Blipping the throttle on downshifts?

[Hitcher]

It is a well-known fact that "blipping" on downshifts impairs the ability of a bike to countersteer, and causes the bottom of the front wheel to travel faster than the top, rather than the accepted converse. This is further compounded by an exacerbated shaft effect, particularly on bikes with upside-down forks, and especially red ones. Compensating with body position should be taken under advisement.

[n0regret5]

its very neccesary on big twins cos of the compression..even with the slipper clutch on my TL if i've missed the blip the back wheel lets go. i've always done it, even on my fxr150.

[discotex]

Sure a lot of this should be learned at trackdays or advanced tuition, but most riders don't have access to this, or can't afford, or feel intimidated because they ride a 1980's commuter.

Given a trackday is $95 and any bike is fine in the slow group I call that pussy shit. People need to HTFU and get there and learn to ride well. Ditto the RRRS style stuff. There were VTR250's and all sorts at the last MotoTT day.

do people who have slipper clutches need to do this? I know MotoGP people have slipper clutches AND their electronics either blip the throttle or up the idle speed so the rear wheel doesnt hop.

Everything I've read says yes. I personally don't know as I don't have one and if I don't blip I lock the rear (unless I change down once the rpm drop but then I'm doing it all milliseconds from turn-in) .

A slipper clutch won't save you from a really bad change. What it does is lets the MotoGP and WSBK riders bang down the gears real fast well before the corner. It's "bangbangbang.... tip-in" rather than "bang....bang...bang..tip-in".

Watch their right hand near the end of the straight and you'll see most of them still blip down the gears.

[rwh]

I used to do it more on my 250 (v-twin) than I do on my 750 (IL4).

Part of the reason is that it seems to be harder - when I try it, I often seem to give it too much, and get an accidental burst of acceleration, which is not what I want approaching a corner (or even worse, an intersection with a pedestrian wandering across in front of me ...).

More often, I just hold the throttle where it is, usually slightly open, which seems to do the job.

Also, it doesn't seem to need it so much. Mind you, the big excitement on the 250 was that for some reason I would occasionally change the wrong way (I blame it on the B120 I did my BHS on, with its upside-down box), which would sometimes result in a big squawk from the rear tyre.

I should practice it more on the 750, though.

Richard

[terbang]

I think that I still do it? I sort of think gear change and a whole bunch of things happen and I'm in the next gear. I only use the clutch on downshifts. The Cagiva (TL1000) tends to have a fair amount of engine braking and It works nicely on that to smoothe out downshifts. Sounds real cool too...

[Animal]

Mebbe...but I make it look good!

Stop messing with my imagination, woman!

[007XX]

Stop messing with my imagination, woman!

Hook, line and sinker...

[Edbear]

I think that I still do it? I sort of think gear change and a whole bunch of things happen and I'm in the next gear. I only use the clutch on downshifts. The Cagiva (TL1000) tends to have a fair amount of engine braking and It works nicely on that to smoothe out downshifts. Sounds real cool too...

Like I said, a nice sounding v-twin makes blipping on downshifts mandatory...

[Rev DJ]

So let me get this right - blipping means opening up the throttle to match the engine revs so that the gear change is smooth i.e. matching engine speed to transmission speed etc...

The use of the front brake obviously come into play, so how do riders 'blip' the throttle when putting pressure on the front brake lever. Is it more of a roll of the hand/wrist, or release the brake - blip - re-apply brake -, or a more agressive tap/roll of the hand/wrist while braking like you see done by riders in race settings? Further comments? Cheers DJ

[discotex]

So let me get this right - blipping means opening up the throttle to match the engine revs so that the gear change is smooth i.e. matching engine speed to transmission speed etc...

Exactly that... Stops you locking up your rear tyre when banging down the gears.

The use of the front brake obviously come into play, so how do riders 'blip' the throttle when putting pressure on the front brake lever. Is it more of a roll of the hand/wrist, or release the brake - blip - re-apply brake -, or a more agressive tap/roll of the hand/wrist while braking like you see done by riders in race settings? Further comments? Cheers DJ

Either blip down before using the brakes (what I tend to do on the road as I'm not braking late) or use the palm to blip while the brakes are on (on the track).

Doing the latter is much easier if your throttle has little free play and you brake with 2 fingers (more than enough on a modern sportbike but YMMV on other bikes with less powerful brakes).

[scumdog]

Always tend to 'blip' and brake at the same time.

Takes a little practice to get it spot on - and can be easily screwed up by not concentrating - or a change in gloves.

[Ocean1]

So let me get this right - blipping means opening up the throttle to match the engine revs so that the gear change is smooth i.e. matching engine speed to transmission speed etc...

The use of the front brake obviously come into play, so how do riders 'blip' the throttle when putting pressure on the front brake lever. Is it more of a roll of the hand/wrist, or release the brake - blip - re-apply brake -, or a more agressive tap/roll of the hand/wrist while braking like you see done by riders in race settings? Further comments? Cheers DJ

I didn't know how it happens until the last time this came up, when I actually paid attention to what my right hand was doing. I suspect techniques vary a lot but for me it's just a quick, (and very slight) snap down of the wrist/forearm, so the palm drags down on the back of the twistgrip, as opposed to the full grip normal when the brake's no being used. That seems to leave the brake fingers resonably undisturbed.

The Buell's brake is a genuine two finger item, you could easilly get maximum power with the pinky and his neighbour still wrapped around the grip and that might mean you have better control of the throttle, duno. I use three fingers on the brake anyway, (old habit I can't change) and I don't seem to have any less control of the brake during a blip (tm). I think the angle of your levers is important, if the brake is angled up too much (or down for that matter) you've got no wrist movement left when you're on the brake...

[moT]

Yeah i do it it takes a little geting used to but stops compression locking which is really handy. Try doing it in a car its harder

[pritch]

What it does is lets the MotoGP and WSBK riders bang down the gears real fast well before the corner.
Watch their right hand near the end of the straight and you'll see most of them still blip down the gears.

From watching Rossi et al at the end of the main straight at Phillip Island they appear to block shift, blip blip blip and dump the clutch. (You didn't need to watch their hands on the 900s, you could probably hear them as far away as Queensland.)

I was unaware that it was possible to change down without blipping the throttle.
I certainly wouldn't buy bike off someone who rode like that. One more question I have to remember...

[Badjelly]

From watching Rossi et al at the end of the main straight at Phillip Island they appear to block shift, blip blip blip and dump the clutch.

Block shift? Does that mean you go through several gears before re-engaging the clutch?