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Manual says to use D1 for "maximum performance" and D2 for "minimum traction situations, such as ice." Local Honda service manager said the only difference is that in D2 the bike starts off in 2nd gear to reduce wheel spin in slippery conditions. Just like starting in L2 with an auto truck tranny.

 

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QUOTE ("IL_Bow_Man":34hafd33)

I must be really confused. I am pretty sure that the Rubicon does not have gears and that when you run in ESP, those are just presets in the transmission. When in auto, it is continuasly variable or something like that.

I don't know about everybody else, but my machine has a higher top speed in D2 then it does in D1. D2 does have less low end torque, as if you were starting in a different gear and D1 is a better performer on the low end.

Your right in that the bike does not have actual seperate gears as in a manual trans. The gears are actually as you said , just different preset points along the CVT range. So saying that D2 starts off in second "gear" could mean that it engages at a different point than D1 or it may even actually change the shifting points along the entire CVT range to develop less torque than D1. Next time I ride my buddy's bike I'll pay more attention to how it operates in both. Isn't it frustrating when you want more info on its operation than the manual or even the dealers can provide. I guess most peolpe are content to ride and not fully understand exactly how everything works.