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Is engine braking bad? I mean really braking by the engine...

When I had my 2015 DCT, I learned to never “blip” the throttle. The clutches are essentially “always engaged” - except for that short period of time when the electronics are engaging / disengaging / slipping.
Blipping the throttle at just the right time to help with a downshift seems nigh on impossible....

To “match up“ wheel speed and engine speed, I would think you would have to approach it from the brake side of the equation.... brake to a lower speed prior to the downshift. That would smooth out the downshift. But that sort of eliminates the whole idea of downshifting to slow the bike.

Happy new year.
>T
 
I don't know about blipping a DCT throttle. I'll have to give it throttle and downshift to see what the computer thinks. Anyone else experimented with it?
I don't think matching throttle and then backing off to allow engine braking is much different though. I feel that using no clutch at high revs and simply backing off throttle rapidly results in the same skid. Doing so slowly simply wears out clutch plates like dragging them on take off. in between, to me, it mimics hard rear braking. If backing off slowly enough to not rub off extra rubber is the goal I guess I never learned how to do it properly.
I do admit that rubber loss is progressive depending on the two opposing forces (to over-simpify it). Where it is considered too much is why humans debate.
 
That is interesting information about the DCT behavior. With a DCT, you actually have no control over clutch engagement. With a manual transmission, on downshifts you can match the revs and control the clutch engagement and minimize the wheel hop or the impact on the transmission and final drive. With DCT in manual mode, can you blip the throttle at the time you press the minus button to smooth out the downshift?
Greg, here's a long answer. Because I no longer have a DCT bike I had to search my memory about this reply for a while to remember how I adapted to not being able to control a clutch at all times and still optimize how the DCT works. I spent the first 1000 miles or so trying to time rev match blips to the DCT downshift gear change like I was still riding a manual bike. Not all the time of course but when riding aggressively on winding roads I found that I wanted one more downshift for engine braking than the PCM's computer programming was going to give when braking into the corner and this is where I tried timing the blip. This was met with rather mixed results. It finally dawned on me to thumb the downshifts with the throttle still open approaching the tip in point. The DCT already has the next lower gear engaged and spinning at the correct speed for minimal impact to the drivetrain so quick sequential downshifts are done without drama, without imparting wheel hop or impacting the transmission and final drive, then close the throttle for engine braking before setting maintenance throttle for the speed at tip in. Maintenance throttle being the exact amount(s) to carry speed through the middle of the corner. As the bike leans the circumference of the tires is reduced so a small amount of throttle must be dialed in or else the bike will slow down as lean increases so maintenance throttle is not one exact opening through the turn but I digress. At other times, if the throttle is closed throughout the downshift(s), the downshift of the NC700/750 transmission does act just like a manual transmission downshifting with closed throttle and it can be jerky and impart excessive engine braking at the moment of next lower gear engagement, just like an unskilled rider without a slipper clutch would do just clicking down through the gears without rev matching. I only had Sport and Drive shift mapping options but I found that I could quickly thumb from Sport to Drive and lessen this impact. It was a learning experience that took literally thousands of miles for me to get to where I thought I was using the NC transmission as good as I could in all the conditions that I rode it in.

With the 2018+ Goldwing DCT and Africa Twins and possibly in the second generation NC the additional drive modes give additional shift point mapping to widen the choices for intelligent use of the gearbox. Even then Honda's two wheel DCTs are not as sophisticated as those in high performance cars that electronically rev match perfectly. I suppose this is to save money and allow the transmissions to be used with minimal impact on product cost and to make them affordable enough to offer.
 
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