Honda's Automated Clutch Motorcycles Are Coming to the U.S.

Honda is testing the U.S. market waters by trialing the technology on two of its popular naked bikes.

Automatic motorcycles aren't anything new, but a motorcycle with an optional-use clutch lever, such as a Honda's E-Clutch-equipped motorcycle, is not simply automatic. Now, these bikes, which have transmissions that can function as both an automatic or manual depending on the rider's preference, are officially coming to the U.S.

Honda announced Tuesday that the automated clutching technology is entering the U.S. market for the first time following availability in European and Japanese markets as part of a refresh of the 2024 Honda CB650R family. At its core, the E-Clutch transmission functions as a sort of simulated manual transmission, keeping the shift and clutch levers of a traditional motorcycle but making their operations optional. Functionally, motorcycles using the E-Clutch technology require riders to shift the bike from start to stop but allow for the use of the clutch solely for fun.

Mechanically, the system is predictably complicated, using a drive unit, a motor control unit (MCU), and a three-part clutch lever shaft. Honda keeps the bike from stalling out by using automatic clutch control parameters, though the action of shifting up and down remains the same. The automated system applies a calculated amount of clutch control in conjunction with the rider's throttle application by taking signals from the ECU, including engine RPM, throttle angle, gear position, gear shift pedal load, clutch disengagement, and wheel speed.

Honda says this system is faster to shift than a human, as well as less prone to errors such as clutch-riding or dumping. However, Honda has accounted for the possibility that an imprecise human could decide to use the dangling clutch lever. While the drive unit and associated motors control the automatic operation of the clutch, a manual linkage remains and allows for traditional shifting through the gears. In a diagram on its technical website, Honda shows that the three-part clutch lever shaft feeds the clutch from two different channels, with the manual version physically moving the shaft in a typical manner.

"This new design enables two different movements from a single shaft, which makes it possible to mount the system with a minimum number of changed or additional parts and without any major changes to the conventional manual transmission engine structure," Honda says.

Notably, the system is also switchable, meaning that riders who prefer to shift manually all the time can do so with the press of a button. Even cooler, Honda's engineering allows for a middling state, in which you can temporarily engage the manual mode by using the clutch even when the automatics are switched on. Honda says its E-Clutch system has benefits beyond allowing for a more accessible starting place for new, manual-unfamiliar riders. Specifically, for those who ride in traffic regularly, Honda says switching the system on can reduce fatigue and that the automated shifts are typically less disturbing to the bike's balance overall.

For 2024, Honda will offer these two twin-cylinder sport bikes with E-Clutch technology for the price of $9,399 for the CB650R and $9,899 for the CBR650R. There is seemingly no upcharge for the E-Clutch technology itself, seeing as the year-over-year price for the pair of bikes has remained the same.

A New York transplant hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Emmet White has a passion for anything that goes: cars, bicycles, planes, and motorcycles. After learning to ride at 17, Emmet worked in the motorcycle industry before joining Autoweek in 2022 and Road & Track in 2024. The woes of alternate side parking have kept his fleet moderate, with a 2014 Volkswagen Jetta GLI and a BMW 318i E30 street parked in his Queens community.

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