Blippin the throttle?

[Arnold_R1]

Someone had to de-virginize this thread. Experts explain in sequence how it's done! SLOWLY!

[a43-Dan]

dang i'm trying to think how i do it but i can't remember every step. i'll post up how i do it,when i get back from school.

[dre_2k2_f4i]

Flick your wrist? ;)

Now, what I want to see is you slamming on the rear brake, then kicking out your right foot off the peg, a-la Reuben Xeus when he's backing it in!!

[a43-Dan]

hey,you'd be supprised how many people don't know how to blip the throttle while downshifting.

[Erlend]

The way I do it is basically clutch-first blip-shift-second blip while I release the clutch. It sorta sounds like you are reving the engine and then engaging the clutch.

Another way I heard of doing it is forgetting about the second blip and just slaming it through the gears like so:

Clutch-blip, shift and release clutch as the same time. When I do it this way it seems to sound smoother, but I am not shure it actually works the same.

Just my .02

[sworobec]

From a sport-riding book I have....

http://sworobec.virtualave.net/Pictures/Throttle_Blip1.jpg

That image post thingy doesn't actually make the image appear in the post =(

[dre_2k2_f4i]

Originally posted by a43-Dan
hey,you'd be supprised how many people don't know how to blip the throttle while downshifting.
The way y'all were starting this thread, I thought you were joking!

[Erlend]

Originally posted by sworobec
From a sport-riding book I have....

http://sworobec.virtualave.net/Pictures/Throttle_Blip1.jpg

That image post thingy doesn't actually make the image appear in the post =(

This is basically what I described in my second way of doing it. Just worded a little better :D Worth a read!

My only concern with that way of doing it is that you don't actually match engine rpm's AS you downshift... all you are doing is matching engine rpm's to the gear you are allready in as to smothe the powertransfer and negate wheelhop and other nasties. hmm... gues I have some researching to do. I always thought that bliping the throttle was supposed to smothe the downshifts, not only the powertransfer. But if that is the case...then hey... I am pretty damn good at bliping then :p

E

[cbrsmurf]

does it really matter when you blip (after or before shifting)?

[Arnold_R1]

Originally posted by cbrsmurf
does it really matter when you blip (after or before shifting)?

Well Jeff, it helps match the engine revs keeping the back from swinging out.

[Erlend]

Originally posted by Arnold_R1
Well Jeff, it helps match the engine revs keeping the back from swinging out.

I think he is reffering to the impact of the bliping on the tranny.

I am not shure Jeff, but I am reading up on it... I should know later on today. Gonna ask around a little as well...hehe ;)

[Bryant]

Originally posted by Erlend
The way I do it is basically clutch-first blip-shift-second blip while I release the clutch. It sorta sounds like you are reving the engine and then engaging the clutch.

Another way I heard of doing it is forgetting about the second blip and just slaming it through the gears like so:

Clutch-blip, shift and release clutch as the same time. When I do it this way it seems to sound smoother, but I am not shure it actually works the same.

Just my .02

Hmm.. blipping the throttle before your downshift is probably not necessary. The sequence i use is:

1 - Roll off throttle
2 - Brake
3 - Clutch In
4 - Downshift
5 - Blip Throttle to match engine rev with road speed in lower gear before re-engaging clutch
6 - Clutch Out

For the newbs to this blipping thing... you can skip step 2 while practicing this. It is fairly difficult for some people to coordinate braking and blipping at the same time. Just practice without pulling in the front brake lever to get a feel for matching engine RPM's with your gear selection. I've shown GPTECHMAN this technique a few times while we were riding.. not sure if it was helpful but hopefully it helped clarify the process a bit.

Have fun! :)

[Arnold_R1]

Thanks Bryant! I'll have to try it on Fri!

[cbrsmurf]

I was told by gsxr-freak on the on socalsportbike forum that one should blip before shifting... so I changed my old way and started doing that, now I have to change back again. damn you ppl, make up your minds!

[Erlend]

Originally posted by cbrsmurf
I was told by gsxr-freak on the on socalsportbike forum that one should blip before shifting... so I changed my old way and started doing that, now I have to change back again. damn you ppl, make up your minds!

This is what made me wonder as well. I checked today and due to the constant mesh tranny bliping before downshifts do nothing for the tranny itself. It's all about matching engine rpm's.

[TreAdidas]

I am b y no means an expert... but as long as your clutch is in I don't really see what the difference is... I would think you would want to blip and shift simultaneously... o rreally really close to each other... just froma time stand point... ... If you don't have your clutch in you're screwed either way...

[Bryant]

Originally posted by Erlend
This is what made me wonder as well. I checked today and due to the constant mesh tranny bliping before downshifts do nothing for the tranny itself. It's all about matching engine rpm's.

Heheh.. yeah. I only do the blipin' thing to make my downshifts smooth so that i don't have to worry about my suspension work extra hard with the bike lurching or with the rear wheel sliding around when what I really want to do is make that next corner nice and clean. Some guys don't blip at all and are stinkin fast too... granted many of these non-blippin' stinkin fast people use some pretty trick slipper clutches as well.... so iono.

[Bryant]

Originally posted by cbrsmurf
I was told by gsxr-freak on the on socalsportbike forum that one should blip before shifting... so I changed my old way and started doing that, now I have to change back again. damn you ppl, make up your minds!

Well if you find that this works for you, you don't need to change your ways. ;) Everyone's got a different way of riding. Some ways work better than others for different people.

[cbrsmurf]

those 2-strokers probably don't have to blip at all?

[cbrsmurf]

So I noticed at trackday I had a hard time blipping while braking because the brake lever is too far away from the throttle and my hands are too small.

[CjrJAM]

Originally posted by cbrsmurf
So I noticed at trackday I had a hard time blipping while braking because the brake lever is too far away from the throttle and my hands are too small.

Can't you just adjust your brake lever?

[GPTECHMAN]

Originally posted by cbrsmurf
So I noticed at trackday I had a hard time blipping while braking because the brake lever is too far away from the throttle and my hands are too small.
well do you normally blip and brake or were you trying something new out on the track?

[enigmamdw]

Alright Guys, blipping is a reaction the engine makes when you down shift. If you are decelerating correctly you shouldn't have to 'make' the bike blip it should happen mostly by itself. You should be more conserned with your braking, this is a much more important part during the "braking" period, hence why it is called braking, not blipping.
Hows that for a first post...ah hahaha...welcome to the wrath that is enigma!

[enigmamdw]

Originally posted by cbrsmurf
those 2-strokers probably don't have to blip at all?

No not really, that's the beauty of the two stroke, blipping is almost squiddish on a two stroke. That and it sounds so much more sexy, that that high whiney sound them four stokes make, dual cans help too.

[GPTECHMAN]

Originally posted by enigmamdw
No not really, that's the beauty of the two stroke, blipping is almost squiddish on a two stroke.

Oh man you opened up a can of worms.....I hope burst, jiggy, Xaus, Hodgson, Kenny Roberts, Bostrom, and Duhammel dont see this thread...cause they are super squidly:clap:

[TreAdidas]

Dude I totally agree.... if you brake properly you should not need to blip... you risk breaking your back end way lose... which could be a total problem for the jean dragging extremists out there... L-O-frickin'-L

[HondaRider22]

I think that the best advise I could give would be to know the basic theory behind blipping and then when you're trying to do it don't try to hard. I've learned the less thinking I do and the more gut instint I use the better it goes.

[CPM F4]

Originally posted by enigmamdw
Alright Guys, blipping is a reaction the engine makes when you down shift. If you are decelerating correctly you shouldn't have to 'make' the bike blip it should happen mostly by itself. You should be more conserned with your braking, this is a much more important part during the "braking" period, hence why it is called braking, not blipping.
Hows that for a first post...ah hahaha...welcome to the wrath that is enigma!

Hi Enigma,

First off, welcome to the board! I agree an engine will 'blip' (come up in rpm's quickly) when downshifting and yes, if the rpm's are at a speed that matches your transmission's, then giving a quick blipping (a sudden twist on and off) of the throttle is not necessary. If it is left up to engine blipping, there is a very good chance that the rear tire will skip. When the clutch is let out, the engine's revolutions are at a much slower speed than what is ideal for the lower gear that is being shifted to. This, in essense, is putting a brake on the rear wheel. If you wait to match the speeds of both, you're shifting right at the entry of the turn. Why? This is when the ideal of the two speeds would be reached. The clutch can't be pulled in as you approach the turn either. This would drop the engine down to idle. If this is done, the engine would have to be revved up to keep the engine/transmission in synch. If this is the case, why not have everything done before entering a turn so that the focus would be in making the turn and not clutch/shift/rev-match. Everything should be setup well before entering into a turn. The focus would then be centered around looking through and finding the exit out of that turn as the throttle is rolled on smoothly.

[Bryant]

Hello Enigma,

Thanks for your comments on this topic.

One thing I should clarify is when we wrote "blip," that was originally in reference to the action of throttle blipping.. not the engine "racing" to higher revs when u dump the clutch out after each downshift, etc.

Greg makes some pretty good points above also regarding blipping/downshifting/prepping for corner entries, etc. All good stuff!

[shaggy]

Originally posted by GPTECHMAN
Oh man you opened up a can of worms.....I hope burst, jiggy, Xaus, Hodgson, Kenny Roberts, Bostrom, and Duhammel dont see this thread...cause they are super squidly:clap:

you know there's a difference between 2 STROKES and 2 CYLINDERS(twins) right techman? or are you just keeping us on our toes around here...

[GPTECHMAN]

yeah that was a quiz....plus I didn't even read it that way...lol

[MatrixChick04]

Hey Shawn. i have a pic of your bike that i can send you if you want it. its from the track day i went to.

[GPTECHMAN]

word hit me up ...I just emailed you

[C-Dub]

after reading all that, i still have a question about blipping. so to my understanding, blipping is a quick motion of rolling on the throttle and then rolling off. if this is the case, i can see the need for blipping if you're shifting down two gears, say from 4th to 2nd, blipping when you shift into 3rd. but if you're only shifting down one gear, can't you just roll on the throttle a little bit earlier than releasing the clutch? thereby rev. matching without "blipping"? any help clarifying this would be appreciated.

[GPTECHMAN]

Originally posted by C-Dub
after reading all that, i still have a question about blipping. so to my understanding, blipping is a quick motion of rolling on the throttle and then rolling off. if this is the case, i can see the need for blipping if you're shifting down two gears, say from 4th to 2nd, blipping when you shift into 3rd. but if you're only shifting down one gear, can't you just roll on the throttle a little bit earlier than releasing the clutch? thereby rev. matching without "blipping"? any help clarifying this would be appreciated.

my take on it...is that if you are just rolling off the throttle, shift, and then release the clutch....isnt blipping...thats just downshifting...once you shift the rpms will still go up cause you are shifting into alower gear, unless you are going butt slow and essentially in the wrong gear.

here is when I would blip or want to.
lets say we are at the track and you have this big straight...

you get going into the higher gears...lets say 4th, but at the end of the straight is a turn that you need to take at a slower speed....waaaay slower

you could essentially take the turn in 4th and just brake hard and take the turn in 4th, but powering out you would be putting out of the corner

another scenario is to shift down one gear at a time...problem is that you want to get to that corner as fast as you can and that means staying in 4th, prob is that you need to take that turn in 2nd to be in the right gear to power out of it.

so sequential blip would allow you to get in the right gear and to shift down the gears fast and not get that wheel hop.

you can feather out the clutch, but on a track setting you dont have that luxury of time.

so if you come in in 4th at 10k rpm and you shift and just let out the clutch, you'll be in th 13k, blah blah blah range....(essentially just higher)...at high revs, there is a lot of engine braking (at least on my bike)...and that may give yousome wheel hop and thats no bueno.

if you give it a little blip as you are shifting it will bring you up those extra revs so you dont have this big change in engine braking as you switch gears....


thats just my take...Its late and Im on drugs...so


I dont even know if I answered your question

oh yeah, so youre setting the revs instead of not having the bike set the revs....is that the answer....


:nerd:

[Philo]

Originally posted by C-Dub
after reading all that, i still have a question about blipping. so to my understanding, blipping is a quick motion of rolling on the throttle and then rolling off. if this is the case, i can see the need for blipping if you're shifting down two gears, say from 4th to 2nd, blipping when you shift into 3rd. but if you're only shifting down one gear, can't you just roll on the throttle a little bit earlier than releasing the clutch? thereby rev. matching without "blipping"? any help clarifying this would be appreciated.


I think you're talking about down-shifting to accelerate. In that case, you can do what you said just fine. If you shift fast enough, you can basically roll on and shift at the same time.

Blipping is mainly used for braking, or for down-shifting while braking. Just like Sean said, to prevent wheel hop, there-by potentially preventing ass on pavement hop.

[Philo]

Here's a question for the smarter guys. The way I see it, blipping performs two functions.....
[list=1]
Sync's transmission input/output shaft (smoother shift, better on dogs, blah....)
Matches engine speed to road speed to prevent wheel hop
[/list=1]
To prove number 1, next time your on the freeway in 6th, pull in the clutch, let rpm's drop to idle and drop down a gear, leaving the clutch in. The gearbox will make a clunk you won't ever want to hear again.

So.....wouldn't the "ideal" blipping procedure be like this.....

If you're in 4th gear at 8k rpm's.....

1. Clutch in
2. Blip throttle
3. As rpm's pass 10k, down-shift into 3rd
(assumes the blip raises rpms to 12k)
4. As rpm's drop from 12k to 10k, release the clutch

Sounds like a load of crap, trying to time it that perfect, but if you put pressure on the shifter as you blip, it should snick into next lower gear without fuss, and you would just release the clutch smoothly.

Maybe some of you guys who are actually fast (unlike me) can tell what works best for you and if this seems feasible?????

[GPTECHMAN]

Bill...its all feel, I was just throwing out numbers...if you are looking at the tach....probably doesnt have to be so technical...

just a feel

[BioTek]

I've always tried to blip the throttle on downshift, particularly if I'm attempting to slow up in a hurry, but sometimes I just never get it right, that was until watching AMA at Fontana the other week. They'd come down the start/finish straight at super speeds and for the chicane some riders backed off one and others backed off two,but my point is that my 'little' blip really is little compared to the massive blip they used, they'd twist the throttle a full 3/4 turn really quickly and you could here the revs wail really high as they shifted but it all matched perfectly when letting the clutch out again, their shifts were sweet as could be. I've since tried a larger 'blip' and it helps take out some of my timing error.
Now I've read what I just typed it kinda makes more sense to me, I guess the pro riders have to blip it excessively as they're already running at maximum rpm's huh???

[cbrsmurf]

Originally posted by BioTek
I've always tried to blip the throttle on downshift, particularly if I'm attempting to slow up in a hurry, but sometimes I just never get it right, that was until watching AMA at Fontana the other week. They'd come down the start/finish straight at super speeds and for the chicane some riders backed off one and others backed off two,but my point is that my 'little' blip really is little compared to the massive blip they used, they'd twist the throttle a full 3/4 turn really quickly and you could here the revs wail really high as they shifted but it all matched perfectly when letting the clutch out again, their shifts were sweet as could be. I've since tried a larger 'blip' and it helps take out some of my timing error.
Now I've read what I just typed it kinda makes more sense to me, I guess the pro riders have to blip it excessively as they're already running at maximum rpm's huh???

From my experience, the higher up in the rpms you are, the more you have to blip in order to get a smooth transition.

[speedster1219]

smoothness is the key...learn that and you will succeed...:D

[Bryant]

Originally posted by speedster1219
smoothness is the key...learn that and you will succeed...:D

mm.. need more.. need more substance here...

[speedster1219]

smooth like butta.....















you dont know whats going on...

[dre_2k2_f4i]

Just thought I'd add that I have been loading my shifter with a little tension before shifting, and blipping the throttle while pulling the clutch feels smooth as silk. Better than slamming the gears up and down!

[YuJinha]

You could always just get a slipper clutch and down shift like a champ.

[dre_2k2_f4i]

Originally posted by YuJinha
You could always just get a slipper clutch and down shift like a champ.
Definitely a consideration, but I believe Super Stock classes outlaw them (unless stock like on the new Kwak's). I hope to some day race the R6 in a stock-type class...

[GPTECHMAN]

I wonder how well those slipper clutches will hold up until they need to be replaced

[deathblow]

Originally posted by GPTECHMAN
I wonder how well those slipper clutches will hold up until they need to be replaced

I also wonder how much more expensive they are to replace.