a friend of mine had a 750GT and almost at the end of the main straight of Adelaide International Raceway, it went clunk and stopped producing power. She coasted to a stop, and then another bike stopped next to her. She looked at the rider, who was covered in oil and metalflake, and said, what happened to you? He said, look down, what's happened to your engine? Of the the front cylinder, there was little sign: just some bolts holding the head, and a bent con-rod poking out of a now-ruined case.
They sounded fantastic but were hand grenades. When I switched to Kawasakis, I was very grateful for their bulletproof motors.