• A few people have been scammed on the site, Only use paypal to pay for items for sale by other members. If they will not use paypal, its likely a scam NEVER SEND E-TRANSFERS OF ANY KIND.

A question for DCT owners

  • Thread starter Deleted member 1183
  • Start date
D

Deleted member 1183

I am now a DCT newbie. I rarely commute nowadays but on the couple of times that I have been to the city recently a question occurred to me. Should I shift the transmission into neutral when stopped at traffic lights ? It seems perfectly happy to tickover in gear with no drag, but I do not see any reference to this in my owners manual.

Also there are 4 modes of drive. D and the three S's. Each time I switch off the motor, on a restart the bike will select D even though the last mode I used was one of the S's. Is that the norm ?


Thanks in advance for any responses.
 
I am now a DCT newbie. I rarely commute nowadays but on the couple of times that I have been to the city recently a question occurred to me. Should I shift the transmission into neutral when stopped at traffic lights ? It seems perfectly happy to tickover in gear with no drag, but I do not see any reference to this in my owners manual.

Also there are 4 modes of drive. D and the three S's. Each time I switch off the motor, on a restart the bike will select D even though the last mode I used was one of the S's. Is that the norm ?


Thanks in advance for any responses.

If you like to blip the throttle at lights put it in neutral. Otherwise don't worry about it. I also put my bike in neutral before I shut it off. Mine only has D and S. I think it is a default that it always goes back to D. I didn't get a manual with mine so if you got one I would read it.

Take care and enjoy the bike. I love my 2014.
 
My understanding is the idle speed is 1,200 rpm and the clutch engagement speed is 1,350, so between those rpm's the clutch is disengaged. Since the owner's manual doesn't suggest shifting to neutral, I wouldn't bother.
The owner's manual doesn't say it, but their graphic of the transmission modes indicates the logic is neutral to 'D' mode, then select 'S' or manual modes.
 
If you like to blip the throttle at lights put it in neutral. Otherwise don't worry about it. I also put my bike in neutral before I shut it off. Mine only has D and S. I think it is a default that it always goes back to D. I didn't get a manual with mine so if you got one I would read it.

Take care and enjoy the bike. I love my 2014.

Thanks for that. I did read it but it was ambiguous about the neutral to D or S if S had previously been selected.
 
No need. And please don't be a "blipper"

Thanks. Having had Auto Belt drive scooters for years I am well aware of the consequences of blipping the throttle on one. I have also heard some horror stories related.
 
My understanding is the idle speed is 1,200 rpm and the clutch engagement speed is 1,350, so between those rpm's the clutch is disengaged. Since the owner's manual doesn't suggest shifting to neutral, I wouldn't bother.
The owner's manual doesn't say it, but their graphic of the transmission modes indicates the logic is neutral to 'D' mode, then select 'S' or manual modes.

Many thanks.
 
I suppose the question was motivated when I stopped the bike in gear and switched off the ignition. I then noticed that the rear wheel didn't spin easily and understood that there was the same affect as if the wheel was being spun on a manual in gear with the clutch held in. On my manual bikes I sometimes drop into neutral at traffic lights especially if they take a while. Does anyone know the life of a pair of clutches on these bikes ?
 
[If you like to blip the throttle at lights put it in neutral]

Blipping the throttle unnecessarily at stop lights is a Harley affliction but I now understand they have shots to take care of that problem. :)

When I was an instructor, I often had young male students who habitually blipped the throttle when stopped but none of them could explain why
when questioned.
 
[If you like to blip the throttle at lights put it in neutral]

Blipping the throttle unnecessarily at stop lights is a Harley affliction but I now understand they have shots to take care of that problem. :)

When I was an instructor, I often had young male students who habitually blipped the throttle when stopped but none of them could explain why
when questioned.

Modern blipping is a "hey look at me, I'm a jerk" behavior, but I think it may have roots in old two stroke bikes that would not idle for long without sputtering out or fouling the plug(s). Blipping kept the engine alive. However, modern day blippers are just imitating that, as they probably never even owned an old two stroke.
 
It's safer to leave the bike in gear at a traffic stop at least until there a line of cars backed up behind to absorb the energy of the distracted driver that piles into the last car (or us). It takes a second or two to drop into D/S and get going unless you fumble for the switch and take longer. It's a safety habit that has nothing to do with clutch life or type of transmission.

FWIW the only clutch replacements noted on this and the UK forum have been manual transmission bikes.
 
Why put it in neutral? To me the great thing about the DCT is just rolling off the throttle and rolling to a stop.
 
On the odd occasion that I put it in neutral I'm liable to forget and then try to take off, rolling on the throttle while in neutral!

One thing the manual does warn against, don't hold the bike on a hill by giving just enough gas, use your brakes to hold your position and let the engine idle until it's time to go.

The DCT always goes to D mode no matter what mode it was in when you powered down.

Other gotcha's are:

- While riding you must close the throttle to choose between S1 S2 and S3, if the throttle is open if will only alternate between D and the S mode you're in.

- If for some reason your engines dies while you are at speed and you roll to a stop. Your bike will be in, lets say, 5th gear. When you turn on the ignition the DCT will not make it's way back to neutral, the bike will not start. The trick is to hold the front brake while pressing the start trigger. See this post.
 
Last edited:
when I had my NC I never put it in neutral unless I'm putting it in the garage.
my new bike I did a couple of times open the throttle and nothing happened and nearly topple over.
forgetting its not an auto.
done the same when in gear too only to stall it.lol
got used to it now having done 4822 miles this year.
thats the most mileage I've ever done in a few short months starting from march.
my friend just bought a NC750 DCT and loves it.
he find that the rear shock is to hard(only weighs 154lbs.
I said to him if that had been my bike I would've kept . nice red metallic/black.
Honda%20NC%20750X%2014%20%202.jpg
 
Last edited:
Welcome to the DCT world you're going to love it.
The DCT is a much more complicated system using oil in the gear changing sequences.
For that reason I use only motorcycle specific oil.
Blue Skies Green Lights.
 
Today I pulled up late to a left turn signal at one of those intersections where you can only turn on a left turn signal light(which is never long enough to let more than 4 or 5 cars get through), so I turned my engine off, but waited until a car pulled in behind me in the the turn lane. With the engine off my brake light would be off.
The same thing might apply if you put your bike in N at a stop- you might take your foot or hand off the brake. And a lit tail light is part of the whole "See me, don't hit me" strategy.

One thing I do notice is that when starting up my DCT bike there's a tiny click and then it goes into neutral. But since it's not in gear when it's off- what's with the click? Not sure if it happens when I've used the kill switch versus just turning the key off on the last ride.
 
Today I pulled up late to a left turn signal at one of those intersections where you can only turn on a left turn signal light(which is never long enough to let more than 4 or 5 cars get through), so I turned my engine off, but waited until a car pulled in behind me in the the turn lane. With the engine off my brake light would be off.
The same thing might apply if you put your bike in N at a stop- you might take your foot or hand off the brake. And a lit tail light is part of the whole "See me, don't hit me" strategy.

One thing I do notice is that when starting up my DCT bike there's a tiny click and then it goes into neutral. But since it's not in gear when it's off- what's with the click? Not sure if it happens when I've used the kill switch versus just turning the key off on the last ride.

Do you shut the bike down while it is in gear? If so, upon start up, you are hearing the transmission putting itself into neutral. I always put my DCT in neutral when shutting down.
 
Back
Top