Times are weird, and I guess weird times call for weird measures. At least, as per Honda, which thinks it's about time electric motorcycles replicated the old-school feel of gas bikes.
The Japanese giant has apparently filed a patent for a motorcycle system that uses a fake clutch, a fake flywheel, and a set of vibration motors. And it’s not just another random patent.
Honda’s CR Electric Proto motocross bike, which is the same electric dirt bike design the company has been covertly developing for competitive use, serves as the lab rat for the patent. The system uses electronics to change the motor's response based on the position of the clutch lever as opposed to a conventional mechanical clutch.
The electronic clutch would proportionately lower motor output when the clutch is pulled halfway in. And when it would be completely pulled, the system would cut the power completely regardless of the throttle position. Sounds gimmicky, doesn’t it?
But in reality, Honda’s already seeing how to put this tech to use. As per the patent, the rider will be able to preload the throttle while gripping the clutch lever, thereby quickly releasing it to produce a torque burst, effectively replicating the hard launch that motocross riders rely on.
Honda thinks that would be helpful in competitive riding scenarios where accurate power modulation is important, particularly when starting aggressively or over uneven terrain. But that’s just the simulated electronic clutch system.
What about the apparent vibrator motors? The patent suggests there’s more than one of these motors installed in the handlebars close to the clutch lever. It would help offer the same haptic input of engine vibration and, more importantly, the "bite point" sensation of engaging a mechanical clutch.
But why? Why all this? Especially when one of the biggest selling points of electric motos is their quietness and the simplicity of operation.
Well, one obvious reason is racing. There’s no denying that using an electronically controlled clutch would make sense in motocross races, for instance, like taking off. Then, there’s the less obvious reason: to familiarize beginner riders transitioning from ICE motorcycles to electric bikes, to make the shift smoother.
As AMCN, which was the first to break this story, also notes, Honda is hardly the first to file a patent to change the way e-motos feel. Previously, the likes of Zero and Kymco have filed patents for faux clutches and even simulated multi-speed transmissions.
So it’s not like brands aren’t noticing that buyers are asking for more feel and feedback from electric motorcycles. Understandably, too. Motorcycling has never been purely logical. We like vibration. We like noise. We like the little imperfections that make a machine feel alive, even when those same things objectively make it slower, dirtier, and less efficient. Honda clearly isn’t trying to solve a problem here – it’s trying to preserve a feeling.
And that’s the funniest thing about all this. We spent years engineering motorcycles to become smoother, faster, and easier to ride, only to arrive at electrification and immediately start recreating all the quirks we spent decades trying to eliminate. Somewhere out there, an engineer is probably programming a vibration motor to simulate clutch chatter while another engineer nearby is trying to eliminate actual vibration from a combustion bike. The circle is complete.
Via: AMCN
