Hey guys.  Haven't been here in a while.  Been crazy busy.  In that hecticness I backed out of my garage, turned my new GS500F on the driveway and it just kept leanign farther and farther down the driveway till it slowly but surely went to the ground!  *sigh*  I don't believe anyone can lay down a bike as gently as I did...but it still broke the clutch lever and I coulnd't ride it.  Luckily I was able to push it back into the garage and take my car instead.  My qeustion is...How can I make sure that the levers don't break if it were to fall again?  If I was in the middle of nowhere and someone accidentally knocked my bike over in the parking lot, it would majorly suck to not be able to ride it home cuz the clutch lever broke again.  I can't even start the bike without the lever.  Any of you do the same thing?  How do you keep either levers from breaking?

Quote from: baldwinHey guys.  Haven't been here in a while.  Been crazy busy.  In that hecticness I backed out of my garage, turned my new GS500F on the driveway and it just kept leanign farther and farther down the driveway till it slowly but surely went to the ground!  *sigh*  I don't believe anyone can lay down a bike as gently as I did...but it still broke the clutch lever and I coulnd't ride it.  Luckily I was able to push it back into the garage and take my car instead.  My qeustion is...How can I make sure that the levers don't break if it were to fall again?  If I was in the middle of nowhere and someone accidentally knocked my bike over in the parking lot, it would majorly suck to not be able to ride it home cuz the clutch lever broke again.  I can't even start the bike without the lever.  Any of you do the same thing?  How do you keep either levers from breaking?

Keep a spare under your seat?  :dunno:

When I droped it on the left side it didn't break, but when I crashed it did. I think it just has to do with the angle it lands on.

if the levers get at all damaged you should usually replace them, especially when that ball grinds off. that ball protects your hands from being completely impaled on crash. i'm picturing a clutch lever through my left hand, and it's not pretty.

i suppose the best way to prevent ever worrying about your levers is carrying a second set.
you can start it if you bypass the need for the clutch to be in, but it'd be kinda worthless anyways.

There are bark busters for dirt bikes and they make foldable levers but are $$$. Like Meg said having a spare is the most economical way.

i have a friend that scores his levers right by the ball, so that if they drop, the ball busts off and leaves the lever in tact (at least that's the plan), so it should be ridable until he gets a new one.  of course, as stated, the ball on the end is important, but i'd rather miss that for a few miles than not be able to ride it at all and have to push.

Even with extended bar ends there is a good chance of busting a lever, it's just something we have to get used to. If you break the ball off and it is usable, replace asap as the ball is not there to stop your hand slipping off or as a grip aid. It is there to stop the lever impaling flesh in a crash. Yours or someone elses, best avoided.

I keep a spare clutch lever wedged right behind the battery box, between the fender and rear brake resivior; ball end down.

Thanks guys.  Those are good advices.  I never knew about the ball at the end.   I thik the spare ones are a good idea.

Anyone know about Frame Sliders for the new 500F?

I was in Cycle Gear the other day and they were selling levers with a hinge in the joint that allows it to bend backwards.  They were almost $90 though, too pricey for me.  I just checked their web site and I don't find them there either; but next time you're in Cycle Gear, look under the glass at the register.  That's where I usually see them.

In the bicycle world, a common trick is to keep the levers loose enough that you can "bang' them out of alignment, but not so loose that they twist when you don't want 'em to.

Common rookie bike wrench mistake is to crank the heck out of the bolts which attach the levers.  Which, if it doesn't ruin the bolt heads, means that the levers get bent when the rider crashes.

Then again, my GS is a helluva lot heavier than any bike I've ridden, and so it's got a little more momentum on the way down.  

Don't trouble yourself with what-if's.  There's a lot of things someone could do to your bike while parked that would force you to walk home or call for assistance.   :x   Just gotta roll with it and have a little faith in your fellow humans, and in probability.

 better to protect hands than levers.......  with $$$ gloves

had one lever pice in my arm.......its more than pain in the a$$