A brief comparison between the Gen II and Gen III YCC-S systems.

[gixxerjasen]

I'll probably have to warm the bike before moving off when at home, otherwise there's no need. (Or possibly improve my confidence so I can do it at about 15 mph with no clutch slip

)

I've never noticed what you say about the revving or anything. But that's probably because I roll the bike out of the garage with it off, doing the same turn around you do, but pushing. Then I park it and start it and let it run while I suit up. Seems to be about the right amount of time I guess. Sure beats waiting around since you have to spend time suiting up anyway.

Still don't understand why momayama want's to deprive us yanks. There should at least be some special order program or something. I just don't get it.

It's pretty simple really. We Yanks didn't buy them when they were here. Or, at least, not enough of us bought them. They languished on showroom floors and never sold for what they asked for them. I presume if the demand had been there, we'd still have them. Of course, the negative reviews of those first models sure didn't help. That and not everyone understood how awesome they were.

 

[mcatrophy]

... and start it and let it run while I suit up. Seems to be about the right amount of time I guess. ...

That's what I've always done. I just don't like waking the household or annoying the neighbours any more than is necessary, was hoping not to need to.
Probably the worst time for a cold start is waiting in the queue for a ferry. You've been waiting in the queue for an hour, bike's gone cold (it always seems to be blowing a hooley when I'm at a ferry terminal), then all of a sudden you're directed to board NOW. Lots of revving and clutch slipping with an audience of several other experienced motorcyclists, all of whom are trickling quietly, there's just you sounding like a newby. I won't have that again .

 

[gixxerjasen]

Hrm, not a lot of ferries aorund here.

That does sound like it sucks though. Not sure which is worse, waiting around for an hour, or looking like a noob in that situation.

 

[mcatrophy]

Hrm, not a lot of ferries aorund here.

That does sound like it sucks though. Not sure which is worse, waiting around for an hour, or looking like a noob in that situation.

The waiting around is usually quite relaxing, plenty of people to chat to. Once had time to sort a puncture in my tyre, knowing we had over an hour, repaired with a plug.

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I'd always rather be two hours early than two minutes late.

 

[Harald]

Hrm, not a lot of ferries aorund here.

That does sound like it sucks though. Not sure which is worse, waiting around for an hour, or looking like a noob in that situation.

The waiting around is usually quite relaxing, plenty of people to chat to. Once had time to sort a puncture in my tyre, knowing we had over an hour, repaired with a plug.

(Click on image for larger view)



I'd always rather be two hours early than two minutes late.

We have a lot of ferries (and fairies also ) here in Seattle. Motorcycles get to ride to the front of the queue while waiting for the ferry and then load first (right after walk on passengers). When the ferry docks the bikes get to leave first, which is really nice to not be stuck behind slow cars. Do you have the same benefit over there?

 

[mcatrophy]

...We have a lot of ferries (and fairies also ) here in Seattle. Motorcycles get to ride to the front of the queue while waiting for the ferry and then load first (right after walk on passengers). When the ferry docks the bikes get to leave first, which is really nice to not be stuck behind slow cars. Do you have the same benefit over there?

It very much depends on the ferry and how it's run. On the largest ones I've been on, the bikes are put in a corner. They are put on fairly early, but come off fairly late, being closed in by a deck-full of trucks. Smaller ones vary, the very smallest you simply take your turn within the car queues, if you're lucky, you come off first. Sometimes a group of us will be split up, so the earlier ones off have to wait for the later ones anyway.

So, a bit of pot luck.

 

[mcatrophy]

Small update.

Having got a few more miles on the bike, I've been doing some higher-rpm gear-changes.

Up-changes, hard(ish) accelerating 2nd to 3rd to 4th, no throttle movement, all you feel is your head nodding momentarily. Revs are controlled by the ECU, gearchange is quick and clean. It could be smoother, but only at the expense of performance. No perceptable clutch slip.

You can defeat the up-change slightly by winding up the throttle just as you change gear. Catch it right (wrong?) you can excite the revs to rise too much, then you get the slow change while the clutch slips, dragging the engine speed down, but that's not easy to do, and unlikely in any normal riding.

Down-changes at high(ish) rpm are also quick, not quite so smooth, probably because in the "new" gear, the declaration is suddenly greater.

The above comments were all in "sport" mode. I've not used "touring" much, for normal riding it makes the bike too lethargic for me, so I can't comment on higher power/rpm gear-changes in touring mode.

As far as I am concerned, a very significant improvement over my '10.

 

[LagerHead]

Another jealous Gen II AE owner here. I am reluctant to trade up because of the lack of the option. Bummer for us.

 

[mcatrophy]

Yet another little update.

I'd previously tried reasonably hard gear-changes, but only in sport mode, as reported above. Today I had reason to go out when the roads were wet, and with quite a few of those wonderfully coloured autumn [fall] leaves on the road. Because I was on minor roads, all corners and give-ways, I put the bike into touring mode. (Excellent for confidence pulling out from a junction, but that's not the point.)

When I got onto a more major road, I tried some gear changes at higher engine speeds and fairly wide throttle. The resulting changes were significantly smoother than in sport mode, more slurred, barely noticeable. As far as I am concerned, an excellent result.

Once again, I think Yamama has integrated this version of the YCC-S into the Gen III's throttle-by-wire system pretty well.

Thinks: must remember to put it back into sport mode when I go out again.

 

[Enn]

Many thanks for the info, mcatrophy, makes me also thinking about upgrading...

 

[mcatrophy]

Yesterday I made my first two-up ride for over a year, and the first on this bike.

It's rare for me to have a passenger, so maybe my observations aren't expert, but may be of interest.

Picked up my passenger, who is an experienced motorcyclist, though been off the road for a few years. I had no problems with his behaviour, he knew what was expected.

With my previous ('10) bike, when I carried a pillion, I had a fair amount of trouble making smooth gear-changes, partly because I was a little nervous (I'd not had a passenger for some years, never one of his weight, also because he's a very experienced motorcyclist as well as a friend), partly because with his extra weight the bike behaved a little differently, so my throttle control was probably not optimum. Anyway, that was for about twelve miles in moderate city traffic.

So, yesterday I learnt that the changes Yamaha have made to the YCC-S have helped in this gear-changing with a passenger. However it isn't perfect. Setting off with normal acceleration through the gears, I found that changing gear as I would normally, we were tapping helmets. Not hard, just a touch.

This journey was about 115 miles, so I had some time to do a little experimentation.

I started using the obvious method of easing the throttle to no acceleration just before the change, then accelerating again after the change. That helped with the helmet tapping, but not with progress.

I then tried touring mode. Now things were much better. That smoother, slurred change I referred to in my previous post meant that, even without easing the throttle, there was much less of a jerk (although "jerk" is too strong of a word), and head-tapping was reduced. Found myself changing modes, touring when in traffic with lots of gear-changing, then sport mode in more open roads, where, if I want to overtake, I want to overtake NOW (albeit with due regard to keeping the passenger attached to the bike).

Another head-tap occurred after I'd been using the cruise control. With the CC holding at about 70, I released the CC by using the "close the throttle hard" switch. The sudden deceleration caused another tap. Changing down or touching the brake while the CC was active was even worse. I eventually found the best way of releasing the CC was to ease the throttle up until I was controlling the speed, then tap the gear change switch as if to change up. Since I was already in 5th gear, no change was made, but the CC released. I could now gently wind down the throttle to reduce speed gradually. Unfortunately it wasn't always possible to predict when slowing was needed, or at least in sufficient time for an un-learned technique. I'm sure this could become second nature for someone who frequently carries a pillion.

Overall, without any "clever" techniques, the consistency of the changes meant there were never any unacceptable clashes, and the changes were all far less jerky than some of them were on my '10. I'm sure the better changes on the '10 were at least as good as the "touring mode" changes on the '14, but I could never make all of them as good.

 

[allrider]

If you want to try a bike with a great auto shift take a Honda with the dual clutch transmission (DCT) for a ride. You can go fully auto or manual. I was impressed with how much farther they went than Yamaha and the AE.