John,

Sorry to hear about your crash. All the best for a speedy recovery.
No matter what you ride, accidents happen.

When I was a youngster of 17 I crashed for the first time on my 12
speed racer. I'd never fallen off of my bike before in my years of
riding, training and racing. I can remember that I was more surprised
than hurt.

I was coming home from an errand to the store. It was evening and I
didn't have a light (hey, it was my racing bike - I didn't have a
kick stand either). Steering with one hand and a bag in the other, I
didn't see the pothole on the street. I hit it and lost control. I
was down on the ground with a thump, but only suffered minor
scrapes. My bike had some torn handlebar tape, and a bent and
scraped brake lever. I remember that really burned me up because they
were new "aero" levers (it was the '80s) with black anodizing. Now
one didn't look so sharp and I couldn't afford to replace it. That
incident still stays with me because I thought I was too good of a
rider to fall. A bit of carelessness on a milk run in the evening set
me straight about that.

Fast forward to last summer and I had a minor incident on my Bentech.
Kissed the edge of the curb with the front wheel and lost control. It
wasn't a crash as such, since I was able to get my feet down and stop
myself from falling, but the bike leaned over and with my hands still
on the underseat handlebar, I did a good job in tearing up the back
of my fingers on the curb. I usually ride with full fingered, warm
weather weight (light fabric, leather palm), motorcycle gloves but I
left the house without them that day. Another lesson was learned -
Unless I know in advance when I'll crash (Um, that would be never), I
wear the helmet and gloves I spent my hard earned money on every time
I ride. I would never think of riding my motorcycle without proper
attire, I don't know why I didn't turn around and get my gloves that
day, but I didn't.

I'm sure that anyone who has spent significant time on two wheels can
tell you a war story, but the main point is that accidents happen. We
manage the risks of riding, but we can't elmimate the risks.

John, if you're second guessing your tire choice, remember, you're
only guessing. Wider tires may or may not have resulted in a crash in
your situation. Maybe you would have rolled right over the loose
metal with wider tires, maybe not. If you like the way your bike
handles with the tires you have now, then keep 'em. If you feel less
confident with your current tires, change them to 1.5" until you feel
up to the skinny ones.

Jim