was wondering how many of you do this in normal riding -
i can do it with one finger but struggling to keep the pressure even on the brake when i’m using two
how many fingers do you use? (ahem) 
http://www.ommriders.com/read-ride/advancedriding/Brake-DownChangingGearslikeaPro.htm
Yep … I do it automatically. Number of fingers used varies … anything from one finger, to four fingers on the brake lever. 
i’ve only really felt the need to concentrate that hard on this sort of thing on track becasue of two things… entry too fast into a corner means ur f*cked… and braking hard / changing gear in a corner is asking for trouble… so… this is my usual entry into paddock…the 4 times i’ve been to brands so i’m really just a beginner but it works for me at the moment…
come out of clearways in 3rd then accelerate up to 6th (circa 120mph by the time u get to the start finish line…
hit my braking point… by this time i’m usually hitting about 135 mph (145 plus if your on a 1000cc bike and have balls of steel) and then i brake hard (front then rear) down to about 95mph and gear down to 4th- it slows down a bit more down to about 75/80 - bike is stable and you’re ready to head into paddock with a nice wide line… looking right through the corner… NOTE: THROUGH THIS THE BRAKING IS HARD THEN stays on as u change down the gears…
still in 4th hold the throttle (brake is off now)… dont over rev it because it’ll start playing with your mind and grip may start to waver… half way down the hill ur slowly coming up right and more power (all of it if possible - given clear traffic etc) … up into druids… hit 90 on the way up the hill… brake… drop down 2 gears into 2nd and through druids with knee down about 40 mph… then out and up into 3rd
(this is a great place to overtake… even on a bigger bike… u can go relatively wide and all the way around the slower bikes here accelerating out if u can hold it… but beware of people that might run wide and push u off the track! - u need the speed to pass them to do it safely)
i’m a beginner (hence using a gear above the optimum to add stability round those speedy corners so i dont over cook it … in time i will gain more confidence in corners and using the lower gearing for a better exit speed out of corners! always get caught on graham hill! ) in all honesty i dont think that its that relevant in a road situation because regardless of gear you should be aware of the surroundings at all times, junctions, motorway etc…
dont take my word for it… but just saying thats the way i do it and its not put me wrong yet…
Blipping isn’t necessary on the road, only at the track where you need to keep the revs up at the top-end when changing gear, to prevent the rear locking up. A lot of people, with me included, do it out of habit on the road, just because we’re so used to doing it.
I remember that it was the hardest new skill to learn back when I started it, but after a while it becomes second nature, to the point where I ride with two fingers over the brake lever at all times anyhow.
Yeah, I tend to do it but can’t be certain if it’s always and if I’m braking at the time as I tend to ride automatically, like most I guess.
I don’t think I’d be keen on braking and blipping if it was a hard braking manoever as the you could reduce the control over the brake lever. Ideally you shouldn’t get yourself into the position of having to do so many things at once
Easier said than done I know 
Johnny - why biking in Turkey? got a trip planned or summat?
would agree that generally you dont need it on the road, altho have sections on the ride to and from work where its really handy rather than have to brake much earlier and then blip and drop. i end up covering the brakes most of the time too as heavy part of the journey is filtering.
keep doing it on one finger but thinking that could be a bad habit for the track later in the year as may need stronger/better control from 2. also when i’m 2-up, one finger doesn’t sound like a good idea.
god, i’m loosing myself in a world of innuendo here
Ha true indeed. I’ll re-read your post with a different attitude!!
hey andrew - i think that’s the point that with practice you have the same control over the brake level as normal, and also can control throttle
and would prefer to be sunning myself in turkey than the hell i’m currently in for sure…
It is handy for sure, if you match the engine revs to the new lower gear then it stops the bike surging and is therefore more stable which optimises the braking.
But the consequences of getting it wrong in a heavy (I mean last minute) braking maneover don’t bear thinking about.
Practice makes perfect!! We can go down the Embankment or some other acoustic bowl and blip for England!! Hurrah!!
altho getting out of first in a 30mph zone is tricky in itself
You should ask Sparky (AWOL) about this … he has amazing simultaneous throttle & brake control … watch him when he is sitting on his tank, with his feet over the front of his fairing, doing donuts, with only his right hand on the bars and then tell me it’s difficult! That guy has some “mad skillz”!!
It seems crazy now, but learned brakin’ & blippin’ when I was a teenager because I thought it sounded cool when I was slowing down … little was I to know how useful it was going to be!
If you need to stop very quickly on the road, then I wouldn’t be worrying about the gears, just brake as hard as you can with front and rear, and if you stall, so what, better than hitting that car, bus or pedestrian that suddenly appeared
My first bike was an SV650, and learned to ride on the engine braking. But to do this you need to blip as you come down the box or the rear will lock, especially under braking as the back end goes light.
I’ve just continued doing it on very bike I’ve had, or ridden, since and now it’s second nature, I don’t even realise I’m doing it…
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I have always done this since being 13 on a motocrosser. Never learnt it just do it. Its the same as in a heeling and toeing in a car which i also always do road or track.
In my opinion blipping on the road really helps to match the engine revs when doing down changes. It makes the change a little sweeter and not so harsh when you let the clutch out.
ok, I am going to be dumb for tonight…
someone explain this to me in person. I am sure I do this anyway, as I can change down gears quite smoothly while cornering.
but then my bike is very easy to ride and forgiving in such circumstances.
changin gears in corners? Mmmmm let’s talk…
hey gof - thread is going in two directions
blipping the throttle when you downshift allows you to match engine speed to the rear wheel better, makes downshifts much smoother - if you change down aggresively without raising the rpm, the engine braking can lock up the rear. it also allows you to shift earlier and use engine braking to slow the bike and stay in the power band of your bike. a lot of the time when you’re riding, you can almost entirely control the bike without touching the brakes
the second bit which the thread started on is that you can combine (front) braking with the lever and blipping the throttle at the same time - basically its the same as heel and toe in a car. its more a track application as jay pointed out altho if you can do it, it gives you more control over the bike. otherwise you have to alternate braking and gear work which if you come in hot, can unsettle the bike a bit, and you have to start the process earlier.
I think ideally you do it with two fingers altho i’ve developed a nasty habit of doing it with one. the main difficulty to get over is that as you twist the throttle, the fingers on the lever will exert more force as your hand rolls back which you need to compensate for. if you screw it up, you’re braking hard on the front and driving on the rear which would cause the front to wash out. if you watch the SB/WSB races they’re braking heavily into the approach to the corner whilst working they way down the box blipping the throttle hard
