 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Tip of the Week
Smooth out your Downshifts with a Throttle Blip What's The Problem? Do you find downshifting while riding awkward? When you downshift while moving, you are suddenly changing the speed your engine needs to be running to match your ground speed. This causes a sudden load on the engine, and can cause the bike to lurch. Worse, the braking effect can cause the front end to dive, giving you steering problems, or cause the rear wheel to lock or chatter. If you find you're reluctant to downshift or that it's an unpleasant experience, this tip is for you. Solution The solution to the lurching problem is to adjust your throttle, matching the engine speed to the new level it needs, while the clutch is in for your downshift. The easiest way to do this is by timing a little burst of gas (called a "blip") to coincide with your shifting manoeuvre. Once you have the technique straight, it will be so easy to do and so automatic that you will have trouble shifting any other way. Learn this technique in two steps. First, let's learn to blip while standing still. Sit on the bike with the engine running, in neutral so you can play with the throttle safely. Practice blipping the throttle - snap it open about a quarter-turn then immediately let go. You get a "brmmmmm!" note from the engine that quickly rises then falls in pitch. Practice doing this blip as quickly as possible, so the entire technique takes less than 1/2 second. 
This is very important. We are not talking about accelerating. The blip should last a fraction of a second, and if you were moving you would travel only a foot or so at the higher engine speed. We don't mean you hear "bwaaaaaaaAAAH" and accelerate down the road. Next, ride at a moderate constant speed in a safe place (not a busy street). Practice downshifting from 3rd to 2nd, or from 4th to 3rd. (2nd to 1st is a bigger jump on most bikes - practice that later, not now.) Downshift with the following sequence of events: 1. Clutch in and blip the throttle slightly so the engine speeds up to the revs needed for the lower gear. 2. Downshift to the lower gear. 3. While the engine speed is still coasting back down from the blip, smoothly let the clutch out. 
You're trying to blip the engine speed to slightly higher than the new speed it will need after the downshift, then let the clutch out as the engine coasts down from that speed. When you get this right, the downshift will be silky-smooth with no lurching at all because you did the required engine speed change while the clutch was in. The mark of a good technique is that, once learned, it's hard to do it any other way. Practice your blipped downshifts for a week or two and you'll find you are unable to make yourself downshift the old lurchy way. This technique is easy to learn and will improve your riding. You'll love it. The MRC Tips of the Week are a collection of riding tips written by, and drawn from the riding experience of, the MRC instructors, a group with hundreds of years of cumulative riding experience. The tip changes every week. Check back to our main page every week to learn more from experienced riders. |
|
