So, there I as a couple of days ago, riding my Fat Bob down the road. As I approached a junction I saw that the traffic flow was very heavy and stopped to wait for a gap. About 3 to 4 seconds later a car barrelled into me from behind at about 30 mph. My bike was a total write off, but all I ended up with was a bruised knee and a slight graze on my shin.
Fortunately the driver of the car was insured and admitted full liability to everyone present including the police. The excuse the car driver gave was incredible, 'I saw you, but I thought you wasn't there'! Unbelievable.
It's not all bad, I'm getting a new Harley at his expense.
The question I have for anybody who's stayed with this is, did the build quality of my bike save me from serious injury or worse? Something similar happened to a non-Harley riding friend of mine who was not so lucky, though he's well now.

 

A big heavy Harley might help in a situation like that but I think luck plays a bigger part. I have about got rear ended like that 2 time and it scares the $hit out of me.

 

I think it's a flip of the coin on that one.

Do I think Harley's are generally better build/material quality...yes, it's part of why they cost more than most brands (well that, and probably a bit of greed (markup is unreal))

There are just to many factors to definitively say you were more or less saved the same degree of injury as your buddy, just because of the make of the bike you were on.

Since you were involved in an accident anyway, I'm glad you came out of it ok.

 

Wow, glad you're okay!!!

IMO there's not nearly enough details about your incident to say if you were safer because you were on a harley... honestly, even if there was a great quality video of the whole thing it might be difficult to say that with any kind of confidence.

Just too many variables... how were you sitting on the bike? what angle did the car hit the bike? what kind of material (pavement) did you land on? What kind of equipment were you wearing? etc, etc etc

 

I had both feet down and the car hit me square on and I landed on a paved road.
I was wearing a helmet, heavy leather jacket and gloves, heavy jeans and boots. Amazingly, there was absolutely no damage to any part of my riding gear. I have no idea how that happened.

 

Wtf!? That's actually quite comical. Glad you're ok.

 

Wow! What an EXCUSE..."I thought you were a mirage!"

Glad that you're okay and getting a new bike too. I had a woman rear end me in June. But she just bumped into me. $6500 damage and a few scrapes.

 

I think he was referring to an issue of perception. In addition to natural depth perception,drivers also evaluate distance by the width of the vehicle, usually a car. When you have a much narrower motorcycle, they perceive it as being farther away.

This is not an excuse. My guess is that he has no depth perception, and relies solely on the width evaluation (in which case he shouldn't be driving at all), he was in too much of a hurry to give his full attention, or he was driving distracted.

 

I think he was referring to an issue of perception. In addition to natural depth perception,drivers also evaluate distance by the width of the vehicle, usually a car. When you have a much narrower motorcycle, they perceive it as being farther away.

This is not an excuse. My guess is that he has no depth perception, and relies solely on the width evaluation (in which case he shouldn't be driving at all), he was in too much of a hurry to give his full attention, or he was driving distracted.

 

The best way to reduce your safety is to think you are safe.