Here we have what could be a perfectly quiet vehicle that intentionally makes a noise.

Sorry to get off track. This thread is supposed to be about manual operation of a DCT.

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It's a great thing that we are all different and enjoy different things. The other morning over coffee some of us were discussing the new EV one has. He is really excited over some aspects of if but said it doesn't have any "vroom-vroom" emotion when driving it. Those were his exact words. It just goes like a bat out of hell when asked but doesn't stir the soul. For him that isn't a deal breaker but now that the new has worn off he didn't seem that happy about it. I guess you would have to assign him to the group that remain deeply attached to internal combustion engines and the vroom-vroom. His favorite bike is a 165 hp dual sport. Out of the group that day I was riding my NC, a bike that EV owner wouldn't consider owning but I imagine I had as much fun as he did on the 160 mile ride.
 
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