The FZ1 and I recently tried to occupy the same time+space as a Toyota Prius but were not successful. My father used to tell me as I was strapping on my gear that I looked as if I was preparing to have myself fired from a cannon. Judging from witness descriptions of my demonstration of what happens when 800 pounds of human being and motorcycle are launched over the hood of a car, I will say this is the sole occasion I hope to be a ballistic object with a velocity other than what I can muster when jumping from the deck of a boat to the dock. Dad would have been relieved to know that the clothing and helmet worked as intended.
The crankcase cover suffered catastrophic damage as the bike skidded to a halt,
spilling the motor oil, as can be seen in the above photo (a minor environmental
disaster). Notice that the tail pipe was torn from the bike. The fire engine depicts part of the official response, which also included an ambulance and the State Patrol. Although I was deposited
a fair distance down the road from where I had parted company with the Yamaha, I took a favorable bounce and am thankful that the necessary ride in
the ambulance to the emergency room was to accommodate a knee that suffered abuse and not anything worse.
Update October 10, 2014
My knee has been surgically repaired and is returning to full strength, and I was able to ride my FJR for the first time today since I fell down and went boom.
The FZ1 is nearly ready to be started; I am waiting for some back‐ordered parts. Once I determine that it will start (which I expect
it to do without complaint), I will decide how much of the cosmetic damage to repair.