Triumphrat

Rob 93ZR-1

When I drive my Vette, I can smoothly be hard on the brakes, blip throttle and down shift w/o upsetting the car.

How the heck do you do it on a bike?

If I am under heavy braking, front brake squeezed, how do I get a throttle blip in? Do you have to let go of the throttle?

I've tried to figure it out by four fingers on brake, thumb only to blip throttle, but it doesn't seem safe.

Can someone explain the skill in explicit detail so I can try to learn it?

p2gee

Try using two fingers on brake (index and middle). Fronts brakes are so good on bikes these days that 2 fingers is really all required. This technique leaves ring and little finger to help your thumb blip the throttle. A little practice and it's easy!!

Tbirdnz

Would you want to be downshifting whilst under heavy braking ? I would suggest concentrating on the heavy braking and then when you are coming out of it then downshift. In my opinion there is no need to downshift whilst heavy braking with the clutch in until you need to downshift then you can blip normally and change. Downshifting after that you can either engine brake if you still want to slow down further or accelerate if you want to speed up.


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HiDesert

Or downshift first, and get the benefit of the engine braking added to the disk and pads braking.

But with some practice, you should be able to do both at once. If you can't, perhaps the bar is too far from the grip.

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p2gee

In many cornering situtations, downshifting is part of my heavy braking strategy. Why not take advantage of the smooth and excellent 4 stroke engine braking, blipping the throttle to mesh engine speed with the rear wheel. Since about 70% of the braking power is in the front end, engine braking works very well with the front brakes in most instances. I sometimes blip/downshift while using the rear brake too as need be. Can't have enough tools in your riding arsenal in my opinion.

ramble59

Make sure your timing between clutch and throttle are right on, otherwise it won’t be affective and you’ll lurch forward.

Find an empty parking lot or a backstreet and practice high speed braking; trust me once you get the correct combination and timing down between clutch, downshifting, brake, and throttle you’ll do it without even thinking.

Tbirdnz

May be some confusion in what defines heavy braking, to me heavy braking is all anchors on and stopping in the shortest distance.

If you are engine braking at the same time as heavy braking you will have the clutch out and the transmission is still propelling the bike forward, albeit engine braking but nevertheless continuing to move forward under power. Engine braking is good for slowing the bike down when you do not need to stop.

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BillTheCat

I think they are talking track day apex type riding not emergency traffic stops.

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Tbirdnz

Well that's very different, so what's difficult about that !


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IrlMike

It's important to be in the correct gear at all times to have optimum throttle control & good response to change lines or speed quickly. Good mid-range torque, typical of Triumphs, really helps here

So changing down quickly, blipping the throttle to match rpm & road speed is what's needed when breaking. Heavy braking just means the technique has to be accomplished a bit faster & with more downshifts. Typical scenario, as other posts have mentioned, is approaching a bend at speed.

With a bit of practice it's possible to be pulling hard with four fingers on the brake lever & rock the throttle back with the palm of the hand as required. Some modern bikes (& race bikes) have 'two finger' brakes making throttle control whilst braking easier. No such luxury on the classic triples & twins...

Controlling the throttle with just the palm (thumb placement can sometimes help too) in this way is handy in another situation. That is when approaching a 'hazard' - say, for example a dozy looking cager waiting to pull out - you can 'cover' the front brake lever whilst keeping the throttle steady. Covering the front brake this way (& clutch as well of course) can save vital time (distance!) if an emergency stop becomes neccesary. (You're already covering the rear brake, as you should be anyway, right )

A good practice techique is to go up & down say 3 gears whilst keeping a constant road speed (most bikes have close enough ratios for this) & four fingers covering the front brake. Keeps the skills sharp to be prepared (& in the right gear) for any situation.

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