Yamaha’s the latest firm to confirm it’s bringing a semi-automatic transmission to its next generation rides
Semi-automatic transmissions are nothing new. Honda’s had one on the go for years; BMW’s just announced its own as an aftermarket option on its new GS Adventure; and KTM’s just trialled one at the gruelling Red Bull Erzberg Rodeo.
And that’s without mentioning that Yamaha itself actually had a go at something sort of similar nearly 20 years ago. The Japanese firm developed the YCC-S system for its FJR1300 sports tourer. It wasn’t quite a semi-auto transmission like we know it today, but it did a similar job, employing hydraulics to allow riders to manually change gear using a finger-operated gear lever. Clever stuff.
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Like the others on the market today, the new Y-AMT system is all electronic, but the biggest difference between Yamaha’s latest technology and that of the competition is that the Japanese firm’s interested in performance rather than simply practicality. It reckons that it’ll actually allow for faster shifting than a traditional manual gearbox, even when it’s kitted out with a quickshifter.
It utilises two electronic actuators, eliminating the need for both the clutch and gear lever in its fully-automatic guise – though there will be a manual mode which allows riders to toggle up and down using the two switchgear-mounted paddles. Yamaha’s been smart with that, too, designing the switchgear to be operated using an index finger rather than thumb, meaning riders can always keep a solid grip on the bars.
While there’s been no official word on what it’s going to be fitted to, and when we’re actually going to see it in the flesh, Yamaha has released a statement saying that it’ll ‘begin introducing Y-AMT to a range of models in the near future, bringing this innovation to sport riding, touring and commuting’.
Chances are we won’t have to wait all that long, then. Yamaha’s got quite a bit of work to do to bring a host of its models in line with the impending Euro5+ emissions regulations by next year, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if a few of this year’s releases come kitted out with the new performance-focused technology.
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