I just dropped my '04 599 for the first time :(. I was going about 1mph releasing the clutch on an uphill right turn when it stalled on me. I tried to put my feet down to catch it but I couldn't hold her, and had to set her down. Besides the drop being embarrassing, I couldn't lift it up. Someone stopped to help me lift it up. I inspected the damage--surprisingly little. Loose mirrors, scratched engine cover and front brake lever. I think the the engine was flooded but I managed to get it started after a bunch of tries.

No personal injuries, just a bruised ego.

Does anyone have tips for avoiding such goofs? What's the best thing to do if your bike stalls while you're making a turn?

Had that accident with my first bike, a beautiful VF500F.

The best advice is to practice clutch control enough not to stall in the first place. I stopped riding for awhile after my incident, because I realized that I wasn't controlling the bike well and I kept imagining losing control like that in worse situations. It was a mistake to stay off the horse for so long, but I'm also a far better rider because of it.

That was the exact situation i had with my 919...i dropped it once in exactly that manner. The only fall i've ever had...so far. :wink: I was able to let it down slow (couldn't catch it completely) and only had a small scratch on the rear and small scrape on the engine cover. Someone stopped to help me pick it up, but i already had it up by then...

Just...practice. And adjust your clutch lever if you have to so there's no slack 'dead zone' and do the same with your throttle. My problem was the throttle was too loose and i wasn't giving it enough gas before i let out the clutch.

I'm feelin' ya, brother. I've seen it done, and I've done it myself. Got the [bike] scars to show for it.

I'm with jmd on the clutch adjustment theory. After I pulled some slack out of mine, my shifts are smoother and less "jerky," and I "sense the stall" much less often.

Good luck with it.

Thanks for the tips guys. I feel a little better knowing I'm not alone having done this. As far as the front brake lever being bent, should I just replace it or try to bend it back? Also, I'm not 100% sure if my rear brake lever is bent or if I'm just being paranoid...are there any closeup pics of what the 599's rear brake lever is supposed to look like so I can double check?

I goofed one time on my last bike. It was a 1983 Suzuki GS 650 G. The Suzuki weighs almost 100 pounds more than a 599. I parked on the side of the road one day to stop and help a turtle get across the road. The angle of the hill I had stopped at left my bike sitting STRAIGHT UP even though I had it on its sidestand. I saw a car coming so I picked up the turtle and ran back to my bike and hopped on it just as the car was passing us. THE BIKE FELL OVER we me still on it! It was on its side at a downhill angle. They had to stop and help me pick it up. It was flooded and THEY had to tell me how to get it started! And the bike CRUSHED THE TURTLE!!!

Whatever you do, do NOT try to bend back your front brake lever. It will snap off every time. Or if by some miracle it doesn't, it is weakened to the point that any little thing (like pulling on it too hard) would probably finish it off. Just leave it alone until you can replace it. Take my word on this...i've done it myself and one of my friends did the same thing.

Usually, if the rear lever isn't hitting anything and still works properly, will probably be ok. My first bike had a bent rear brake lever the whole time i owned it and i never had any problems. I've never tried to bend one of these back, but i've heard it being done without too many problems (unlike the front brake lever).

And robkb..that's one sucky story. Looks like everyone got the butt end of that one... :roll: :wink:

:nerd Yeah, I'm a nerd.

I parked on the side of the road one day to stop and help a turtle get across the road.

No good deed goes unpunished. Sad story Rob.

Even tho your incident occured while going uphill, my advice would be to go to an empty parking lot and practice your U-turns and figure 8's. Doing these at appropriately low speeds will help you get familiarized with the friction zone/throttle control and balance.

Sportrider.com has an excellent rider skills series and an article on U-turns here:
www.sportrider.com/ride/146_9512_motorcycle_u_turns/index.html (http://www.sportrider.com/ride/146_9512_motorcycle_u_turns/index.html)

Here's a snippet from the article:

This rider is using a respectable amount of lean angle and has turned the bars to full lock. In order to ensure that the bike does not stall, it's helpful to modulate the clutch in the friction zone (i.e., slipping the clutch to a small degree). Turn the bike quickly, getting the majority of your weight on the outside footpeg; if the bike starts to fall in too quickly, the lean angle can be arrested with throttle application or by simply dabbing your inside foot. Make sure and look through the turn; this rider is not even looking at the front of the motorcycle, instead fixing his eyes on where he wants to be next.

And the bike CRUSHED THE TURTLE!!!
poor little guy :( . man, that's quite an unfortunate series of events.

Looking back, I think I might have even picked him up and carried him back to the side of the road he had started from...

Robkb...that last detail makes this sounds like a great film short. See if you can find some film student to do it.

I almost had an uphill turn stall fall once..I wasn't paying attention to the road and it went from flat to steep uphill turn and I was in too tall a gear and brain farted and upshifted instead of down. I realized it but by the time I down shifted I pretty much came to a halt and almost tipped the bike over when the motor stalled out. Boy did I feel like a goof. I was sitting there facing up a steep angle starting up the bike and trying not to stall cause of the steep angle and new to me bike that I wasn't used to.

On a side note I once saved a turtle from getting run over in front of my folks place. They live on a major street here in San Jose. What still puzzles me today is that I never figured out how the turtle got there in the middle of all these houses in a concrete environment. The nearest place that it could of come from was the creek half a mile away and it had to travel around several blocks to get there.

I read don't know where I read about using the rear brake in uphills. I do it like this and it helps a bit. But the only answer is practice.