Blipping The Throttle

[Shade]

Man, I went for an awesome Solo ride today, had some awesome fun through really twisty roads....

I was mainly focusing on later braking and faster corner entry speed, however one aspect i feel i need help with is blipping the throttle -

I find when im hammering into the corner, brake, change down - the rear unbalences and feels unsettled when im tipping in. Now i realise i need to blip, but i find it really hard to brake and blip smoothly without releasing the brake a little, which lurches me forward.

Can anyone offer advice ?

I have tried 4 fingers on brake lever and using the inner thumb to blip, which isnt working well, and last 3 fingers on brake lever, with index and thumb on brake lever.

The biggest problem is when i go to blip the throttle, i release the brake a little :/

Cheers
Shade.

[vtec]

I've had the same problem too. But I'm getting better, almost doing it subconsciously now. My advice to you is to keep blipping the throttle even when you are just driving normally, and it will get easier. It's just like sleight of hand tricks, the more you practice the better you get. You're not gonna get it perfect from just doing it on a couple of rides.

Personally I keep all of my fingers on the brake, otherwise like you say, you'll ease off the brake a bit. And I sort twist my wrist while stretching my fingers out but keeping the same pressure on the brake. Sounds tricky but perserverance will yield results. Just some other advice, if you're trying something that you know you'll probably get wrong it's best not to do it in the wet. Surprisingly that's not obvious to everybody.

Good luck with it.

[Hitcher]

Nobody ever broke a gearbox or missed a change by not blipping. Just concentrate on getting your bike on the ROAD line!

[F5 Dave]

The ‘blipping' is more to match the revs with the new revs required for the lower gear ratio when you change down. In combination releasing the clutch slower will smooth the transition. Mainly the clutch will negate the need to blip in most cases, though some bikes differ.

My only suggestion is spend some time in the carpark slow riding. Learning to drag the brakes but not stall it balancing the throttle against the clutch & brakes will help separate the functions.

[Hoon]

You need to learn how to blip and brake at the same time. To start off with, make sure your throttle cables and brake lever pivots are nicely lubed as you want them to be as smooth as possible. Then find a nice quiet straight and nail it till 6th gear and then brake hard, clutch in, blip, downshift, clutch out, etc until you are back in first gear all the while maintaining max front brake (like braking for a hairpin). Do a U turn, rinse and repeat until you've had enough.

The man Keith Code himself talks about this in more detail here.

This is something I've been working on (as well as being smooth with my brake/throttle transitions) but must admit I haven't made much progress. This is mainly due to the fact Puke doesn't really have any hard braking/downshift turns other than the hairpin.
I also find cranking up my idle speed to 2500-3000RPM helps keep the revs up during off throttle periods and makes things smoother. Also gets rid of the drive train/chain shunt when getting back on the gas again mid turn.

[scroter]

The higher your revs the more important it is to blip your throttle. the rear wheel problems are because the engine speed and rear wheel speed dont match for the gear your trying to change into, thats why you blip the throttle when you change down so that it increases the engine speed to somewhere near the correct spot for the gear your changing into. two things try actually slowing the bike down a bit before you change so you dont over rev, and also maybe 2 fingers on the brake lever should give you better control off the throttle. i use my first two fingers on the brake lever and the other two on the throttle and have no problems with braking, in fact a friend of mine brakes pretty reasonably with just his little finger, i dont know how mine cant even reach the lever.

one thing you said stood out. I was mainly focusing on later braking and faster corner entry speed, however one aspect i feel i need help with is blipping the throttle - on the road you shouldnt really worry avout your corner entry speed too much, its easy to get into trouble this way, focus on corner exit. i try not to use my brakes on the road that much id just rather save them for when i really need them.

[Shade]

Cheers guys -

Yeah the first thing i did Hoon was hunt out that article and re-read it. Makes sense in my head, but when i blip i slip on the brake and its frustrating :P

Guess just need more practice aye.

[Mr Skid]

I found adjusting my brake lever helped a good deal. Initially it was set as far out as it went, and I brought it back in 3-4 rotations of the adjusment wheel iirc.

This meant that my hand wasn't spread as wide when braking and blipping at the same time, which allowed more accurate control of the throttle with my thumb.

[750Y]

...I was mainly focusing on later braking and faster corner entry speed, however one aspect i feel i need help with is blipping the throttle -

I find when im hammering into the corner, brake, change down...
Can anyone offer advice ? ...

just as a suggestion dude, change down(& blip if You need to) Before you brake for the corner. Generally i believe in doing all your stuff before the corner. slow in, 'fast' out on the road my friend ...but hey what would i know.

[Motu]

Your bike must be in good nick - my front brake levers are so flogged out I can blip the throttle with no dexterity required.I dunno if I could ride a flash bike.

[Teflon]

You should be able to brake with 2 fingers and blip at the same time.

If you learning to ride, i would concentrate more on being smooth and taking correct lines.

[gav]

Hoon, doesnt your ZXR have a slipper type clutch where you can down shift and its designed not to lock the rear wheel, so you can bang down 2-3 gears with out it locking up, only you have to be a little careful when braking really hard as the rear will get quite light.

[Grumpy]

was mainly focusing on later braking and faster corner entry speed, however one aspect i feel i need help with is blipping the throttle

A few years ago I was getting into kart racing and was at that stage where I was trying my hardest to get my lap times down. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't do it, then came some timely advice.... slow down and you'll get faster...
At first my times got even worse but slowing things down meant that I was concertrating more on technique and it wasn't long before my times came down and was up with the big boys.
This maybe 4 wheels not 2 but I think the principle is the same.
Get the technique sussed and the rest comes naturally.
I tend to brake with 2 fingers which does make throttle control easier but does make heavy braking a little tougher.

[F5 Dave]

Oh no! not the 2 finger vs 4 finger argument!

On my GasGas Trials bike I use one finger on both clutch & brake.

However on most bikes 1 finger is not enough for adequate stopping if you have to emergency stop. In fact on a lot of bikes 2 is not enough either. Older bikes with less than new brakes will usually require 4 fingers.

On the race track when you know how much you have to brake for a particular corner then you can tailor this. On the road if you are covering your brakes or using 2 fingers ask yourself this.

If someone said brake as quick as a clone of yourself on the same bike & the shortest stop will avoid a car, would you still use 2 fingers?

Some new bikes it won’t matter. But older ones it probably will.

Try braking with 2 fingers & changing to 4 mid stream. It’s pretty hard. On the road I do use 2 fingers often but only if I am confident I will be only adjusting speed & not required to perform a stop.

Are we far enough off the thread yet?

[Hoon]

Hoon, doesnt your ZXR have a slipper type clutch where you can down shift and its designed not to lock the rear wheel, so you can bang down 2-3 gears with out it locking up, only you have to be a little careful when braking really hard as the rear will get quite light.

Yep BATL (B-something A-something torque limiting) and in theory thats what its suppose to do but the back still locks up and skips tho. It'll also send the revs to the limiter too if you get too keen.