For decades the idea of a motorcycle with an automatic transmission has been anathema for most riders—a performance-sapping, enjoyment-leeching piece of unrequired complexity that does a disservice to their ability to shift their own cogs. But it’s a technology that’s now come of age and started to steal large volumes of sales from conventional bikes, so KTM is joining BMW by introducing its own automatic transmission in the 2025 model range.
KTM’s 1290 Super Adventure is set to be superseded by a redesigned 1390 Super Adventure range in 2025, and the company has given the first official glimpse of the bike at the Erzbergrodeo in Eisenerz, Austria, at the start of June, with Johnny Aubert at the helm. While largely matching spy pictures caught earlier this year, the machine in Eisenerz differed in one key aspect, it lacked a clutch lever. A dazzle-camouflage disguise wrap that incorporated the letters “AMT” (for automated manual transmission) and bar-mounted “Up” and “Down” triggers, operated by the left thumb and forefinger respectively, remove all doubt of the bike’s technological innovation.
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We first revealed KTM’s plans for a semi-auto transmission on its big LC8 V-twin models back in February 2023, when patents emerged showing intricate details of the gearbox. Those documents, which included CAD drawings clear enough to show part numbers on some components, revealed that the bulk of the semi-auto box is shared with the manual version, but adds an actuator to move the selector drum and an interlocking pawl to provide a “park” setting, locking the transmission so the bike can’t roll off its stand when you park on a slope.
The electronics of the transmission allow it to operate in either fully auto or semi-automatic modes, and unlike designs from BMW and Honda, the patent says it uses a centrifugal clutch to connect the engine and the gearbox. That gives twist-and-go control, like a scooter, and removes the need for an additional clutch actuator and its associated electronics, but also means that at rest the clutch defaults to a disengaged position, hence the need for a locking mechanism inside the gearbox as there’s no way to simply leave the bike in gear.
KTM’s Erzbergrodeo prototype featured a foot-operated shifter as well as the bar-mounted triggers, suggesting two modes for the transmission’s operation, and the patent says there’s a fully auto setting as well. Some versions of Honda’s DCT (dual-clutch transmission) also use a foot shifter option, and BMW’s upcoming ASA (Automated Shift Assistant) that’s coming on the R 1300 GS and the as-yet-unseen R 1300 GS Adventure in 2025 also uses a foot shifter. Honda’s halfway-house semi-auto alternative, the E-Clutch that’s been introduced on the 2024 CB650R and CBR650R, has no automated shift but a clutch that can operate in an automatic mode, again allowing a conventional foot gear change but without the need to touch the clutch lever, even when starting and stopping.
Figures from Honda’s existing range, where DCT is optional on a growing number of models including the Africa Twin, show that the semi-auto box is hugely popular. More than half of customers tick the DCT option box on some models, including the Africa Twin Adventure Sports, despite a hefty price and the significant weight penalty that the transmission brings. Although figures for the E-Clutch bikes aren’t yet available, it’s a much cheaper option (equivalent to around $125 in the markets where it’s already available) and only adds around 4 pounds. It also retains the ability to use the clutch completely normally, so it’s likely that most customers will choose to add it.
Those Honda sales figures are likely to be behind the interest that the technology has sparked from other companies now. If half the customers of Honda’s Africa Twin are prepared to pay handsomely for a semi-auto, logically a similar proportion of R 1300 GS and 1390 Super Adventure buyers will likely make the same decision.
Like the prototypes spotted on test near the KTM factory recently, the Erzbergrodeo bike features all-new bodywork with KTM’s signature angular styling, and the headlight—while blanked off on the prototype here—is in line with the company’s latest family style. The bikes spied at the factory included a road-biased 1390 Super Adventure S with 19-inch front and 17-inch rear alloy wheels, as well as a “Rally” version with a 21-inch front, high-mounted mudguard, and wire wheels. The Erzbergrodeo bike had those off-road-oriented wheels and mudguard, but the nose of the “S” version. A road-only tourer based on the same chassis but with 17-inch wheels at both ends is also expected.
KTM’s website includes a dedicated page for the new bike here that includes a countdown to an official launch at the end of September this year.
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