Throttle blippers (I am one of them, for many reasons) and as mentioned previously; track speed control, setting the track (especially in a side hill), engine cooling, distributing wear on clutch weights proportionately, clutch engagement and flat out “SMASHING THE FUN FLIPPER” for some much needed HORSEPOWER! All benefits while riding a 2 stroke sled, if not all mechanical benefit, definitely brings out the kid in us all that love the feel-good-raw-torque our sleds create! Does it create big moguls….sure, but so does slowing down over top of them and accelerating. Listen, we all contribute to them in some way or another. It’s a just another day at the office so to speak.
Some don’t realize the importance of blipping, some have yet to be exposed to the engineering behind it all and some just need to have a release and feel the power intermittently.
TRACK SPEED/CONTROL
If your sidehilling and you are holding a constant or increasing throttle, you have invited a very good possibility of losing your edge on the hill no matter how you use body mechanics!! Did you ever experience science class as a kid and spin a bicycle wheel assembly and hold the axel with one finger while it stays in the upright position effortlessly due to the centrifugal forces it created?? If not, try it. same principles apply to sledding! You have a giant piece of rubber spinning at wicked speeds and all this assembly wants to do is stay vertical, and at high RPM will do nothing but upright your sled and send you back down the hill where u came from, especially if your not prepared to influence it with some body english and track speed control. U need to blip…..and brake to maintain and slow that track speed down to keep your sled on edge, or just to keep it all in control. Timing is everything with throttle control and body english in this sport.
ENGINE COOLING
To keep that two stroke engine cool while going up the trail requires large amounts of cold fuel being dumped into each cylinder (snapping WOT aka “Blipping”). However, it’s a balance of not kicking up rocks into the sled behind you if conditions are not favourable and keeping your sled propelling forward all while trying to cool it when there’s limited snow and or ambient temps are warmer.
DISTRIBUTING WEAR ON THE CLUTCH WEIGHTS
On the ramp/roller contact surface of the clutch weights, it is known that the weight will eventually form an indentation on them because of constant throttle position being maintained. Eventually leading to a sticky spot in your launch. Blipping keeps this more gradual over time.
This above, of course, are not all the reasons, but some very good ones for understanding “what’s with all the blipping”. Happy blipping!…….or not.
