“Blipping” the throttle – How is it done?

[taun]

Ok, I’m still somewhat of a new rider (2 years), but I’m always looking to hone my skills.  On several occasion, I’ve experienced chatter at the rear wheel when downshifting (quite an unsettling experience) and have been told that throttle blipping can alleviate the chatter.  I understand the concept of rev matching, but I’m having difficulty putting concept into practice. 

Taken from Sportrider:

“The idea of blipping the throttle between downshifts can be intimidating for the uninitiated, but with a little practice, the technique can soon become second nature. First, make sure that your levers are adjusted so that they are comfortably in reach of your fingers when sitting in a normal riding position, and that your throttle is adjusted for minimal play in the cable. The front brake lever should be angled downward enough to be easily gripped with your hand in the closed throttle position. With the engine running in neutral, try blipping the throttle slightly while pulling firmly on the brake lever-note that it doesn't take much throttle movement to get the revs up. Then practice simultaneously pulling and releasing the clutch quickly when you blip the throttle (remembering to continue pulling on the brake lever as if you were slowing for a corner).”

Okay, that’s practicing while in neutral, but I guess I’m wondering what exactly the sequence of everything is.

Hypothetically, let’s say I’m coming towards a corner, sequentially would it be…

1.   Positioning
2.   braking + pulling in clutch lever + flicking throttle
3.   Downshift
4.   Release clutch lever + smooth on throttle

That sound about right?  Do you guys actually do this around town or is it more for the track?

[ValveFloat]

I'll take a shot at this since I am learning/practicing it.
I am pretty familiar with heel-toe in cars so the sequence was already somewhat ingrained, but the actions on a bike seemed nearly impossible to me at first.
I'll take your sequence and add a little detail:
-Clutch in
-shift down one gear
-'blip' throttle to bring revs up (how much to bring the revs up is the trick)
-release clutch (smoothly, but not too slow)
-repeat if necessary
Does that sound right?

A couple ways I have been practicing this is to find a vacant road so I can practice the clutch/shift/blip without the braking part. Also coasting with the clutch pulled in on the vacant road I can brake and blip repeatedly to practice that part.
Hope this helps some.   [moto]

[Spider]

for our monsters....they chatter under 3000rpm right...happy up to 5000.

so let's go ride down a nice straight road, at 30-40mph, 3rd gear....then roll off the throttle (gently)....and let the bike decelerate...

as the rpm drop down under 3300 rpm....pull in the clutch (don't worry about braking for this exercise)...rev the throttle back up to 5k rpm and slowly release the throttle.

ignore the speedo as long as you're slowing that is fine...

you'll feel the bike catch back up at the 4500 rpm point and keep engine braking (engine compression).

If you were if third, you are now in second, you could do it again!

hope this helps, make sure the blip is a good bark up to 5000rpm, not some little half-arsed thing. make the monster roar and then growl under the engine compression.

after this you can start using the break the speed up the process.

 

[TCK!]

For me lately I've been working on track doing this:

Holding throttle steady
Quickly pulling in clutch as I shift (doing this very quickly)
If I need to downshift again then I blip the throttle to get RPM's up to match lower gear

Here's a good read from Jason Pridmore himself, talking about downshifting: http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=199356

[johnster]

It can be tricky to master, but a great tool to have when you finally do (and it sounds cool!!  )

It took me a while to get the hang of, and one thing you want to watch out for is over-revving the engine and letting out the clutch too fast, which makes the bike lunge forward and is pretty scary. 

You'll want to pull the clutch in and downshift, then quickly flick the throttle about 1/8-1/4 of a turn and let the clutch out. The goal is to quickly match the revs so the clutch + rear wheel aren't being overloaded, which could potentially cause rear wheel-hop.

A good way to practice which I did, is to pull the clutch in, downshift, and slowly open the throttle to a point so when the clutch is released, the RPM's are perfectly synced, you can let go of the throttle, and the engine can naturally slow down on its own. It shoud feel very smooth. Once you get comfortable with the motion, you can try openning the throttle faster and faster until it becomes a "blip".

Also try "blipping" it at a standstill in neutral to kinda get the idea of what you're aiming for. If you're doing it right and are good at it, it should sound like a clutchless downshift, even though the clutch IS being used.

Hope this helps!! 

[Moronic]

Okay, that’s practicing while in neutral, but I guess I’m wondering what exactly the sequence of everything is.

Hypothetically, let’s say I’m coming towards a corner, sequentially would it be…

1.   Positioning
2.   braking + pulling in clutch lever + flicking throttle
3.   Downshift
4.   Release clutch lever + smooth on throttle

That sound about right?  Do you guys actually do this around town or is it more for the track?

Taun,

I do this around town, and I'd reckon the vast majority of long-term riders use this almost whenever they change down.

AFAIK, slipper clutches were invented so racers didn't have to do it on the track, thus saving a bit of concentration for other stuff.

Your sequence sounds "about" right, though it is hard to split up something that becomes so body-learned.

A couple of things I can recall from learning days that might help.

* You don't need to go down gears until you have done most of your braking. So you can probably divide up your line 2.

* I think I tend to haul on the brake as hard as I need to when approaching a turn while leaving the bike in the high gear. Then as I get close to my entry speed, ease off the brake a bit and go down the necessary number of gears very quickly, with clutching and blip(s) as appropriate.

* You don't need to get the blip perfect.

* As I recall, the trick is to rev the engine a little bit harder than you need to, and soon enough that the revs are falling as you release the clutch.

* And then when you release the clutch, do so smoothly, rather than just letting it go with a jerk. The clutch will do the last bit of rev-matching as it comes in.

As someone else said, take care with this technique that you don't get things way out of synch and end up lurching forward. If you are releasing the clutch smoothly, that shouldn't happen - as you can feel it beginning and just hold the clutch only slightly engaged until things match up.

If that all sounds like quite an art in circumstances when you've always got plenty of other stuff to think about, you'll get why we've seen the introduction of slipper clutches for racers. But with experience, it all happens on auto-pilot. 

How do you learn it all safely? Can't remember. 

[taun]

Thanks for all the suggestions, they've been helpful.  I practice every chance I can on the street I live on because it's not too busy, but I think it's starting to annoy the neighbors (too many parked cars on the street and my Arrows setting off some alarms  ).  I've been doing what some of you suggested, that is, just going straight and utilizing only the clutch and throttle not worrying about braking yet.  When I get a good feel for matching the revs, then I start using the brakes, then things get a little hairy.

What I'm discovering is out of habit (survival instinct), I end up "feathering" the clutch until I feel the bike is in the correct rev range.  So maybe I'm letting the clutch out too slow?  Also, another habit, I think I rely on too much is the sound of the bike instead of actually looking at the rpm gauge.  But hey, people always told me to look where I'm going 

Anyhow, it's been a fun exercise so far and I'm going to continue practicing it.  I read the BARF post that Jason Pridemore wrote and he mentioned only pulling in the clutch halfway.  Any of you do that?

[johnster]

What I'm discovering is out of habit (survival instinct), I end up "feathering" the clutch until I feel the bike is in the correct rev range.  So maybe I'm letting the clutch out too slow? 

Maybe, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Start slow + work your way up I say. What you DON'T want to do is "double clutch", or spin up the engine by letting out the clutch a tad, pulling it back in, and letting it out again. The whole purpose of blipping is to minimize the friction between the clutch plates + the drag on the back wheel...

Also, another habit, I think I rely on too much is the sound of the bike instead of actually looking at the rpm gauge.  But hey, people always told me to look where I'm going 

I'll let you in on a lil' secret: I almost never look at the tach!!  I used to, but got so used to what my bike sounds like/behaves like in different parts of the powerband that it's just not necessary most of the time.

I read the BARF post that Jason Pridemore wrote and he mentioned only pulling in the clutch halfway.  Any of you do that?

Yeah, but more when I upshift. I'll just lightly "unload" the clutch to help shift up to the next gear. If your throttle's close to being wide open, you can upshift with no clutch. When you approach your shift point (for me around 8k rpm), put weight on the shifter w/the top of your foot (pre-load it) and swiftly close + open the throttle while stabbing up w/your foot. The gearbox should snick up to the next gear without the use (or very little use) of the clutch.

For "blipping down", I usually pull it in a little more just for some breathing room in case I didn't match revs as close as I wanted to...

[D8]

2.   braking + pulling in clutch lever + flicking throttle

You've got too much going on in this step.  In fact, what you're describing is a bit more advanced and mostly used on the track...equivalent to heel-toe downshifting in a car.  I can heel-toe my car but i pretty much never use it on the street.

Don't worry about the brakes at this point.  Concentrate on rev-matching.  Get a feel for how much revs you need and when you can let out the clutch.  But always keep in mind that braking/slowing down is the priority.  Downshifting is secondary.  You should have all your braking done before worrying about shifting.  On street, for me the steps are:
Brake
Clutch
Blip throttle
let out clutch

[ducisurg]

I am also a new rider trying to figure out this slowing down sequence.

 I get confused about whether engine braking is OK or is not OK. It seems some people recommend slowing down with rev-matching and not worrying about the brakes, while others brake first.

I am sure that there are different techniques and some are better for track and some better for the road.

For road driving, do most people slow down with brake and then clutch, downshift, throttle. Or, do most slow down with engine braking?

Thanks

[johnster]

For road driving, do most people slow down with brake and then clutch, downshift, throttle. Or, do most slow down with engine braking?

Thanks

Honestly that's  a really subjective (and good!!) question. Say you're slowing down to a stop from 4th gear, 60mph. Some people I know will just squeeze the brake, pull the clutch lever in, and click down 3 notches; And there really is nothing wrong with that, in theory. It's just a different means to the same end.   

The nice thing about engine braking and learning to blip the throttle, is that you can let the natural physics of the motorcycle's engine slowing down do the work for you. If you can time your blipping right, you probably would find that you could slow down from 60 to 10 without EVER touching the brakes, or slipping the clutch plates. This in turn means increased safety as your risk of hopping the rear wheel is deaceased. It also means that you're wearing out your brakes and clutch plates MUCH less. What's wrong with that?!?! 

Over all, it's just a more efficient, albeit challenging (but fun!!), way to reduce speed. 

[Spider]

  Also, another habit, I think I rely on too much is the sound of the bike instead of actually looking at the rpm gauge.  But hey, people always told me to look where I'm going 

this is great! the only reason I know about the tacho is I know what it sounds like...that and the fact that when I stuff up a corner I have the gear wrong so I have the engine at 2800 rpm and I need to get the revs up and feather the clutch to get out without disturbing the chassis....so I have first hand exprience with stuffing up the rev range and I rely on hearing for the other part.

You're doing great  !

[D8]

For road driving, do most people slow down with brake and then clutch, downshift, throttle. Or, do most slow down with engine braking?

It depends on the conditions, how fast i'm approaching a corner, and how sharp the corner is, but i usually use a combination of both.  There is a certain speed you need to slow down to in order to hit a certain corner.  If i can slow down enough with engine braking i'll use that rather than getting on the brakes.