The DN-01 uses what Honda was calling the HFT (Human Friendly Transmission). Think of that as the first version of the DCT. The problem with putting an automatic transmission on a motorcycle was the transmission generated a lot of gyroscopic forces. Not a good thing to have one's motorcycle want to sudden lean in one direction or the other depending on whether you are accelerating or decelerating. The HFT and the second-generation DCT solved this problem.
There are a couple of companies that replace the transmission of final drives of motorcycles over to CVT transmissions. Their primary customers are people who have either had a stroke or lost a limb that results in them being unable to shift gears using a manual transmission. Performance on CVTs is actually better than most people expect. The Suzuki Bergman 650 accelerates like a terraphobic rocket. A pair of senior riders in RI like riding their Bergman 650s to Las Vegas each year. They don't ride there to gamble, they do it to embarrass bikers along the way. A couple of old men on scooters pull up to a traffic light on scooters, and completely blow away some arrogant V-twin rider with ease. They don't call the Bergman "The Harley Eater" for nothing.
That being said, a CVT on a bike against the same bike with a manual transmission won't compare in acceleration performance. Also, with any automatic, you are going to give up efficiency in exchange for convenience.
Do-It-Yourself maintenance on a CVT isn't all that difficult. The lifespan of a belt on my scooter is roughly not quite twice that of a set of tires. While Honda says swap it out every 12,000 miles, I push it until I'm between 13K or 14K, and I'll take my scooter off the road if I let it get close to 15K. You really don't want to force a belt past 25% of its life expectancy. They fail in a fairly spectacular fashion when they are pushed too far?not as exciting as a tire failing, but it's a real mess to clean up and fix when it happens. I consider belts to be a high maintenance item like tires and oil. They have short lifespans and must be changed, whether you want to or not.
DIY maintenance on a DCT? Remember that it is an automatic transmission. If you know how to work on one of those, then the DCT should probably be a piece of cake (pie?). Remember that it is different mechanically than a car transmission. It's also a lot smaller. I have a feeling that unless you are well-trained in transmission maintenance, the DCT might just be one of those "Black-box items" you take to the dealership for maintenance.
The DCT has gotten very positive reviews. I have yet to hear anyone pan it negatively. It's most obvious use is on a touring bike, where not having to work a clutch constantly in heavy traffic is a positive. Any company knows you don't put new and potentially buggy technology into your flagship product. Your customers and the press will vilify you. It's tough to recover from such a faux pas. So a wise company puts this new technology in the lower-end and cheaper products for real world testing and tweak it until all the bugs have been worked out. THEN you put it into production for the high-end flagship products.
My guess is Honda wants to use this transmission in both the GL and the ST. The VFR and now the NT are the testbeds for the DCT. The problem is, the DCT hit the markets at the same time the American and World economies collapsed, greatly limiting sales on luxury and recreational vehicles. It's likely they don't feel they have enough real world data collected on DCT performance. In light of this, the release of a new bike using this transmission is likely to be delayed until they are satisfied with the real world performance results and the market improves enough to support profitable sales of a new bike.
If I was running a motorcycle company today, where would I want to put my product development money? In a bike optimized for commuting. Gas prices are rising and it is getting expensive to drive to work. A good bike with range, efficiency and comfort for long distance riding in multiple weather conditions to replace a car for going to work would be a good market gamble. (By the way, a bike with such features also lends itself well to sport-touring!) It's pretty obvious why Honda is pushing the NT700V as a new sport-touring bike.
