Clunk

[FJ_Hooligan]

Thanks for pointing that out! 

I never come to a stop in a high gear just for the reason you state (unless it's a panic stop situation).

I downshift, I just don't try to get to first gear while I'm still going 50 mph but I do try to keep it in an "appropriate" gear while slowing down.

When I think I'm slow enough to make the next downshift without clunking the trans, I go ahead and do it.  By the time I stop, I'm in first or, at worst, second gear.

[theLeopard]

Blip- I like to keep the revs close to what the next closest gear down is going to be as it's coming down to avoid a herky-jerky tug on the rear wheel.

Leon

+1

+2
I blip all the time. It's force of habit, and helps to make the downshifts smoother on the transmission, chain, and rear tire.

+3

Ive a habit of letting the motor wind down 500rpm on an upshift.

[wildfire]

Ok lets open the flood gates. Who cares to define what blipping the throttle is.

[Capn Ron]

Ok lets open the flood gates. Who cares to define what blipping the throttle is.

I took it to be rev-matching.  Drove a Formula Ford at Laguna Seca...NO syncros in that bad boy.   

[Urban_Legend]

A blip on the throttle is a short, sharp twist (or in the case of a car a depression) of the throttle to spin the engine revs to the same as needed for the gear you are about to select, to limit compression braking. I do it all the time in anything with a manual gear box. (Bikes, cars, trucks) I learned to drive in a 1965 Holden (Australian version GM) with a 3 speed "Crash" box with no syncros (very similar to pic except blue) so it was the only way you were down shifting gears. Habit that I kept and like

[Pat Conlon]

It all started because our brakes sucked.
Back in the olden days we had drum brakes on our bikes... and cars. These puppies would be prone to overheating if you even looked at them wrong. Downshifting was mandatory allowing the engine compression to slow the car or bike, saving the brake shoes for times when you really needed them. Even then it was a 50/50 chance you would be presented with less than optimum braking. As Capn Ron indicated above, this was also the time when gear syncros were not fully developed and down shifting required you to rev match the tranny gears. Failure to do so would cause 1 of 2 things to happen, 1 you would not be able to get the tranny shifted into the lower gear, or 2 a god awful bone shaking crunch would occur.

In today's age of DCT paddle shifters and auto blip drive by wire systems, alas, the art of heel toe downshifting is lost.

[Flynt]

...alas, the art of heel toe downshifting is lost.

Drama queen...  It's not lost Pat, just exists in diminishing populations.  Vintage racers will remember it at the very least for decades.  And you can always play video games...

"Blipping", if it is rev matching, is how you maximize your traction and minimize upsetting the chassis.  You're not going to be very smooth if you don't do it routinely.

Frank

[wildfire]

So I have been blipping for all these years and never knew it had a name. I was not told to do it. It just came natural and made sense to avoid the jerky movement.

[TexasDave]

So I have been blipping for all these years and never knew it had a name. I was not told to do it. It just came natural and made sense to avoid the jerky movement.

This is something I was not even consciously aware I was doing. Over the years it has become completely automatic.  Dave

[ZOA NOM]

blipping the throttle causes the input shaft (attched to the crankshaft through the gears) to increase it's speed (this must be done with the clutch plates disengaged - lever in), in order to match up more closely with the output shaft (attached to the chain via the clutch) so that there is a smoother transition from the higher gear to the lower one. Syncros were designed to alleviate the need for this, although many folks with syncros continue to do it to save wear on the syncros themselves.

[TimelessFJ]

Goodness I've been blipping ever since I was a young bloke and I haven't ever had gearbox or clutch problems with any of my rides and I'm going to continue blipping even if I do go blind

[Dads_FJ]

...alas, the art of heel toe downshifting is lost.

Drama queen...  It's not lost Pat, just exists in diminishing populations.  Vintage racers will remember it at the very least for decades.  And you can always play video games...

"Blipping", if it is rev matching, is how you maximize your traction and minimize upsetting the chassis.  You're not going to be very smooth if you don't do it routinely.

Frank

Blipping the throttle while applying the front brake, now that's art!

[ribbert]

Blipping the throttle while applying the front brake, now that's art!

Isn't that most of the time? If you're washing off speed with the brakes, you need to be changing down gears as the bike slows.

Noel

[Dads_FJ]

Blipping the throttle while applying the front brake, now that's art!

Isn't that most of the time? If you're washing off speed with the brakes, you need to be changing down gears as the bike slows.

Noel

For you and me and probably most on this list, but I hate to make any assumptions.  I'd guess there's some who alternate between blipping and braking. 

But that doesn't change my opinion that I think this learned trick is neato.

[X-Ray]

Ok, I think I might be the only here who........ Doesn't blip! I just have my own riding style, suits me, no probs at all. After reading all this I might have to give it a go to see what I'm missing out on