Imagine yourself driving on the highway. Our engines are as under-powered as it gets, so overtaking long-trailer and trucks can be a tiresome task. This can happen often if you're not in the correct power-band of the engine: be it a bike or car. The problem with our Indian driving style is we upshift to the highest gear possible in order to obtain better fuel efficiency; which is an understandable act. But in this endeavor what we are doing is endangering lives of people, and our own.
Since, every efficient driver knows that overtaking should be a swift, fluid action. Imagine you drive a car with engine capacity of 1200cc and it runs in fifth gear at 1800rpm for an average speed of 70kmph; again this is dependent on the type of vehicle you drive. The torque and power characteristics of an engine can be understood while driving or refer to the manual of your vehicle and observe the tachometer. Ideal shift point would be somewhere around 2500 rpm which offers decent pull and also better fuel economy. Shift from first to second gear can be done after one cars length. I digress so 70kmph at 1800rpm imagine you need to overtake a slow moving truck/car/trolley/bus on the highway: we usually drive in the top gear and press on the gas pedal which in turn makes the overtaking move unsafe, long and straining on the engine too. In lieu of this technique try this-- shift into a gear lower than the current gear; that is fourth gear in our example, and blip the throttle, match the revs and overtake. This would result in an overtaking maneuver which is fast, safe and efficient as well.
Blipping the throttle is-- shift into a lower gear, gently tap on the gas to raise the revs and then let out the clutch as normally you'd do. However, do keep in mind shifting to a gear way lower than the rpm range might stall your engine. And if you don't match the revs while downshifting then it might result in engine braking, which slows down the car a bit. So, if done properly this whole act of downshift-blipping the throttle-matching revs technique can be whole lot of fun.
While on the bike though optimal safety precautions and driving conditions should be kept in mind as you might end up locking the rear wheel when downshifting.
My two cents of advice: Downshift and overtake; unless you drive an Audi R8 V10 which drives better in any gear.
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