Blipping the throttle on downchanges?

Yep i tried it today, besides sounding pretty cool, made things abit smoother

(and the lovely looking ladies turned around as i was slowing down to the junction )

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

You are slipping clutch, this causes wear. Fact.

It is not about maximum corner speed and you blatantly do not have the faintest idea what a slipper clutch does either.

i know it causes wear but to what degree depends on how agressive the clutch is feathered

enlighten me on the slipper clutch?

I am totaly blind to any research on it so i will give it a go. I diafram is used to put pressure on the presure plate thus releasing the presure on the clutch? the vacume from the engine is used to generate the movement for the presure plate.

[yorkie_chris]

Nah that is just some weird aprilia slipper clutch.

Common type uses back torque to open the clutch pack. Normal riding is unaffected but it does reduce the engine braking under very heavy back torque and makes the back end more controllable when braking heavily.

Completely different to holding the clutch in around a corner, because as soon as you give it a whiff of throttle it will reengage smoothly and you have drive back.


IMO using the clutch around corners is a really bad thing. You deny yourself control and introduce a situation where a misjudgement WILL cause a slide. There is a reason pretty much every course I can think of says "select gear... go round the corner" ... NOT "get the wrong gear, mess up the shift so it isn't smooth then band-aid it by slipping the clutch and hope nowt else goes wrong".

[gruntygiggles]

Davadvice, you can tell me to buggar off when it comes to bikes as I'm new to that, but having done skid pans, rally driving and race days in cars....along with copious amounts of off road driving (more technical than most give credit for) I can say that, while feathering clutch at low speeds, in car parks for manouvers etc is a good way of controlling the car...at road speeds around bends, it is never a good idea. The engine should always be under full drive when in a corner/down a hill......so pick the right speed and gear in advance and let the engine control the flow of the car around the corner, allowing for slowing by coming off the throttle and speeding up by going on the throttle without the need to drop a gear in order to accelerate away.

I would imagine the same is true on bikes, I don't know, but to me....any time you pull the clutch in, the bike is momentarily not under drive and this in any situation is not ideal...hence the legalities around coasting in cars.

Not trying to teach you how to drive or ride....far from it, just sharing my opinion on the possible dangers of using your clutch while in a corner. It can be a very dangerous thing to do in cars...FACT...I would imagine the same for bikes. If you are feeling the bike is too jerky in a corner, maybe you are just in a gear too low for the speed?

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

IMO using the clutch around corners is a really bad thing. You deny yourself control and introduce a situation where a misjudgement WILL cause a slide. There is a reason pretty much every course I can think of says "select gear... go round the corner" ... NOT "get the wrong gear, mess up the shift so it isn't smooth then band-aid it by slipping the clutch and hope nowt else goes wrong".

+1. Asking for trouble in both car and bike..

so what you are saying that controling the amout of breaking be it via a clutch or through the break in a corner when you have made a mistake is a bad thing.

for instance going down hill and you reduce by 2 gears and the engine is slowing the car/bike too much you fether the cluch and controll the amount of torque to the drive wheel to stop it sliding on the rubber.

as for the aprilia YC is that how they do their slipper clutch. i was totaly guesing.

my other point would be that when on the bike i always try to reduce the speed for the entry of the corner go round and on/just before exit power out. if i am reducing the speed prior to the entry (assuming I get it right) then blipping would not affect the entry if i am approaching at the correct speed. droping a gear in a corner to me would be a total no-no

when a rally driver uses heel/tow is this not what they are doing.

From the responces i read it as some people seem to think i believe what i'm saying is mater of fact. it is not. i'm just trying to argue the point from my opinion/experiance and I'm open to others views. don't want to seem like a total ass hole. every day is a school day. If i can get anything from this then that's a bonus.

I'm Not the type of person to take what a person says as gosbel untill i have hard evedence. I was suposed to be catholic and they totaly failed.

could it be that i ride in a way that blipping it not totaly requiered and that is why i can't see the benifit?

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by Davadvice

so what you are saying that controling the amout of breaking be it via a clutch or through the break in a corner when you have made a mistake is a bad thing.

for instance going down hill and you reduce by 2 gears and the engine is slowing the car/bike too much you fether the cluch and controll the amount of torque to the drive wheel to stop it sliding on the rubber.

Yes, a bad thing. You should have selected the correct gear so you can reduce speed in a corner by rolling off the throttle rather than trying to micromanage clutch bite, throttle, brakes, cornering and observations all at the same time.


No you would keep the clutch fully engaged and give it a slight amount of throttle or use the front brake.

When in the car, I carry out what is known as "sustained rev gear changes". It particularly applies when downshifting. The principle of this is that when downshifting, say from 4th to 3rd, you are at 4k revs in 4th, but you want to be in third, lock your foot, don't lift off or press on the accelerator, keep it steady, engage clutch, (you notice the revs will jump up slightly) select gear, release clutch and the result should be a lovely, smooth gear change.

There is no need to be feathering the clutch on a downshift.

[yorkie_chris]

That principle is more for downshifting to gain tractive effort... for example if you were approaching a big hill right?

Nope, I was taught to do it whenever I downshift.