There are so many videos and articles comparing torque converters and clutches for Go-Karts (in fact we have one too). But very few compare these two transmission systems for mini-bikes.
Let me begin by first telling you, Clutches and Torque converters are not at all same. They both use centrifugal force to engage and disengage, but that’s about it in terms of similarities.
They work very differently and are useful for different purposes, both have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Key Differences
| Torque Converter/CVT | Centrifugal Clutch | |
| Gear Ratios | Infinite | Fixed |
| Power loss | High | Low in comparison |
| Launch | Very Good | Poor |
| Drive Type | Belt and Chain types both | Chain type |
Gear Ratio: For a mini-bike, we can define the gear ratio as the ratio between the angular speed (rpm) of the engine’s shaft and the angular speed (rpm) of the rear wheel.
Power Loss: Most mini-bike engines can produce 6.5hp power but not all the power reaches the wheel. Some power is lost during transmission, the loss is high in Torque Converter in comparison to Clutch.
Launch: By launch we mean the acceleration of the mini-bike when just starting. You can also think of it as the torque your wheels receive when just starting.
Drive Type: By drive type we mean, whether the mini-bike uses a chain or belt to carry power from the engine to the wheel.
Does a torque converter make a mini bike faster?
At first glance, you might think that the torque converter will make your go-kart slower since there is more power loss. But it is a little more complicated than that.
Mini Bikes with Torque Converters are faster than Mini-Bikes with Clutches.
Speed mainly depends on 4 factors, Gear Ratio, Engine’s RPM, Power lost in transmission, and wheel size. (There are other factors such as weight of driver, road, etc that will have a small impact).
You can use our calculator below to roughly estimate the top speed of your Mini-Bike (Note: This calculator does not take into account Power Loss)
Mini Bikes usually use 19″ tires. If a clutch is used along with a 19″ tire, we will have to maintain a gear ratio of 10:1, which is usually how they come from the factory.
A torque converter on the other hand can have a gear ratio of 6:1 at the high end. That is a huge advantage in comparison to Clutches.
Therefore, even though the power lost in the torque converter is more, the gearing makes up for it.
You might be wondering, why can’t you just gear higher with a clutch?
Low gearing provides your minibike with high torque that is required to carry those 19″ tires. If you were to use a higher gearing with a clutch, your clutch will burn after 2-3 uses.
Torque converters work in such a way that they will have low gearing when your mini-bike is just starting (as low as 20:1) and have high gearing at high speeds.
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