I just received bad news this afternoon - I have a broken engine block. About 20 October 2006, I dropped my 2006 VFR on its right side. In my brother's driveway, while I wasn't even moving, my right boot slipped causing me to drop the bike onto its right side. The frame slider broke my right leg and I now have a titanium rod and 5 screws in it. To reduce the liklihood of being injured again in case I drop the bike again (which of course shouldn't happen), I decided to replace the frame sliders with ones that mount farther forward. The left one required a modified water bottle, which was provide by the frame slider manufacturer. When removing the old frame sliders, the dealer found that the impact from dropping the bike cracked the engine block. One wouldn't expect that from a simple drop, but it happened. I suggest not using frame sliders which mount just forward of the rider's legs, but to use only frame sliders which mount farther forward and require a modified water bottle. Their design is such that they wouldn't apply so much force the the engine block. The service salesman thinks that the impact to the engine block would have been less if the bike had been moving. However, those of us who have a good understanding of physics can readily see that the impact in line with the mounting bolt would be the same whether the bike is moving or not.
