drive
Blipping the throttle for safer ride
Blipping the throttle literally means quickly closing, opening and closing the throttle again. – The Malaysian Insider pic, September 26, 2014.Under that hood, one is given the false impression of solitude, yet a rider is actually one in hundreds, even thousands of road users who are striving to get to their final destinations - fast!
Try as one may, driving during rush hour is madness and it's only natural to encounter testy drivers and riders here and there. However, riding actually seems scarier and harder from an observer's point of view and there is actually a method to the madness of rush hour traffic.
In Kuala Lumpur, riders make up for a fair share of amusing sights, sometimes ridiculous beyond imagination. I've seen three to a motorcycle with a child sandwiched between two adults, three teenagers barely 12 years of age on a motorcycle but the most impressive ones and rightfully so are ladies on a motorcycle. Some aren't necessarily dressed fittingly but still, as long as they have the basic safety gear is what matters. It's safe to say that most riders and drivers in Kuala Lumpur go about their own business and practise sufficient caution towards keeping accidents at arms' length but there are always exceptions.
Ultimately, the true test of a safe rider is one who possesses enough skill and control to first: ride safely so as to not inflict harm on himself or herself, and two: ride safely so as to not bring on an untoward incident upon the next road user. The list of grassroots techniques is extensive but one that could likely save one's life is how to slow down and stop properly. There is a popular technique among riders called blipping the throttle.
Unlike a car, a motorcycle's gear shifter is sequential which means, riding in 5th gear and going directly down to second gear to pull up to a stop is inadvisable unless you want to risk the back wheel swaying: causing the bike to weave side by side dangerously before completely halting. In theory, the idea of slowing down and simply shifting gears sequentially seems easy enough, but in reality it's not quite as easy.
Say for example you're going at the speed of 5th gear and encounter a short downhill slope with a sharp bend at the bottom. Since gear shifting on a motorcycle is sequential you would need to do all that shifting in record time which can be quite a tall order. Blipping the throttle is more or less commanding the engine to be in 4th gear speed so you can be in 4th gear at a certain point in time and likewise as you shift down all your bike's gears.
To blip simply means to jerk or make a quick movement. Blipping the throttle literally means quickly closing, opening and closing the throttle again. When slowing down by blipping the throttle, braking is also done to reinforce the decrease in speed; bear in mind that blipping and braking is done simultaneously, so the rider needs to get a hold of both throttle and brake lever. Not only is this method of coming to a stop safer, it also gives the rider more control of his or her bike and taking that sharp bend at the bottom of the hill becomes just another leg of one's journey and not a red flag.
Blipping the throttle actually adds to the fun element of riding and makes riding safer too. For every rider that knows the basic safe riding techniques, an accident does not happen. It may be adrenaline pumping, but the sport of riding should be handled properly. To find out more about throttle blipping, check out this video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_cPblE6my4
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