Would it be a design flaw if a rock chipped your nearly $400 headlight assembly? What about any other part of the bike? These are road machines, and there are things on the road that are not predictable or preventable. I've put about 3K mi on my bike, and I don't even have a ding on my radiator. What you have there is a case of bad luck, and it sucks, but it is hardly a design flaw.

I had a similar thing happen to the hood of a nearly brand new car one time...stuff happens.

 

Yep, just got mine and plan to get a radiator guard. Funny thing. The 07 Honda Odyssey minivan had people coming in often and PAYING for a a/c condensor due to rock damage. Mysteriously, Honda put a grille down there from 08 on.

 

looks like they learned from the prior mistake, which they never would have if someone didn't mention it as a concern as i did. Hopefully the added the radiator protector in the 09 or 10 models. my brothers 07 gsxr 1k has a plastic guard protecting his.

I understand this is a race bike and i dont hate my bike because of the radiator issue and im not complaining about, just simply asked if this had been brought up before as an issue.