I blip due to years of heel/toe manual trans cars and understanding gears & RPMs. That said, I'm only a month and a half into owning a street bike (08 CBR600RR) and I don't have a good sense for the rhythm of blipping while maintaining smooth front brake force - one inherently suffers due to rider skill. Because of that, if I'm braking hard and going down 3+ gears before a turn, I tend to only release and match on my selected gear for the corner and feather the clutch slightly in the friction zone for mild engine braking. Faster turns with only 1 or 2 gear changes I may just engine brake through downshifts in conjunction with light brakes and light trail braking if needed. I seriously cannot wait to get out on the track...there is only so much of this kind of riding to be safely done anywhere near Chicago.
I used to race Formula Fords with un-synchronized transmissions. You had to match revs or you didn't get it in the lower gear. It was like a dance blipping the trottle with the left side of your foot while threshold braking with the right side. It's comparatively a breeze on a motorcycle:thumb:
When I started on the track I didn't blip. Wondered if I was missing something so I learned how to blip. Now I can choose to blip or just abuse the slipper in my bike. I do think downshifts are smoother while blipping even with a slipper clutch. Mostly I don't blip but once in a while I will if I want to be smoother entering a certain corner. Later Steve
Nice way to back it into a corner, hard on the front brakes, no blip and let the clutch out as you are starting your turn in. Becareful full pucker every time lol
A recent article on this subject by Nick Ienatsch: http://www.cycleworld.com/2013/10/18/motorcycle-riding-skills-how-to-downshift-like-a-pro/
Here is an article from Trackdaymag.com, complete with a video clip. http://www.trackdaymag.com/thementalaspect/283-throttle-blipping-for-downshifts.html
Nick is the man when it comes to these things. That being said, I am with Eddie a bit. I do blip and have found that on long straights going from WFO to downshifting multiple gears, I am trying to do less rev matching. I get the shifts in and smooth out. Eddie can maybe relate as Mid-Ohio for an example has a straight where you are running for some, down four gears under braking and before turn in at race pace. I am doing 4 downshifts rather quickly and letting the clutch out smoothly even though a slipper is in existence. Anyone that has followed me knows I like loose and willl use engine braking like Tea expressed to slow the bike. This allows the back to slide out and help slow the bike down while the slipper prevents the rear to fully lock and bounce the rear end. Watch the pros run and you will see that they initiate the slide with two methods. Quick smack of the rear brake lever or more commonly, using the motor. I blip in certain turns where I do one or two down shifts. Like the bus stop at Putnam from 4th to second or from a turn that requires only one downshift. But off the straights, I am trying to do all at once (faster) rather than blip and shift and blip and shift, etc... It's hard for me right now as I was a 100% blipper. But the idea of getting them all in and slipping the clutch out smoothly is working rather well. The issue I have on the twin is that the RPMs drop sooooo fast that the blipping seems to be something we need to really do. Otherwise, the comeback of RPMs is very disruptive. Still learning the twin, but on the in-line, all at once was working great. I think even the seamless gearboxes the MotoGP guys have autoblip. I know cars are doing it and even race cars. But I think they have transmissions that require this? Dunno. I see both sides. But, I am in between right now in an effort to change up my riding style a tad.
I have tried to change to the cool kids no blip method. Every time results in a near off track excursion. I am and will be a lifelong blipper I guess. Even though our bikes all have super cool slippers, I don't really utilize them. I do use the clutch much more and in a number of different ways, I guess it's the same but different. And I don't know that it matters but in the over 20 year of dong this, I have never once had a transmissions related problem. I know many non blippers who go through transmissions. Weather there is a correlation, I don't know.
I blame myself for my trans issue, dropping a few gears at a time and just dropping the lever is ROUGH the new trans I haven't been doing that so I am willing to bet it lasts longer.
Was not specifically referring to you, however Kaw riders have seemed to suffer the most this year from what I've seen. I can count 6 trans. in the Kaw community that I know of this year. Just non blippers in general seem to have more wear and tear on the trans and clutch. Could be purely speculation on my part as I have no hard data to back up my theory.
At least we have cassette's I do blame me for my issue though. Luckily a trans is $150 and an hour or so of time
I'm just curious, WHERE anywhere near Chicago is this possible?? I live in the Aurora/Naperville area and even the boonies by Oswego and Plainfield are not safe.