This is hard to answer and will depend on your wants and budget etc.

Clutches are cheap and are more efficient, torque converters are expensive but have variable gearing which is very useful on mini-bikes.

Torque converters are especially very useful for hill climbing or any road that requires a lot of start-stop situations.

Installing a Torque Converter can be a frustrating and time-consuming task, you might even need to do some machine work on your mini-bike.

There isn’t a clear winner between the two, both have their own use case, having said that, the majority of people prefer Torque converters over clutches (in our observation).

How Do they work?

You might be wondering how different they are in terms of working, maybe it can make your decision easier if you know how they work.

Clutch

The working mechanism of the Centrifugal Clutch isn’t complicated, when the engine is idling, the clutch isn’t engaged and your mini-bike stays where it is.

As you open the throttle, the engine’s crankshaft starts rotating faster, as a result, the internal parts of the clutch start to rotate faster and due to centrifugal force the internal and external part of the clutch engages, making the chain move and the wheels move.

Exactly how the internal parts engage and disengage is too lengthy to cover here, you can read more about it in our article about how centrifugal clutches work.

Torque Converters

Torque converters/CVTs are much more complicated in how they work. They have more parts in comparison.

To give a brief summary of how they work, the torque converter has 2 pulleys. A driver pulley, and a driven pulley, and a belt in between the 2 pulleys.

The gear ratio depends on the ratio between the active diameter of the 2 pulleys, as the engine’s speed increases, the gear ratio decreases, and vice versa.

It is a very interesting system, but we cannot cover it entirely here, you can check our “how a torque converter works” article.

Compatibility

It is very important to know that a lot of mini-bikes come with a 5/8″ crankshaft instead of the 3/4″. Most of the clutches and Torque converters on the market are for 3/4″ shafts.

You need to first measure your minibike’s shaft diameter (by tape) and make sure to order a Torque converter or Clutch that is compatible.

You can also change the crankshaft to a 3/4″.

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