Wednesday, April 1, 2009

More motorcycle fun

There were two motorcycle-related "firsts" here in the last twenty-four hours. First, I took delivery of -- and went for my first ride on -- the new Honda DN-01 (seen here posing near a beaver pond).



The DN-01 is Honda's first motorcycle with their new HFT ("Human Friendly Transmission"). Essentially, it is a fully automatic transmission, and from what I could tell from my first ride on it, the system works very well. I could see a future world of clutchless motorcycling.

Second, Eric Talbot got his motorcycle learner's permit! Woohoo!



Schedules permitting, within a few days he should be on the road. Congratulations, Eric! -- PL

5 comments:

~ tOkKa said...

-->> ..way to go , E.T.

..

make sure you wear a brain bucket !! !!

>v<

Anonymous said...

wow i would love to go riding with you guys one day..that would be so awesome.. seems like a blast!

Unknown said...

So what does the HFT feel like for the rider? I can't really imagine it unless it's just a very touchy throttle or else you just don't need to use a clutch (which is a design I know Honda already had). It sounds cool but without having tried it I can't help but think manual would be better (and fun!).

PL said...

"Ross said...
So what does the HFT feel like for the rider? I can't really imagine it unless it's just a very touchy throttle or else you just don't need to use a clutch (which is a design I know Honda already had). It sounds cool but without having tried it I can't help but think manual would be better (and fun!)."

Basically, it feels like an incredibly smooth-shifting automatic transmission. There is no discernible "jump" between gears -- it just smoothly accelerates. It's quite cool -- I could easily get used to it! -- PL

Unknown said...

Fun? It sounds like I need to refer you to my Los Angeles motorcycle accident attorney. Lol, keep their card, it may come in handy if you're not the one at fault.