Patent ID: 8230962

Claim:
A vehicle comprising: a frame; at least two wheels connected to the frame; a straddle seat disposed on the frame; a handlebar disposed at least in part forwardly of the seat and operatively connected to at least one of the at least two wheels for steering the at least one of the at least two wheels, the handlebar having a first handle at a first end thereof and a second handle at a second end thereof; an engine disposed on the frame; a semi-automatic transmission operatively connected to the engine and at least one of the at least two wheels for transmitting power from the engine to the at least one of the at least two wheels, the semi-automatic transmission having at least one forward gear, at least one reverse gear, and a neutral position; a control unit electronically connected to the semi-automatic transmission, the control unit sending signals to the semi-automatic transmission to select one of the at least one forward gear, the at least one reverse gear, and the neutral position, such that: when the at least one forward gear is selected, power is transmitted from the engine to the at least one of the at least two wheels to which the semi-automatic transmission is operatively connected such that the vehicle can move in a forward direction, when the at least one reverse gear is selected, power is transmitted from the engine to the at least one of the at least two wheels to which the semi-automatic transmission is operatively connected such that the vehicle can move in a reverse direction, and when the neutral position is selected, no power is transmitted from the engine to the at least one of the at least two wheels to which the semi-automatic transmission is operatively connected; a reverse actuator electronically connected to the control unit; and at least one shifter disposed near the first handle, one of the at least one shifter being movable to an up-shift position, and one of the at least one shifter being movable to a down-shift position, and the at least one shifter being electronically connected to the control unit such that moving the at least one shifter to the up-shift position causes the control unit to send a signal to the semi-automatic transmission to shift up and moving the at least one shifter to the down-shift position causes the control unit to send a signal to the semi-automatic transmission to shift down, and the control unit sending a signal to the semi-automatic transmission to select the at least one reverse gear only when the reverse actuator is actuated and held actuated while the at least one shifter is being moved.