What it is NOT!It is not an automatic, CVT, or like any “pushbutton” or “tiptronic” transmission found in most passenger cars, ATVs, scooters or snowmobiles. All of these systems use some form of torque converter or centrifugal clutch. The all-new FJR1300AE is a true manual transmission that borrows its technology right from Formula 1 cars and exotic sports cars where only the absolute best will do. The YCC-S system will not shift by itself and the rider still must complete every shift when accelerating or coming to a stop just like any other manual transmission.
Just to pick nits.....
Understand that the FJR AE is still a dog style motorcycle transmission with a normal clutch. All that has been done is replace the clutch lever and manual actuation with a motor driven servo that actuates the clutch based on control algorithms from the PCM. Shifting is still accomplished (mechanically) the same way as a normal FJR....by rotating a shift drum that moves the dogs from one gear to another with the engine power being cut momentarily to allow the change. In the case of the AE the shift drum is rotated by an electric solenoid controlled by the ECM not the normal shift lever.
Granted, none of the automotive applications mentioned have this specific combination of clutch and dog style, sequential gearbox.
But....not all of the automotive based "paddle shifted" or "manu-matics" have a torque converter nor are many of them related to traditional automotive automatic transmissions.
There are few, if any, dog style motorcycle transmissions in passenger cars because those typically require sequential shifting and do not allow skip shifts...i..e....you have to shift 1-2-3-4-5 and 5-4-3-2-1. You cannot skip gears. This is OK for motorcycles and pure road race cars but it not very practical for most passenger cars.
Most of the automotive varients that are not just manually operated automatics are conventional manual automotive (syncronized) gear boxes with a conventional clutch that has electronically controlled actuators (very close to the same style of "automation" of the gearbox that the FJR uses. The other types that show up in the more expensive exotic cars are a dual shaft/dual clutch transmission that allow selecting two gears mechanically and then coupling that specific shaft with the correct clutch disc. That is totally not like an FJR and it doesn't use a torque converter, either.
Some vehicle lines use both. Ferrari uses a four speed "automatic" with manual controls in one car and a dual shaft, dual clutch manual setup in another model so you have to look closely at what technology is being used.
Saying the FJR setup is like an F1 car technology is a real stretch. Same idea I guess but different implementation. An FJR AE is more like the power shifter setups that the bike drag racers have used for 20 years or more....i.e...a dog style transmission with an air operated actuator to move the shift lever just as it cuts power to the engine to allow the dogs to disengage and reengage. F1 cars are using dual and triple shaft manual transmissions that allow the rapid shift times without the dog style disengagement/reingagement.
The type of race cars used in CART/Champ car and Indy/IRL cars use the sequential dog style transmissions similar to motorcycles with manual control instead of electronics or paddles because the rules require no automatic shifting. The champ cars use an ignition interruptor to allow "clutchless" upshifting where the drive still has to manually move the lever but the engine is unloaded "automatically" to allow the shift without lifting.
You can accomplish much of the FJR AE type of shifting arrangement by just clicking the shift lever as you blip the throttle for a shift without using the clutch. Same idea and basically the same technology. Just the ECM is controlling the actuators for the (conventional) clutch and (conventional) motorcycle gearbox.
I adapted the PowerCommander QuickShifter to my 03 FJR and it works just like the "AE" at full throttle. Just pull the shift lever (don't back off the throttle at all) at WOT and the PowerCommander momentarily kills the injectors to cause the engine to hiccup just enough for the dogs to disengage and reingage into the next gear. Clutchless "automatic" upshifts at full throttle. Smooth as silk.
Not to take anything away from what Yamaha has done and accomplished from an engineering standpoint. Describing the system simply is a far cry from developing the actuators and software algorithms and controls and encompassing the potential failure modes of the system and operator. They have done an outstanding job it sounds like. The jury is still out I guess on whether there is that strong of a market for that type of system. Yamaha has certainly not done much with marketing the system no matter how sophisticated it is or how sophisticated it could be perceived.
