Originally Posted by
carpediemracing
Handlebars, understood. That's a critical part of your control center if you will, front wheel and bars. Question is were you ready for the impact? Although the other rider initiated contact it's also on you to be prepared for contact. For example say (theoretically) someone squeezed that outside rider into you? Same situation, slightly different cause. Would you have been able to save yourself?
this also has me thinking about target fixation. did the OP see the rider and look at the rider on the left make contact? if so, that could cause the OP to veer slightly left as he fixated on the target (going where you look) as opposed to if the OP didn't see the rider passing. it happens a lot in races when people look back or look at a crash that is happening. also, any motorcyclist should also know what i'm talking about as this is a very common occurrence that takes practice to properly overcome or even be aware of as it's happening.