Slackkinhard, on 04 May 2012 - 04:51 AM, said:

now wait just a second...if i cant wear tights wont my codpiece and cape look a little wierd? :-)

LOCKGUY, on 04 May 2012 - 02:15 PM, said:

So ya decided to go to Walker Valley and be a crimefighter?  

Hope ya get 'em

How much fun are you having when you shoot around a corner or get in a technical riding spot and you stall your bike and then kick it 10-30 times to start it back up? by the time you get it started  you are tired and need a few minutes to get back in your groove again and try to catch back up to your buds. Anyone that rides has done this more then once with a auto clutch and now it eliminates this so you can just concentrate on riding.u still use the clutch like u would a regular one. And now with the fuel injection bikes when u stall the bikes start up alot faster thanks to technology. by the way I love my rekluse and my fuel injection on my yz 450 I will never go back to a two stroke or a carb bike again.    Do not knock it till u try it.

yamahammer426, on 03 May 2012 - 09:26 AM, said:

Purists walk.....

orangehorse101, on 03 May 2012 - 10:12 AM, said:

Perfectly put.  I don't care what anybody else thinks about it.

<p>Wow I didn't think we'd get such divided opinions on this.  I disagree with you auto-clutch guys, but completely respect your points.

Agree to disagree, let's go ride.

Edited by nc_27587, 05 May 2012 - 04:55 PM.

Depends what youre doing with the bike... if your are competing you want every advantage you can get.  IF your riding for fun, you set it up however you prefer for the fun factor.

Thumper35, on 03 May 2012 - 10:40 PM, said:

Yea but that's just stupid. The risk vs benefit is just wrong for almost all to me in the extreme stuff. No matter what there will be a challenge in there somewhere even with the mods. Now there's endurocross and extreme enduro stuff. Sure you can improve on the recipe to set up the bike. To me that's also part of what makes the best riders the best riders. They know how to set up their bikes in addition to their riding ability and fitness. The other factor is we all get older and these mods also help extend the quality of the ride and the length of time riding.. It's nice that there's a choice.

Thumper35, on 04 May 2012 - 03:34 PM, said:

I don't think the series I race on has a class for that.

wether nyou are a purist or not you have to acknowlege there is "a line". The line is waht the purist arbitrarily sets between "pure" and technological hocus pocus or what they call cheating.

if you claim to be a "purist" my guess is you aren't riding a 60s era bultaco and you are very glad for the advancements in suspension, breaking, engine technology etc. You are taking advantage of technology to make your reide more fun just like me...I ust happen to enjoy my autoclutch and you don't...really we are no different and you are no more a purist than I am.

The big problem I see (and I see it a lot) is that so called "purists" tend to have a very superior attitude. "learn to use your clutch and you won't need the auto clutch". It is this kind of ignorant statement that fuels the fire.

I am a decent rider and have run races on my YZ with all the Mods and my KDX with considerably fewer. The race results were similar but the fun factor on the YZ is way WAY higher

Edited by LOCKGUY, 05 May 2012 - 06:21 AM.

It's aaaall about the fun factor. He who has the most fun wins

Thumper35, on 05 May 2012 - 06:24 AM, said:

I agree... if you are not making a living by racing, or on your way to that level, then make the bike fun to ride for yourself, nothing more or less! If you have more fun with an auto-clutch, then by all means...

The original question assumes the goal is to have fun.  It's clearly not from a racing perspective (otherwise auto-suspension would win every time).

So the question is *why* is it fun?  What makes an auto-clutch more fun than manual?  There were good answers already on both sides of that particular argument, it's just an example.

LegendLength, on 03 May 2012 - 04:36 AM, said:

I'm not sure what fantasy world you are living in, but what does this have to do with riding motorcycles?

Krannie, on 05 May 2012 - 07:25 PM, said:

The fantasy world where people discuss interesting subjects?  I donno.  I'm sure there's some 2 stroke vs 4 stroke posts around that might be easier for you to contribute to.

Here is the thing, people tend to "knock" new technology generally because they haven't tried it. There are some that have attempted to ride bikes with said tech., but they can't get used to it. To each their own I guess. I was never against an autoclutch, just couldn't afford one. I just rode the bike the way it was and was perfectly happy with it. I stalled my bike out during a h/s last year, and it took an ungodly amount of kicks to get that bike started. Guess what my next move was? Autoclutch..... I have a rekluse in my bike now, and couldn't be happier. I use it for more of an anti-stall device instead of an autoclutch. Hence, technology. I guess that it comes down to the saying "How do you know you don't like it, if you have never tried it?"

LOCKGUY, on 05 May 2012 - 06:20 AM, said:

Sure there's a line.   My YZ250 operates the same way a 1960's Bultaco would, it just does it better because it's newer.  While an auto clutch doesn't change the way the bike is set up very much, it does a little bit, just enough that I wouldn't care to have one. I said nothing negative about people who do use auto clutches nor do I believe they make you a worse rider, I just am not a fan of them.

It's all a matter of perspective.  For a beginning rider, anything and everything to make it easier is a good thing.  As the mastery of the terrain comes, then elimination of the simplicity technology will make your common terrain more challenging and more fun.  Or you can keep your simplification technology and move on to increasingly more difficult terrain.