Friction drive

The Friction Drive The friction drive is another transmission found in some motorcycles. A friction drive is a type of continuously variable transmission, or CVT, in which the variation in gear ratios comes about as a disc connected to the engine (the driving disc) rotates across the face of a second disc connected to the rear wheel (the driven disc). By varying the radius of the contact point between the two disc surfaces, different gears can be achieved. Continuously variable transmissions have a long history of use in motorized vehicles, with variable friction transmissions appearing in motorcycles in the early 1900s.