SO confused on downshifting

[Pancakes]

Yeah it doesn't lock up it chirps, like abs so not bad if your not laying over but do what frosty says. Not just now but all the time, do whatever he says or he'll swear at you but he does like swearing so that can be fun too! If you follow this you'll find yourself developing a faster style but at your own pace. I loved zooming around town and stopping for pedestrians hard on the front and with the back singing! They scatter! Joy of joys!

[Skyryder]

Blip the throttle at the same time you down shift. Get into the good habits from the start.

Skyryder

[phiretrojan]

share the love, thanks guy and girls, !! alot of infomation which im getting confused all these different bips, ill just sit and follow frosty words, i dnt want to hear him swear unless he likes to ill be trying this on thursday my day off, i work everyday, good old telecom johnsonville.

=) thanks for all your support guys and girls, =0

before you know it, ill be a madman on a bike! grin!! Brrrrrrrrrng brrr with a loud airfilter installed, and waving byebye policeman,.......... humm i dnt know about the policeman bit,

[McJim]

I've been riding for over a year. I have a full licence. I have a Ducati.




I STILL don't know what blip means.

[Crisis management]

I've been riding for over a year. I have a full licence. I have a Ducati.




I STILL don't know what blip means.

For some there is no hope.....

[phiretrojan]

Blip the throttle at the same time you down shift. Get into the good habits from the start.

Skyryder

so blip at same time, example im in 4th gear, giveway coming up throttleoff, clutch in ..shift down and blip throttle at same time, then slowly throttle on and clutch off? is that right?

[McJim]

For some there is no hope.....

Maybe so but I leave cool black lines on the entry to corners!

[avgas]

Downshiftn is easy, just jump on the gear lever.
If you feel really fancy use the clutch in, i.e. throttle off,clutch in, jump on gear lever,clutch out.
So long as you werent in the 80% of the last gear's rev range ya fine.
Its actually pretty hard to lock up

[fishb8nz]

Use you brakes to slow down. That's what they're for. Don't use your engine, too much. Easier to change brake pads than engine bits. Every gear has a tolerable rev range, so try to match your speed to that appropriate for the gear your changing into.

Once your speed is dropped do what every else suggested and you'll never lock up. Change down at too high a speed and you could.
After you gain some confidence, the throttle blipping will come. Throttle blipping just matches the engine speed to wheel speed and gives a smooth transition between gears.

Down-shifting without using the clutch can be done really smoothly by dropping you speed, putting pressure on your gear lever, but not too much to change, then blipping the throttle simultaneously as you prod the gear lever.

In a similar fashion, driving a car, as you change down, blip the accelerator as you pass through neutral. You'll get a bumpless change with no jerking. The throttle blip makes you a smoother rider with less stress on the bike and improved handling. Be patient.

[kevfromcoro]

Downshiftn is easy, just jump on the gear lever.
If you feel really fancy use the clutch in, i.e. throttle off,clutch in, jump on gear lever,clutch out.
So long as you werent in the 80% of the last gear's rev range ya fine.
Its actually pretty hard to lock up

as he said....just jump on the gear lever...when racing moto X.. u dont get time to pull the clutch in....can do it on the road..if your rev couter starts going around like clock...u have gone down to many...practise and u will get it right.....good luck

[bane]

as usual Frosty is right. As a current owner of a FXR, can confirm they are very forgiving, and work perfectly smoothly without buggering round blipping the throttle...

having said that, they are an excellent bike to learn "the blip" on - good skills when your next bike is bound to be a large capacity twin

[Skyryder]

so blip at same time, example im in 4th gear, giveway coming up throttleoff, clutch in ..shift down and blip throttle at same time, then slowly throttle on and clutch off? is that right?

Yep something like that. Throttle off, pull in clutch blip/change down, release clutch. No need to over rev. But the key is to blip 'exactly at the point you change down. It helps the gears mesh a lot smoother. Some of the Tek guys know what is happening in the gear box.

Skyryder

[Stella]

I am also struggling with changing down, I am ok going down from third to second, but second to first is really awkward and jerky.

Two major issues:

WTF DOES BLIP MEAN????? I keep asking and get no answers. Does it mean quickly *increasing* or *decreasing* the revs? Or something else? I close off the throttle quickly when changing up, and all goes smoothly. I think this is blipping, but do I do it exactly the same when shifting down? Or do I move it in the other direction?

I was told by one person to use the gears to slow me down, particularly when on the open road coming up to corners. Now someone else says to use brakes.... ARGH!!!!

[FROSTY:Me]

Stella --In a nutshell Forget it --Get some miles under ya wheels first then worry about blipping.
To answer the question.
Throttle off/clutch in
Snap the throttle open
Shift down the gear
let the clutch out.
The theory is that the engine revs better match if you blip so making the change smoother.

Again You don't need to do it so don't add complication at this early stage of ya riding.

[McJim]

WTF DOES BLIP MEAN

Blipping the throttle is lifting the revs with a quick flick of the wrist. This allows a lower gear to engage more easily due to the fact that you are raising the revs of the engine to match the rotation of the driveshaft.

I knew this all along - I was just pointing out that too many people use jargon with newbies without fully explaining the terms to them.

This caused me a LOT of problems when I first started riding. People teaching me wondering why I wasn't doing what they asked when the truth was they were speaking in double dutch as far as I was concerned.