Learning to throttle blip.

**El Dopa** · 25th April 2007, 18:54

Had a good ride this afternoon, scrubbing in the new rear tyre ready for the track day. Amazing how different it feels on the road - I trust the bike much more in the corners.

Anyway. El Bandido is an in-line 4, and makes power best between 9-13K, which is fine out in the sweepers where I spend most of the time switching up and down between the same two or three gears, with decent intervals between changes.

However, coming off straight-ish bits of road into sharper corners involves hard braking and tapping down two or three gears to set myself and the bike up in the right gear for the corner, before I tip in. I'm getting a lot of tail wiggle and lockup when I try to do this at a reasonable speed - the revs are far too low for the lower gear.

I know I need to learn to blip the throttle to match the engine revs for the lower gear - I've read this, this and this.

So I need to brake, change down, hold the clutch in, increase the revs to the correct level, then let the clutch out, right?

My question is: How do I brake reasonably hard, and adjust the throttle position at the same time? How do I twist the throttle and still maintain a decent brake pressure?

Does anyone have any tips for practising this? Like, breaking it down into discrete steps I can practice one at a time?

**Switch** · 25th April 2007, 19:09

I'm not a fast rider, but i ride a loudish cruiser so i generally throttle blip alot.
I brake, clutch in, blip the throttle and change gear, let the clutch out, then brake more if needed.
Repeat steps 1,2,3,4,5 if needed

Spose it takes practice, i just did it to be cool

**jtzzr** · 25th April 2007, 19:12

Please don`t take this as gospel , but what I do is roll of the throttle ,whilst having 2 fingers on the lever using the lever to hold on to which leaves my palm and thumb free to blip the throttle as I`m changing down and as I exit the corner I just roll my palm and thumb around and I`m back on the juice , I know I`ve made this sound complicated and I am quite possibly different from other riders and may seem weird but it works for me, It just takes practice to find out what works for you. i wish you well

**Drew** · 25th April 2007, 19:22

I "blip" with all four fingers on the brake lever, it's just a natural thing, however, it is not going to stop the tail waggle you get under severe braking. I can only advise, you stop thinking about what the rear is doing, as untill you are on the way out of the corner with the gas on, it is VERY unlikely to let go.

What I mean is, as soon as you start letting off the brake, weight comes back onto the rear, and it regains traction. Since ya cant tip into a corner under full breaking, it's nothing to worry about. Infact, it is well possible to use the rear slippage, to tighten up your corner entry line, giving a better drive out. I'm only just learning this, but I ride with Jayracer37 a lot, and he does it on every tight corner. More so on the ones he's not familiar with it would seem, but I think that's just showing off cos he cant go round it flat out, so he slides into it a bit slower.

**TygerTung** · 25th April 2007, 19:25

Yep that it, you should be able to give it a bit with the palm of your hand when you're still braking, you can't really explain it, just do it! it's not too hard, just give it a go.

**mynameis** · 25th April 2007, 19:34

Throttle Blipping While Braking.

I think there are a few things which most of use tend to take for granted, which actually helps a lot.

Make sure your throttle play is nice and good and your clutch as well. Try adjusting them if your hands are big, try maximum space (as far away as possible ). Use the inside bit of the brake lever than the outside as it has more space.

Timing is important so try and concentrate on the point of engagement of the clutch. I use the index and middle finger on brakes and fourth and little one with the thumb on the throttle. Basically it's developing your preference and style which works for you.

Here's a clip of the master Shaun Harris doing it at Taupo recently (courtesy of Leong), see how fast he does it you'll fall off your chair! And apparently it's a skill which takes a bit of time to master but pays off big time for late braking and faster speed corner entry.

http://www.youtube.com/v/3v8EnIYbaqM

**El Dopa** · 25th April 2007, 19:45

Originally Posted by FIZZERMAN

I "blip" with all four fingers on the brake lever, it's just a natural thing, however, it is not going to stop the tail waggle you get under severe braking. I can only advise, you stop thinking about what the rear is doing, as untill you are on the way out of the corner with the gas on, it is VERY unlikely to let go.

Originally Posted by jtzzr

what I do is roll of the throttle ,whilst having 2 fingers on the lever using the lever to hold on to which leaves my palm and thumb free to blip the throttle as I`m changing down and as I exit the corner I just roll my palm and thumb around and I`m back on the juice

I'm not worried about the tail waggle, it just doesn't make for a particularly smooth ride. I reckon if I can get the hang of blipping, I'll be smoother (and hopefully a bit faster), rather than just banging down through the box and using my fat arse to damp the vibration.

What I'm after is the physical positioning and mechanical action of the right hand/fingers/wrist during braking/blipping. I can't work out in my head how you can pull the brake lever towards the bar and maintain pressure, and at the same time roll the throttle.

Normally when I brake, I use all four fingers over the top of the lever (and I'd feel quite uncomfortable using less), and I use my palm on the throttle as a static point, squeezing the lever towards my palm with my fingers.

Normally when I roll on the throttle, the fingers/palm are fully wrapped around the throttle, and I twist my wrist/rotate my fingers back towards myself.

So how do adapt my technique so I can use my fingers on the brake lever, and yet at the same time use my palm? thumb? to rotate the throttle? If I start to play with the throttle, I'm losing my static point and I can't squeeze the brake lever as effectively. Should I be pulling the brake lever backwards with my elbow/shoulder instead?

**Drew** · 25th April 2007, 20:58

The thing is, you're not turning the throttle very far at all, so it's more of a quick thumb tuck, than a twist of the wrist. At least for me anyway.

**Black Bandit** · 25th April 2007, 22:07

Originally Posted by El Dopa

What I'm after is the physical positioning and mechanical action of the right hand/fingers/wrist during braking/blipping. I can't work out in my head how you can pull the brake lever towards the bar and maintain pressure, and at the same time roll the throttle.

Your wish is granted:
shift_blip_throttle

Has pics on hand position. The main cause of your difficulty may be using all four fingers to brake and I suspect that two fingers would be sufficient. Incidently I've just started practicing this technique too. It's devilishly tricky to start with but very satisfying when you get it right. The biggest problem I have is over reving on the blip which makes the bike lurch about. Practice makes perfect.

**Denniso** · 25th April 2007, 22:24

For road use I genraly blip the throttle without any problem , no thinking required but then I ride a hell of a lot slower on the road , but for track I will just hold the throttle at a set rev range and shift down the gears as I need . On the track I know how many gears I have to go down every corner. On The RS I would hold it at around 8000rpm clutch in and go down to the gear I want to exit the corner in , this saves a hell of a lot attention which you can then spend on getting round the corner . worked for me .

**The Pastor** · 25th April 2007, 22:37

I lernt to blip today. Took me about 3 mins, I don't get it right every time, sorta get it right 80% of the time.

You know when you get it right as you can't feel anything when u let go of the clutch, if you get a slight lurch youve done it wrong.

Just shut up and go ride, learn till it works for you.

**HDTboy** · 25th April 2007, 22:39

Rather than blipping the throttle if you're not comfortable with it. Why don't you just release the clutch slower?

**Ixion** · 26th April 2007, 00:43

Fingers does the brake , palm does the blip. Go ride a big single. You will learn how to blip VERY quicky.

**skidMark** · 26th April 2007, 01:15

Originally Posted by mynameis

Throttle Blipping While Braking.

I think there are a few things which most of use tend to take for granted, which actually helps a lot.

Make sure your throttle play is nice and good and your clutch as well. Try adjusting them if your hands are big, try maximum space (as far away as possible ). Use the inside bit of the brake lever than the outside as it has more space.

Timing is important so try and concentrate on the point of engagement of the clutch. I use the index and middle finger on brakes and fourth and little one with the thumb on the throttle. Basically it's developing your preference and style which works for you.

Here's a clip of the master Shaun Harris doing it at Taupo recently (courtesy of Leong), see how fast he does it you'll fall off your chair! And apparently it's a skill which takes a bit of time to master but pays off big time for late braking and faster speed corner entry.

http://www.youtube.com/v/3v8EnIYbaqM

here i was thinking shaun harris was quick not a pisstake here...150-160 through the lighter corners? i can ride that fast

i'm confused....

he wasn't going quick at all....