The clutch lever. It’s a generally accepted part of motorcycling, and to many, part of the enjoyment of riding a motorcycle is having the control to select gears, thereby governing the amount of acceleration available at a given time. On the other hand, some potential riders are intimidated by it, refusing to learn to ride and are left to be a passenger or end up avoiding motorcycling altogether.

Eventually, clutching becomes second nature for most, but for some it detracts from the pleasure of riding a motorcycle and for others, the act of pulling a clutch lever is not an option due to a disability. So what are the options? Most scooters are clutchless, but that style doesn’t suit everyone. Yamaha offers the FJR1300AE that has no manual clutch but instead leaves that duty to be taken care of by an electronic auto-clutch system. The FJR1300AE does however use a 5-speed gearbox and shifting is still required by either a left hand operated lever or foot shifter. The FJR is a high-powered sport-tourer and might not be your cup of tea either, so what is a cruiser guy/gal to do?

A fellow by the name of Clay Ridley, along with his son Jay, have been building ‘America’s Automatic Motorcycle’ for the last 13 years in Oklahoma which are now DOT approved and available in Canada. These ‘Auto-Glide’ cruisers could be the answer for folks who just want to twist and go.

Clay’s motivation to build and sell Auto-Glide motorcycles to the public stemmed from the interest garnered by the motorcycle that he had originally built for his son. Clay built a 570 cc V-twin cruiser in 1996 with the CVT transmission (see side bar) for Jay and took it to bike shows. People liked what they saw and interest quickly grew. When Clay saw that there was potentially a market for a bike so equipped, he decided to make a production version but with a more powerful engine.

The kind folks at Cool Rides in Barrie, Ontario offered to let us take the Ridley Auto-Glide ‘Old School’ for a few days to get a feel for how the Continuously Variable Transmission equipped cruiser works. This snappy dresser came optioned with premium paint package, beach bars, springer front-end, chrome wheels, white wall tires, sprung seat and Big Gun straight-through exhaust.

The Ridley’s air-cooled 750 cc 90 degree V-twin started up easily with choke applied to the 36 mm Mikuni carburetor and a quick stab of the starter button, the only difference from any other bike is that the brake lever must be pulled. Be warned that ‘blipping’ of the throttle will result in forward motion. After about a minute (from cold) the Ridley was ready to hit the road.

Pulling away, I was presented with the unusual sensation of the CVT coming into play. From a stand still with a claimed 40 horsepower and 40 ft. lbs. of torque, acceleration is smooth and while it is not arm stretching, it’s reasonably brisk. The elevated rpm combined with the non-stepped change of ratio gave the impression of a slipping clutch but it quickly smoothed out to a steady lope as a final overdrive ratio was achieved. Where a yank on the throttle in first or second gear on most bikes over 500 cc will net instant, rapid acceleration, the Ridley’s take off is more leisurely, so merging with traffic or crossing at a 2-way stop requires a bit more planning.

Arriving at the first traffic light, second nature kicked in and I reached for the clutch lever and tried to toe down a gear or two without success. Getting the hang of not having to clutch didn’t take long, but one has to get used to the idea that engine braking isn’t a factor with the this type of transmission. The Ridley will just coast quietly along with the throttle chopped. When it was time to throw out the anchor, a squeeze of front brake rewarded me with plenty of stopping power thanks to the 292 mm (11.5 in) disc and the hydraulic 4-piston caliper. The rear wears the same set up and when I felt the need to slow down more rapidly, a light push on the brake pedal in combination with front would net very good stopping distances.

Out in the country, the Old School was in its element as we cruised along rural roads lined with farmer’s fields. In this mode with the LED tachometer showing approx 3500 rpm and digital speedometer reading 100 km/h, the comfortable riding position offers the feeling that any cruiser rider would recognize.

I did find that the optional Big Gun exhaust to be louder than I prefer though, which is most noticeable when pulling away from a stop. The elevated rpm dictated by the CVT on take off, combined with the unbaffled exhaust roar could gain the rider less than desirable ‘official’ attention, especially in town.

On decently maintained roads, one can expect a smooth ride from the Old School, but when hitting roads with potholes, patches and heaves, the springer front-end had its hands full with only 3.3 cm (1.5 in) of travel. As much as I like the look of the springer front-end, the pitiful state of some of the roads around here would make me lean toward the more forgiving standard telescopic front-end with 10 cm (4 inches) of travel. The rear suspension offers good comfort with 7.7 cm (3.5 inches) of travel from the hidden under-carriage rear shocks, and in combination with the sprung solo seat, the rider’s butt is well insulated from normal road irregularities.

Steering was very light, almost twitchy, especially on the aforementioned crappy roads, but it never got out of hand. When sweeping corners appeared, the lightness of the front-end paid off nicely. The Ridley pleasantly surprised me when on one of my favorite sets of twisties, I found her to be a willing partner as we banked over quite heavily with no drama, and I enjoyed the easy handling combined with smooth, ready thrust channeled through the CVT.

The Old School has the largest fuel tank in the Ridley line up with 18.9 litres (4.16 gallons), and with a claimed 4.7 L/100 km (60 mpg), a range of around 400 km (240 miles) is possible if you wish to push your luck.

When moving the Ridley into our garage, I was struck by its lightness. At only 209 kg (460 lb) claimed dry weight, she is as much as 36 kg (80 lbs) lighter than bikes in the same displacement class, and close to 125 kg (275 lbs) lighter than some unfaired ‘big bore’ cruisers In combination with its very low 62.2 cm (24.5 inch) seat height, this should be a big bonus for riders of short inseam or experience. This nimbleness also translated into easy slow speed turns which made even U-turns on narrow side roads a simple feet up affair.

One thing that will show up on the radar of prospective buyers right away will be the price. With an MSRP of $18,295 ($22,180 as optioned) for the Old School, Ridley motorcycles are not inexpensive nor are they cheap. Fit and finish is very good and componentry is up to the task of making these bikes competent cruisers. To show that they stand behind their products, Ridley comes with a 25-month limited warranty.

If you are just starting or getting back to motorcycling or just don’t feel the need to be involved with the drive train in regards to selecting gears, perhaps Ridley’s ‘Auto-Glide’ style of motorcycle without a clutch lever is for you. MMM

 

CVT – How it works

Instead of having a box full of toothed gears, the CVT, or Continuously Variable Transmission, consists of three main components which are the variable-diameter drive pulley (connected to the engine’s crank shaft), the variable-diameter driven pulley and the belt which transfers power from the drive to driven pulley. Without getting too deep into the technical details of the process, at 1000 rpm, when the clutch engages, the drive pulley’s diameter is small and the driven pulley is of a larger diameter (ratio of 6:1). As speed increases, the drive pulley gets progressively larger with the driven pulley reducing in diameter until a final ratio of greater than 1:1 is achieved with 17% over-drive when loafing along at a constant speed.