Do You Rev-Match? Mixed Reviews

1365 Views 56 Replies 21 Participants Last post by VFR4Lee, 3 d ago

Flash Yellow

Discussion Starter · 13 d ago

MotoJitsu explains that rev-matching is not necessary and you do not need to blip the throttle to match the rpm of the engine when engine breaking. The pulsating of the brakes while blipping the throttle will upset the front end and makes this practice counter-intuitive.
I am going to have to play around with this to see what works and feels good.
What do you all think?

41 - 57 of 57 Posts

Skywalker67

· #41 · 7 d ago

One big advantage of rev matching, for me, is that my wife no longer clashes her helmet against mine when I downshift and let go the clutch.

Reactions: 3

St.Dusan

· #42 · 7 d ago

mad8vskillz said:
no need to be smooth w the throttle, you just blip. the size of the blip almost doesnt matter since you only need a couple thousand rpm

I was thinking of throttle hand in general.

I experimented a bit yesterday, and found that when I'm full on the brakes, I can blip without upsetting the bike.
When I'm not braking as hard as possible, I jerk the brake when blipping, and It's definitely not something I'd like while trail braking at lean.

Reactions: 1

Flash Yellow

Discussion Starter · #43 · 7 d ago

St.Dusan said:
I was thinking of throttle hand in general.

I experimented a bit yesterday, and found that when I'm full on the brakes, I can blip without upsetting the bike.
When I'm not braking as hard as possible, I jerk the brake when blipping, and It's definitely not something I'd like while trail braking at lean.

One smooth, quick, motion BLIP
makes it less jerky.

Reactions: 1

Soulspinner

· #44 · 7 d ago

Flash Yellow said:
One smooth, quick, motion BLIP
makes it less jerky.

"less jerky" the reason I dont blip in the twisties and the reason many good riders do the same on the track.

mad8vskillz

· #45 · 7 d ago

there are a couple decreasing radius spots where i need to grab downshifts. i cant even imagine doing it without blipping.

Soulspinner

· #46 · 7 d ago (Edited)

mad8vskillz said:
there are a couple decreasing radius spots where i need to grab downshifts. i cant even imagine doing it without blipping.

Blipping is somewhat like those who rely on engine braking to slow down, amateurish.
Just f#&king with you mad

Skywalker67

· #47 · 7 d ago

Soulspinner said:
Blipping is somewhat like those who rely on engine braking to slow down, amateurish.

Here I am! 😅
I usually rely more on engine braking than on front brake to slow down when just touring aroun.

Flash Yellow

Discussion Starter · #48 · 6 d ago

It does sound better that way.
But I also heard it said before to use the brakes more because brake pads are cheap and engine repair is not cheap.

ziffusion

· #49 · 6 d ago

Flash Yellow said:
But I also heard it said before to use the brakes more because brake pads are cheap and engine repair is not cheap.

That assumes that engine braking causes engine damage in some way. Does it? I didn't think it did.

Skywalker67

· #50 · 6 d ago

ziffusion said:
That assumes that engine braking causes engine damage in some way. Does it? I didn't think it did.

This video could help shedding some light on engine braking.

Reactions: 1

Soulspinner

· #51 · 6 d ago

Skywalker67 said:
Here I am! 😅
I usually rely more on engine braking than on front brake to slow down when just touring aroun.

Same here, so much of it why not.

Reactions: 1

mad8vskillz

· #52 · 6 d ago

Soulspinner said:
Blipping is somewhat like those who rely on engine braking to slow down, amateurish.

autoblippers are the way. but i am a poor and feel like selling mine is the better choice.

OfirMX

· #53 · 5 d ago

Engines are for going, brakes are for slowing. Engine braking is a lazy habit, just like using the rear brake alone. Sure, you can slightly roll-off the throttle to control your speed and maybe decelerate a little bit but, if you really want to slow down, USE THE BRAKES.

Blipping (rev-matching) is not intended for engine braking alone. It should be used in combination with your brakes and with the specific purpose of keeping the revs high (the engine and drive loaded) so you can quickly and smoothly get back on the gas if you need it. For example, to stabilize your chassis and maintain your throttle while entering a curve or to be ready to maneuver in traffic.

emore

· #54 · 4 d ago

Troy Jollimore said:
I’m with @VFR4Lee . I’m never in any particular hurry, so I usually do the fan/feather thing of the clutch. That’s what it, and synchros, are for. If I’m doing a particularly big transition, especially given the SV’s engine braking, I’ll do a ‘blip’ (usually bring the revs up and hold to where I think they’ll be in the new gear). Would probably be the same if I were really riding/driving ‘in anger’, but that never really happens.

Synchronizers, found in automotive transmissions, are there to allow smooth shifting since the gears are usually not constant-mesh like MC transmissions are. They have no effect on rev-matching, smoothness, traction issues, etc. Only for getting one gear to play nice with the next.

Flash Yellow said:
One smooth, quick, motion BLIP
makes it less jerky.

Yep. Folks that don't rev-match also likely think first gear is what one uses to roll-start a bike. Those of us that value smoothness get it. That tiny twitch of the hand that weighs a few ounces could never upset a bike to the extent that dumping the clutch and forcing the engine to play catch-up by either skidding the tire or forcing it to spin the motor up, a function that we have gasoline to perform much more efficiently. And yes, brake replacement is usually a bit less pricey than clutch repair, but anything you can do to reduce upset to the chassis is good. As we all know, other things being equal, it is suspension that wins races. (Sorry, covered more than one thought.)

Reactions: 1

RecoilRob

· #55 · 4 d ago

To rev-match or not to me depends on the bike and how much engine braking it has. The V-Max absolutely HAD to be matched or it had enough braking to slide the tire a lot if you just dumped the clutch afterwards without a blip. Plus being a shafty it would compress the rear suspension so if you were anywhere near dragging...that unmatched downshift would result in a shower of sparks and a bit of excitement.

Best part was entering a fast turn a bit too fast but not being able to let off the gas because that nearly dragging undercarriage would instantly ground so you had to stay on it to get through the turn. V-Max and fast back road riding can be done...but it's not pretty at all.

The SV doesn't brake real hard with the engine set up the way it is and while it likes a nice smooth blip and clutch release it's not nearly so critical. And the old RD's and RZ's from my mis-spent youth had so little engine braking as well as crankshaft inertia that it really didn't matter if you blipped or not...functionally. I did it because it sounded so damn nice and I figured it was good practice anyhow.

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Reactions: 2

Soulspinner

· #56 · 4 d ago (Edited)

emore said:
Yep. Folks that don't rev-match also likely think first gear is what one uses to roll-start a bike. Those of us that value smoothness get it. That tiny twitch of the hand that weighs a few ounces could never upset a bike to the extent that dumping the clutch and forcing the engine to play catch-up by either skidding the tire or forcing it to spin the motor up, a function that we have gasoline to perform much more....

This kinda sounds like a bad infomercial. Not sure I get the rev matcher's know how to push start smoothness thing, but the dumping the clutch and skidding the the tire is a must!
The whole idea of feathering, fanning... (no dumping) is to be smoother on the track, twisties.

VFR4Lee

· #57 · 3 d ago

Late braking and point and shoot riding is for riders who have disk brakes and big ass motors.
This rider needs to carry momentum.

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Reactions: 1

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