I was describing a CVT to a buddy of mine who's mechanically ignorant the other day, and I got to thinking about snowmobiles and ATVs that use them, and then I thought about gearboxes on them and how there may be some Odysseys/Pilots running around with those too. Then I had a thought that wouldn't go away. Years ago, I used to race MX with dirt bikes, and my last weapon of choice was the Husqvarna 390 Automatic MX. It had a true automatic transmission - no shifting required, although it had 4 gears. You couldn't feel it shift, but you could hear the Engine sound change as it went from one gear to the next. Basically, you started the Engine in neutral, then flipped a small lever to allow it to go into gear. There was no clunk or anything like that, but when you advanced the throttle, you started moving. When you were on the starting line, everyone else was revving the guts out of their bikes but you just sat there idling. When the gate dropped, you nailed the throttle and hung on! There was a series of centrifugal clutches in there and, when the rear wheel started to reach a certain RPM, the next clutch took over so there never was a break in the power delivery. As long as you weren't asleep at the line, you were practically guaranteed a hole shot! Dirt Bike magazine even gave it the title of King of the Open Class. Also, if you need to work on the transmission, you could pull all the guts out of it and never have to take the Engine out of the frame.

Anyway, I believe it would make an awesome Engine for an ATV if you could find one to stick in your frame. My bike was totally bullet-proof, and I regret ever selling the thing! They also made a 410 (or was it a 420?) enduro model for a year or two after that. I think mine was a '78 model - it had a green tank on it.

Anyway, has anyone ever tried that Engine?

Never even heard of it to be honest it was a "automatic" you say?Have any pictures of that ride when you raced it by chance?Hare does alot of riding harecrambles, mabye he is familiar with this Engine/transmission?

I regret I don't have any pictures of my old scooter, but I Googled around and found this:

http://vintagebikeads.com/index.php?entry=30

Scroll down a little and you'll see exactly what mine looked like.

http://www.cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/ ... omatic.htm

That tells me that there was an even bigger Engine out there! Take a look at it and you'll notice there's no clutch lever. Anyway, the transmission wasn't really any bigger than any of the other bikes of that era.

Here's an old article about an enduro model:

http://www.vmx.livewire.gen.nz/magazine ... sky390.htm


Dang - talking about it has gotten me sad I let mine go now!

Sure looks interesting I wish I could see the inside of one of those trans, a CBR600R with that trans would be nice for a Pilot or Odyssey

A sealed CVT like currently used in some autos would also be nice.

Hoser, when you mentioned the Honda Engine, I immediately thought about the old 'Hondamatic' from a few years ago. Weren't those in the 400 to 600cc range? If I'm not mistaken, they were very similar to the old Honda minibike transmissions - no clutch lever, but you did have a regular shift lever to tap-dance on. Think Honda Mini-Trail. I think they were geared toward getting more ladies to ride bikes, and they were 4-strokes, but I'm sure you could wake them up with simple hot rod tricks. They might be a pretty cool Engine for a buggy, and they might be cheap.