Good advice here
In the past I've dropped my Honda ST1300 (twice), and my GTR1400 (once)
Haven't dropped the TT yet, and hopefully never will
I've installed the crash bars last year, just before a european trip. I thought that if the bike goes down, I want to minimise the damage as much as possible, especially when I'm thousands of miles away from home
The best advise I had was from a off-road trainer: on bends and when slow riding, always had off the front brake, completely off, to avoid grabbing it too quickly in a panic situation
I found that with heavy bikes such as the TT, the best way to manoeuvre it at slow speed is to:
shift your body to the front;
both feet on the pegs, even on right hand manoeuvres;
grab the tank with your knees tight (this is the most important);
tip torso slightly forward in order to bend arms;
hold your weight with your back, not your arms;
heavy on the back brake;
keep arms light on the handlebars, as relaxed as possible
This technique allows me to run very tight turns at full lock at very low speed, maintaining the bike upright without leaning
Of course, in your case, the bike popping in to neutral during the maneuver is just very bad luck, and I don't think you could have done much to save it
Glad the damage is not too bad