Throttle blipping.

[Motu]

[LEFT]
I don't think any of you are as perfect as you think you are.

I think you should retract that statement,some of us might be insulted....

[Pwalo]

Umm, the idea wasn't to make me look like a hopeless case. I have no drama blipping on the down change. I'm just saying that on close examination my technique could be a lot better, and after reading a Keith Code article I realised that there are ways to fix little inconsistencies.

The pogoing I'm talking about is like 2cm max, but when you've got everything on the limit that pogo could be enough to generate a low side as you tip in.

I don't think any of you are as perfect as you think you are. Actually monitor your down changes and I bet you all do a little pogo into first as you are pulling up to a stop.

I'm trying to get to the point of ultimate smoothness. I won;t get there in my lifetime, but I'm going to try. I think you're all picturing a giant orange, bellowing, bouncing mess.

Not.

Come on Jim. Keith Code's an interesting chap, but I don't think you want to get too hung up on self examination. As he would no doubt say in his hippy way you don't have enough 'attention points' (sorry I can't remember what his phrase is) to spend whilst road riding.

I'm sure it would be a great exercise on the track, but just too many varaibles on the road to pay THAT much attention to technique on the road.

Have you got your transition points sorted yet?

[James Deuce]

I think it is important to review yourself from time to time and NOT fall into the trap of thinking you are perfect.

I was obviously wrong and I'm sorry I even posted it.

[Swoop]

enough 'attention points' (sorry I can't remember what his phrase is) to spend whilst road riding.

"$10 worth of attention"

EDIT: Jim, you are quite right to have posted it. Smoothness of control, especially when cornering, is so important when aiming to keep the contact of rubber and tarseal.

[Keystone19]

I don't blip on my race bike. I have tried but I have trouble multi-tasking the blip/brake continuum at speed - perhaps my brain stops working at over 200kph? Or maybe I'm actually a bloke and can't multitask at all...

On the track I brake and down change simultaneously, using the engine braking to slow the bike down as well as the brakes, and then I drop it into the corner. Sometimes I trail the brakes round the corner if need be - if I'm not braking I'm accelerating... Seems to work for me and I don't seem to have problems with pogoing, losing the rear or anything else - maybe I'm just not going fast enough...?

I have been practicing blipping on the SV1000. Sounds good but doesn't seem to make any difference in terms of pogoing, losing the rear or anything else.

[sAsLEX]

I have 2 fingers applied to front brake lever and my other 3 fingers on the throttle I keep applying pressure to the front brake lever and use my thumb to blip the throttle so long as you keep your wits about you

5 Fingers and a thumb you could make some money on the professional banjo circuit!

[Ivan]

Waste of time. No way will a RS125 compression lock up on downchanges. I never ever blip the RS. On my old road bike (CBR250) I used to blip all the time, but its not necessary on the RS. Use your concentration on other things, blipping is just a waste of time.

On my bucket I am a bit lazy but that will compression lock if I change down a gear a bit early, sometimes I blip but most of the time I won't.

Yeah I know but its a habbit and I am used to it so will keep doing it I can concentrate on lots of things on it at the same time. Its jsut natural I have been doing it for a long time now 2 years so it just happens in the corner I know it wont compression lock but it gives it a better down smoother downshift its my opinion and I ride the bike how I like to, Kinda like I have it as a theroy of getting more oil to the piston as the throttle is let of, I do it because I feel comfartble doing it and its part of my rding, Kinda like how you feel comfartble not dragging your knee its in each riders opinion

[Ivan]

5 Fingers and a thumb you could make some money on the professional banjo circuit!

Ok that video some hillbilly shit

[Hoon]

Keith Code posted an article about this last year.

Blipping on down changes isn't necessary on the street. Even racing you can do without it. However once you get to a certain level, you need to use it to gain vital fractions of a sec.

When approaching a low/mid speed corner which requires hard braking and a downshift, I would just brake, change down and ease the clutch out while waiting for the revs to pick up/clutch to bite before tipping in. However as I got faster, I wasn't able to speed up this "revs pick up/clutch bite" part. This resulted in me overshooting the corner or if I tried to let the clutch out faster, would lock up the back wheel. Loosebruce noticed me doing this one track day and told me I need to blip the throttle while changing down/before letting out the clutch.

Not only does this bring the revs up almost instantly (eliminating that "wait for bite" time), it also meant I could let the clutch out a lot quicker without risking a lock up.

So I went out and practiced this (forced myself to do it every down shift for a while) and noticed immediate benefits. However the next problem I had was keeping the braking smooth while blipping the throttle (i.e. the pogo action). My solution to this was blipping the throttle not by using the wrist but using a more violent down/up elbow action. This allowed me to maintain a more constant brake pressure by keeping my fingers/wrist locked. You often see racers on TV doing the same exaggerated elbow thing approaching corners.

[Hitcher]

There's no point blipping the throttle unless there's somebody impressionable around to listen.

[Ixion]

I think Mr Hoon has it right. I blip by moving my arm not my wrist.

And on a big single it is highly necessary to blip on downchanges to the lower gears or risk a rear wheel lock up. Also helps with the actual gearchange on boxes with big hugly cogs. And bikes with heavy flywheels. Try changing a DBD34 into first without blipping. Not nice.

[The Stranger:Me]

makes them a bitch to back-end the bike in!

back-end the bike in?
What you mean by that buggy?

[Jimmy B]

back-end the bike in?
What you mean by that buggy?

I think he maybe referring to the fact that linked brakes will fire a front caliper when applying the rear only - as you know. This according to some will reduce the ability of those that favour using the rear to help tip and turn the bike into a corner. I dont ride quick enough to worry about this although for scientific purposes have tried it with linked brakes and the bike did seem to tip in a bit quicker despite the front having some load, not enough difference to worry about.

Oddly critics of linked brakes suggest that while trail braking with the front only the Bike has a tendancey to back in anyway due to the rear caliper being somewhat engaged. I havent noticed this but what can you do hey, some say one thing and other another.

[sAsLEX]

back-end the bike in?
What you mean by that buggy?

I think he means in the style of say flattrackers like Hayden who like to ""översteer"" in a fashion in to the corners

[bugjuice]

yeah, 'trail' or slide the back in..
by 'over-use' of the rear brake and/or the engine (harder when you've got a slipper clutch), you can slide the back end into a corner.. Motards are better at it, I do it just before I fall off