Repeat after me: The Honda E-Clutch is not an automatic.
This isn't a matter of opinion; it's a fact, and one that anyone who's ridden one can most certainly confirm. While it's true that the E-Clutch functions differently than the standard motorcycle clutch lever you may already know and love, it still requires rider input in order to shift gears. Therefore, it is by definition not automatic.
There are automatic motorbikes, and Honda has even made some of these in the past (Hondamatic, anyone?). But this? This isn't it. And in the interest of demystifying the different types of modern shifting systems you can find on two- and three-wheeled motorbikes and trikes these days, we're going to take a moment to talk about all of them, how they work, and what you can expect if you ride one. Ready? Let's go.
How Honda's E-Clutch Actually Works
The company has a very detailed deep-dive technical explanation about how the E-Clutch works here, if you want to see it. But even as detailed as it is, that still doesn't tell you what it feels like to ride. That's what I'm here to do.
If you, like me, throw a leg over the saddle of a Honda motorbike that is equipped with its E-Clutch system, and you're used to riding motorcycles with traditional clutch levers, then it will feel quite a bit different. If you squeeze that clutch lever, it will feel slightly floppy and kind of wrong. If you're at all mechanically inclined, it might even feel like there's something wrong with your clutch cable (or the hydraulics, if you're used to riding with a hydraulic clutch).
Why? Because there's seemingly no resistance that you'll feel in your left hand.
That friction zone that your MSF Basic RiderCourse spent a good deal of time teaching you how to work back in the day? It's not there. And for a certain kind of rider, that can feel very strange indeed. But if you squeeze the clutch lever in, that will tell your E-Clutch-equipped motorcycle that you're using the clutch lever, and then you'll be able to engage it and shift up and down with it as you would on any modern motorbike with a manual clutch.
At the same time, if at any point you decide that you just want to quickly shift (quickshift, even) between gears without pulling the clutch lever in, you can just do that. There's no mode switch necessary; you can truly just not use the clutch lever at all if you like and just shift gears with your foot, or you can choose to engage the clutch lever sometimes if it feels better for you.
In low-speed turning situations, I definitely found myself grabbing for the clutch lever and wanting to control things myself. In uphill or downhill situations at slow speeds, where you might feel like it's more of a struggle against gravity to keep going in the direction you want to go, that's also likely where you might find yourself wanting to manually engage the clutch for better control.
But once you wrap your brain around just shifting up and down with your left foot with wild abandon, and not necessarily touching the clutch lever at all, it's kind of strangely freeing in a way.
The real struggle might come when you go from a bike equipped with E-Clutch to riding a bike that shifts any other way, and you have to re-acclimate yourself to the next thing. But I sort of consider that to be like going between my car, which has a 6-speed manual gearbox, and any time I drive a rental car (which are almost all automatics by default). It takes a minute, but you can wrap your brain around that change, right? Right.
How A Twist-And-Go CVT Scooter Actually Works
Listen, I can carry a truly disturbing amount of things on this Burgman. It fits two full-face helmets under the seat, and that's not touching what I can shove into that little tank bag that sits over the fuel hump, nor what I can (and have) bungeed to the pillion seat. If necessary, I can also add a backpack/messenger bag/sling for even more carrying capability. It's both eminently practical and also far more fun than driving a car to get groceries, you know?
But it is a twist-and-go scooter, powered by a CVT. While it does have a hand lever on both the left and right handlebars, they're both brakes; combined brake on the left, and front brake on the right. That takes another mental adjustment when you go between something like this and something with a manual clutch, of course.
Now, because I've had this scooter for a long time and put thousands of miles on it, I have had to change the drive belt (yes, it's belt-driven) a few times. I've also dealt with the heartbreak of a belt prematurely dying while I was very, very far from home and there were no tow trucks in the area that wanted to/were equipped to deal with motorbikes, so we waited for an entire afternoon baking in the sun. (High on my 'do not recommend' list, but I digress!)
A scooter like this shifts automatically, without you telling it what gear to go into, or where in the rev range you want it to shift. While you can have some effect on this by changing springs/roller weights/drive faces inside the transmission assembly (aka why Polini and Malossi exist), that's something you do in your garage, not something you do every time you're out riding.
How A Finger-Thumb Shifter Works
Can-Am uses yet another method to shift on the Spyder and Canyon. In this case, there's a little paddle toggle that goes around the handlebar on the lefthand side. If you look at it, you'll see a plus sign and a minus sign. Hit the plus to shift up; hit the minus sign to shift down. If you position your left forefinger over the bar and your left thumb below the bar, you can easily toggle Up or Down with your finger or thumb as needed.
There's no separate clutch lever that you need to engage, though. You can also choose to let the vehicle shift automatically for you if you prefer. It shares some similarities with both of the systems we've previously discussed in that way, but is still a different thing from both yet again.
How To Shift On A Standard Motorcycle
And then, of course, there's the standard shifting setup that many motorcyclists who ride modern bikes are probably familiar with. Clutch lever on the left handlebar, front brake on the right, foot shifter with one down and five or six gears up on the left side, rear brake on on the right just in front of the foot peg. Depending on what you've been riding and/or how long, you can probably go through these motions in your sleep (and depending on the bike, you also likely know how decisive you need to be with that bike to avoid surprise neutrals).
Is Any One System Truly Better Than Another?
There's personal preference, of course, and a lot of that has to do with what you're accustomed to handling. I find that's true in a lot of situations, not only with how you shift. Some people also prefer fuel injection to carburetion, or four strokes to two strokes, and so on. Some people also go all giddy when they hear the magnificent sound of a triple cylinder engine (guilty as charged), and others can be brought to tears when a crossplane R1 roars by.
There are always maintenance considerations, whether you or someone you care about will be working on your bike, or you'll be taking it to a shop. Whether you're maintaining a chain drive (and changing chains and sprockets on occasion), switching out a belt and drive faces on a CVT (contrary to what you may have been told in the past, automatic scooters DO require transmission maintenance, especially if you rack up the miles on them), or dealing with the less-frequent-but-still-a-thing quirks of your shaft drive beastie, you will need to deal with all these things at some point.
And preferences are totally a thing. Ask a group of riders what's better, and you'll get a zillion different opinions. But wouldn't it be boring if we all rode the same bikes? I certainly think so.
For whatever it's worth, I'm also of the opinion that any motorbike that gets you out and riding is the best bike for you right now. And it doesn't have to be your forever bike every time!
If it makes you want to go out and ride, that's what matters. Do you like how it shifts? Do you feel like it gives you good control to do what you want to do and ride how you want to ride? Then congratulations; you've picked a winner. Don't let anyone bully you or tell you differently. Ride your ride.
Hope this helps. Bookmark it if you need to and remember, it's your bike. Ride what makes you happy.
