Permission to come aboard?

Just to prove that motorcycle journalism isn't always fun and games, the French journalist Laurent Cochet, from Moto Journal magazine, suffered a freak accident while road-testing the 2013 Yamaha FJR 1300. Whilst riding at walking pace on the port of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, in France, one of the bike's side panniers snagged a bollard, which projected the bike and its somewhat startled rider into the drink. Fortunately, the bike landed on one of the pleeasure port's walkways, while Cochet landed aboard a yacht moored alongside it. Despite the spectacular nature of the crash (see video below), the Gallic journo only suffered a badly sprained thumb, although I guess that the bike will be declared a write-off. Get well soon, Laurent!

P.S. At The Thruxtonian we'd love to see a copy of the accident statement: we're sure that it would make for some pretty comic reading!

Video footage © Moto Journal