[cycleworld.com] - Yamaha’s Patents Semi-automatic MT-07

[Ninjette Newsbot]

Yamaha is working on a new semi-automatic gearbox that it may apply to the MT-07 and middleweights using the same engine.

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Yamaha’s semi-automatic will use electronic actuators to shift the transmission. (Yamaha/)Honda’s E-Clutch system introduced on the 2024 CB650R and CBR650R models aims to provide a cheap and simple alternative to more complex semi-autos like its own DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission). Now it looks like Yamaha is developing its own rival setup to use on the MT-07 and its sister models.

While Honda’s E-Clutch is a clever hybrid design, retaining a conventional clutch lever for when you want to use it and relying on the rider’s left foot to shift the ratios, Yamaha’s take is a more conventional semi-auto. It eliminates the foot-operated shifter and left-hand clutch lever, swapping in a set of bar-mounted buttons. A new patent application from Yamaha illustrates the system, clearly showing it fitted to a bike built around the chassis and parallel-twin engine of the MT-07.


Honda just released its E-Clutch on the CB650R and CBR650R for 2024. (Honda/)This isn’t new ground for Yamaha. The company first offered its YCC-S (Yamaha Chip Controlled Shifting) system—which automates the clutch and gearshift of an otherwise conventional transmission—on the FJR1300 back in 2006. The design illustrated on the new patent application for the MT-07 is a similar idea, with the innovative element that the company hopes to patent relating to the layout of the actuators and the control electronics rather than the concept of semi-auto shifting itself.


Yamaha’s FJR1300AE used the YCC-S automated clutch and gearshift. YamahaWhat is new for Yamaha, is the addition of YCC-S to a bike that’s far lower in the pricing range than the FJR1300, and one that’s a direct rival to Honda’s E-Clutch CB650R. Since the same parallel-twin engine is also used in the Yamaha YZF-R7, XSR700, and Ténéré 700, it would be simple to apply it to those models as well. The Ténéré 700 could be particularly well suited to the system, given its adventure-touring role.


The illustration of a MT-07 shows the bar-mounted shift buttons (181). (Yamaha/)The system operates as you might expect. There are up and down shift buttons on the left-hand bar (marked 181) on the patent illustrations, and a pair of electric actuators fitted just above the transmission. One on the left, to operate the shifter, and one on the right to control the clutch. A motor control module translates the demands from the bar-mounted buttons into operations of the clutch and shifter to give smooth gear changes, as well as controlling the clutch for getaways and stops. Yamaha’s patent suggests that the system could also be used in a fully automatic mode, controlling the timing of gearshifts as well as the mechanics of making them happen.


A second patent shows a Yamaha YZF-R7 as an application. (Yamaha/)The control unit is mounted on the outside of the left-hand frame rail, fed cooling air by a scoop on the side of the fuel tank. A second control unit—its purpose not revealed—is mounted in the same position but on the right-hand side of the frame. The new transmission control unit also appears in another recent patent application by the same author. Again, the patent specifically relates to its mounting position on the bike, but this time it’s illustrated on a Yamaha YZF-R7 rather than an MT-07. In this second patent there’s no mention of the control unit’s purpose, only its mounting position, so the inclusion of a gearshifter on the R7 drawing (but no clutch lever) isn’t relevant to the patent text.

As well as the semi-auto shift, the MT-07 illustrated in the patent shows some distinct differences to the generations seen so far. The bodywork, for instance, while only roughly sketched, doesn’t align with the current MT-07 or its predecessors, featuring a different seat and new scoops on the sides of the tank to feed cooling air to the control units. The radiator cowls also appear to be slightly different, as does the front fender, and most significantly the fork is an upside-down unit (as used already on the R7) instead of the MT-07?s conventional design.


The electronic control units need cooling, so they are placed where air can be ducted to them. (Yamaha/)Just like the Honda E-Clutch, the Yamaha semi-auto design is sure to split opinion between riders who like the idea of new technology and those who lament the lost simplicity of an earlier generation of motorcycles. But it’s clear that the setup is designed to automate the operation of an otherwise normal clutch and gearshift, which means that, like Honda’s system, it’s almost sure to be an optional extra rather than standard equipment. So both camps should be able to buy the bikes they want.