Quickshifters were developed for competition, but in recent years the technology has spread to many production motorcycles, more or less sporty. Very useful at high revs, in certain cases this system shows its limits during daily driving, most of the time translated into gear changes which are not always smooth. Kawasaki is working to address this with an “automated” clutch, designed to autonomously decide when to shift gears.
The technology is relatively simple: the simplest quickshifter only works on upshifts, detecting the movement of the gear lever and briefly cutting the ignition to reduce engine torque for an instant and allow the higher gear to be engaged without use the clutch. Since the advent of ride-by-wire throttles, we've seen up-and-down quickshift technology proliferate on high-end motorcycles, with the ECU configured to match engine RPM to road speed during shifts. clutchless downshifts. But these systems are still geared for the track, where engine speeds are high, and at low speeds and revs they are often less than ideal, with clumsy shifts and shocks in the transmission. As a result, even with a quickshifter, chances are you'll still use the clutch when riding around town, for fear of being caught.
Kawasaki is aware of this disadvantage and is working on a quickshifter combined with an automatic clutch, which adapts to the riding style and makes its own decision on the best way to achieve each gear change. A patent application was recently filed by the Akashi brand, and explains the system, which combines a modern quickshifter with an actuator that operates directly on the clutch when needed.
On this patent, this system is adapted to a Ninja 1000SX. It uses the quickshifter alone without disengaging the clutch at high speeds and high revs, but at a gentler pace it also automatically uses the clutch to provide smooth gear changes at any speed.
This new patent focuses specifically on gear changes made on the move, but it's worth noting that Kawasaki's drawings clearly show the bike without a clutch lever on the handlebars, suggesting that this new system will also be able to handle Powering the clutch automatically when the vehicle stops.
Thus, a "shift control" unit connected to the ECU monitors engine speed, gear engaged, shift lever movement, throttle opening and vehicle speed, as well as coolant temperature and even atmospheric pressure to decide at what engine speed the clutch should be used and at what speed a gear change can be made smoothly without disengaging.
Although a patent application is far from a guarantee that a technology will reach the series, Kawasaki's idea seems to be a more than concrete possibility compared to the current state of the art.
