I was heading home from work this evening with my co-worker riding with and just as I was rounding the ramp to get on I-70 in downtown Indy I picked up a jagged 3" long piece of scrap metal in my rear tire. It instantly punctured the tire and cut a 2" gash in the center of the tread, staying in the tire. I instantly heard a pop like the tire had ruptured and then a clicking noise. At first I thought something broke on the rear of the bike because I noticed my buddy behind in the rear view dodged to one side as if to avoid something that may have come off my bike. 

At the top of the ramp in a relatively safe location I pulled over to look over the rear of the bike. To my amazement there was a large chunk of metal scrap sticking out of my tire and the tire was completely deflated. At first I thought it would be impossible to ride, but I decided I had to get off the freeway; extremely congested area of downtown interstate and not safe at all. I decided to try riding about a half mile to the next exit slowly along the shoulder. To my complete surprise the totally flat E3 was somewhat stable at about fifteen mph and my friend confirmed that the rim was nowhere close to hitting pavement. 

At the bottom of the ramp we stopped and discussed the options. I decided I would continue to carefully and slowly ride on to one of our plant sites a couple blocks away where I could park the bike in secure parking while I looked into repair options. Falcone Powersports is the closest dealer to the location where I parked so I gave them a call to see if they would be around long enough for me to get the bike to them. It was 25 minutes till closing time for the dealer but I was very pleased when the service rep told me that they would stay until I got there and if I couldn't ride it in they could send a truck out to pick me up. What outstanding customer service!

I told the lady I would attempt to "lemp" the bike in, and if I felt like I couldn't do it safely or without damaging my rim I would call back and have them send the truck. 

Now here's the good part: The two of us headed toward the dealer in the shortest direction with me in front and him watching the bike and tire for trouble. We were riding right through downtown Indy at rush hour to the location of the dealership which is about one mile east of Indianapolis Motor Speedway on 16th street. Within a few blocks I had realized the tire felt extremely stable even at 30 mph and I was pretty much riding normal, going very easy on the turns, but normal without issue for about 10 miles to the dealership! My buddy was amazed that as he was following he could barely tell the tire was flat by the way the bike was handling. At each stop light he looked very carefully for signs of damage or serious tire deterioration and kept saying, "It looks normal".

When we arrived at the dealership the service folks were waiting with the overhead door open to the service area with big smiles as I rode up. They said they were surprised we had made it so fast. And they couldn't believe how well the tire held up with such a large cut in it.  They said they should have me back on the road tomorrow. 

Long story short, I think if you are on E3s and have a flat on the rear you don't have anything to worry about. You could safely ride at a leisurely pace for quite a distance to get to an exit or service facility, even if the tire is completely flat, without damaging the rim. My buddy and I were totally amazed. 

And a special thanks to the folks at Falcone Powersports for staying late to make sure I got there safely and the bike in the shop and secure and ready for repair in the morning.