As global environmental concerns becoming more critical than ever, the demands for clean exhaust gas and fuel economy are growing steadily even in the world of motorcycles. Also, to enhancement the quality of riding, voices requesting a decrease in noise are increasing. Unfortunately, those demands are factors that require compromising of the driving performance. What Honda engineers chose was the development of a transmission that transmits the engine power more efficiently to the road via the tire.

The CVT, which is recently drawing more attention in the world of automobiles, is a system that continuously varies the reduction ratio by changing the pulley ratio in the input side and in the output side. Compared to the conventional transmission that uses a fixed gear ratio, the CVT allows easy presetting of the shifting characteristics to best-match the characteristics of the engine used in the vehicle including factors such as the power output, emissions, etc., thereby allowing use of the cleanest zone and the most powerful zone when running. While a metal belt is usually used in automotive transmission systems, in Honda S Matic, a rubber belt is applied because of its potential to reduce weight at a low cost.

 Exhaust emission level in D mode