Driving a CT-series
Remember, this is an automatic clutch, but it is
not
an automatic transmission. You have to shift it.
On an early 1970s CT, first gear is one push
down
on the front part of the gear lever. This should put you in 1st gear. On later CT-90s and all CT-110s, first gear is
up
-- you can hook your toe under the front of the gear lever, like many other bikes, and pull yourself
up
into gear. You can also step down on the
back
of the lever. Same result. Do whatever suits you. Be aware of how your particular bike shifts.
The CT series has a lot of torque at low RPMs, so it will take off with quite a bit of power. The throttle, though, has a very weak return spring, unlike a lot of bigger bikes. Therefore, you get thrown back on the saddle, which pulls on your arms, which rotates your wrists, which tends to crank the throttle open, which tends to throw you off the back of the bike. A lot of CTs have small dents in them because somebody did this without realizing what might happen. Be careful, and do not "arch" your right wrist when you take off. If all else fails, there's a red kill switch near your right thumb.
Shift up through the gears as you would with any bike, but remember that there's no clutch lever. Back off the gas, then just shift. Then open up the gas again.
If you want to climb serious hills, stop the bike. Put it in neutral (kick the front of the gear lever until you get the neutral light) and reach down below and inside your left heel. You'll feel a small lever that is normally flipped toward the rear of the bike, in the "high" (road) position. Flip it forward into the "low" (trail) position. It's not synchro, so you
cannot do this while the bike is moving
and it may not go all the way into low range easily. While pushing on the lever, roll the bike forward or back a couple of feet and it should click into range.
In low range, the torque is incredible, but the top speed is now only about 25mph. Be careful not to redline the bike, and do not try to do crazy things with it that might trash parts that are used to road torque. One common problem is broken rear spokes, and occasionally stripped teeth if the sprockets are worn. More often, people fall off the bike in 1st gear because top speed in 1st is only about three or four miles per hour, and they were expecting more. Be careful.
CTs have a fairly low center of balance and a short wheelbase, so be careful when turning sharply at low speeds. At higher speeds, if you have a tendency to bend down into a tuck to get down out of the wind and gain a little speed, slide back on the seat a little, or you will make the bike noseheavy and you could, on a bump, smack your chin on a hard bump.
If you run across uneven ground hard, "posting," or standing up on the pegs a little so that the bike takes the bumps and your butt doesn't, should be done carefully. If anything pulls a foot off the peg or a hand off the bar, you
will
dump the bike.
Avoid the temptation to pop wheelies on a CT. The automatic clutch may tempt you to pop into first gear, but doing this with substantial engine speed will eventually trash the gearbox. That gets expensive.
Remember that the forks and shocks on the CTs are designed primarily for trail riding, not being used for hard dirt riding. The CT is not well-suited for jumps, heavy rocks and boulders, and other stuff that "dirt bikes," trials bikes or motocross cycles are built for. Do it enough and you'll bend a CT up pretty badly.
Last updated:
08/04/2001