Getting a flat tire in an automobile is aggravating enough. But on motorcycles, flat tires are a lot scarier, more troublesome to repair and can easily lead to serious harm for the motorcycle's operator. No wonder riders dread them so much.

Rhino Tire, a New York-based company, with a distributor in Singapore is out to assuage those fears with a patented 'Rhinotire' tire treatment claimed to seal punctures immediately after they occur. The treatment involves a special adhesive polymer gel that is first sprayed and then baked on all around the inner circumference of the tire. The gel remains tacky after application so it can migrate into and seal any puncture holes.

Rhino Tire will either sell you brand-new tires of most popular brands and sizes that have already been treated or apply the gel to your tires.

A video released by Rhino Tire in which a Honda CBR1000RR is repeatedly ridden over a nail-infested wooden plant and shows no apparent air leakage afterward.

The all-new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R race bike has been unveiled to the international press at the Nürburgring racetrack, in advance of the full launch of the production machine in early October. The new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R race bike has been eagerly anticipated by everyone involved in the Superbike racing project for a while now and therefore the Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team are extremely keen to get started with the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.

Steve Guttridge, the Race Planning Manager from Kawasaki Motors Europe, said of the new bike and the timing of the ‘sneak preview’ of the racebike version of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, “The new race bike has been eagerly anticipated by everyone involved in the Superbike racing project for a while now. The PBM team have evolved and restructured continuously in order to be in a position to utilize the new bike's potential to the maximum next season. As you can imagine the Paul Bird team are ultra keen to get started with it and so who better than the team itself to help us show the first edition of the race version of it here at the Nürburgring?”

Ichiro Yoda, the Kawasaki Project Director, confirmed that racing is at the heart of the new machine’s DNA. “We have started development this bike with slick tyres and racing spec engine. This is a quite different procedure than previous models.”

Sometimes I ride like a fool. I do it on purpose. I know I'm riding like a bitch – usual during my daily commute – and I don't care. I just laugh and carry on. Before I go on any further I should define 'bitch'. I ride to annoy cars basically. I ride to make sure that cars know I'm on the road with them and I make sure that they know how much 'better' a motorcycle is than the proxy metal box they're sat in is.

I hope – perhaps misguidedly – that they'll realize that being sat in a car is an epic queue of rush hour, traffic is dumb. I ride to make them jump, I ride to get them to think 'Jesus! Where did he come from ?!' Obviously I take greater delight in 'buzzing' drivers using their mobile phones, since it seems to increase the surprise factor. Anyone tried just staring at a driver stuck in a queue of traffic while they're on the phone? That's a laugh as well – and iridium visor for that 'Robocop look increasingly uneasy.

Currently one of the biggest rumors in the Asian motorcycle community is the possible KTM 125 Duke, the KTM 125 Duke was first shown to the public during the EICMA 2009 motorshow in Milan. KTM is best known for it motocross and off-road style motorcycles, over the years KTM has introduced more road going motorcycles and the KTM 125 Duke, which seems to be sharing a lot of style features of the 2011 KTM 690 Duke.

KTM's business continues to go from strength to strength, with some brilliant new motorcycle models. Despite the global financial crisis holding the motorcycle industry in a tight death grip, KTM has reported healthy financial figures for the third quarter operating results 2009/10. This is a remarkable turnaround for a company who had its worst ever operating year 2008-2009, resulting in production line closure, staff lay-offs and Bajaj Auto Ltd of India, one of the world’s biggest motorcycle producers, becoming a KTM shareholder.

The orange Austrians are no strangers to 125c road machines. On the first of May, 1955, just two years after the founding of KTM, two 125cc KTM's roared their way to victory and second place in the international Rupert Hollaus Memorial Race on the Salzburg Autobahn. So even before KTM's off-road successes, the road motorcycles from upper Austria were already out there and winning. Nearly Fifty-five year later, the decision was finally made in Mattighofen to design and built two new 125cc road going motorcycles.

Jorge Lorenzo finished third at Indianapolis today and Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi fourth in a punishing hot race won by Dani Pedrosa. Tech 3 Yamaha and future Factory Team rider Ben Spies finished second, his best result so far in his rookie MotoGP season.

Lorenzo dropped three places on his grid position at the start and finished the first lap in fifth with his team-mate close behind. On lap three of 28 the championship leader made it past home favorite Nicky Hayden and he set off in pursuit of Andrea Dovizioso, arriving within striking distance by the eighth lap. The Italian did not make it easy for Lorenzo however and it took the Mallorcan several more laps to pass him, which he did on the brakes into turn one on lap 12. By that time Spies was too far ahead for Lorenzo to make much headway on second place so he settled for third and 16 points to add to his already hefty season tally.

Rossi meanwhile had jumped from seventh to fifth at the start and looked more comfortable on the bike than he had all weekend, during which he had struggled for grip and rhythm. On the fourth lap he overtook Nicky Hayden and settled in fifth, a few tenths off the Lorenzo-Dovizioso battle. Once Lorenzo was past Dovizioso, the World Champion too began to close down his compatriot and with eight laps remaining he passed him for fourth place. By then however his lack of fitness following his injury had caught up with him in the searing heat and he was unable to push any more, coming home some six seconds behind his team-mate.

Just when everybody had the idea that two-strokes would never pass modern exhaust emission standard Cagiva introduced the Mito SP 525. With the Cagiva Mito SP 525, Cagiva has managed to produce a 125cc two-stroke that meets the Euro III environment exhaust emission standard and that's no mean achievement.

The integrated ECS (Electronic Carburetion System) administers exactly the right amount of air, petrol and two-stroke oil mix and was developed in collaboration with Dell'Orto. The electronic control unit also governs the ignition system, the system works similar to how a fuel-injection with ECU system works on a four-stroke engine.

In case you wonder why Bridgestone felt the need to abandon the Battlax BT-021 tire and present a successor, the answer is really simple. It wasn't a bad tire, but the competition has improved a lot over the past two years. Dunlop launched the Dunlop Roadsmart, Michelin the Pilot Road 2 and Metzeler cam up with a brand-new Roadtec. And, in most comparison tests, the Bridgestone Battlax BT-021 usually didn't come first.

Bad tests mean bad sales. It must have hurt, too, especially since the sports-touring tire segment is the most important tire these days. Apart from dirtbikes and scooters, sports-touring tires are an option for practically all motorcycles. Light, budget motorcycles perform so well, they can benefit from sports-touring tires. And the other way around, sports-touring tires offer so much grip and handle so well, many super- and hypersports riders prefer them to the real hypersports tires.

For those who mostly ride their motorcycles on the street, grip is sufficient and durability is so much better that is is the only sensible option. And, of course, the ever-growing group of touring riders need them too, as touring motorcycles have evolved into fast, agile transporters. And they really do distances, so they buy a lot of tires: in Europe, about 30 percent of all tires sold are sports-touring tires. So can you blame Bridgestone for trying to stay the number-one tire company in the market section where most of the money is.

Still, it must have been a tough job to improve the Battlax BT-021 tire, as it is already contained most of Bridgestone's top technologies. It had, for instance, the so-called 'Mono-Spiral Belt' (MS belt). Usually, the radial belt was made from a mat, cut to size and wrapped around the carcass with a small overlap. At that overlap, there would be a stiff spot, disturbing the balance and the continuity of the tire properties. The Bridgestone MS belt is not a mat but a very long card, wound around the circumference of the tire.

The first free practice of the Indianapolis Grand Prix weekend was run in blazing sunshine at the Motor Speedway today, with Fiat Yamaha Team riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi finishing the day in second and fifth positions. The fastest time of the day was set by Casey Stoner, just two tenths ahead of Lorenzo.

Last year's race winner Lorenzo felt confident from the outset and was at the top of the time sheets for three quarters of the session before Stoner just edged him out. The young Spaniard made some subtle tweaks to his setting to better suit the flat nature of this track and also had time to try both Bridgestone race tyres, about which he already feels confident of his direction for Sunday.

Rossi struggled a little more today, lacking grip on the bumpy surface and lacking pace as a result. He and his team will make a detailed examination of the data tonight to try to find a way to improve their setting so they are in a position to challenge for the front row in tomorrow afternoon's qualifying session.

Both Fiat Yamaha riders are once again running the special 'Fiat 500' livery that was showcased in Laguna Seca earlier this season. The livery celebrates the forthcoming launch of the Fiat 500 in the United States and features the smiling faces of 500 Rossi and Lorenzo fans on each bike.

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd is delighted to announce that current Yamaha Tech 3 rider Ben Spies will move to the Factory Team for the 2011 MotoGP season.

The 26-year-old American, who won the World Superbike Championship with Yamaha in 2009, is enjoying an impressive first season in MotoGP. He is currently the leading rookie and the top satellite rider, lying seventh in the championship. “We’re delighted that Ben will join the Factory Team for next season,” said Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing. “Ben has shown great promise in his first ten MotoGP races. He has learnt rapidly and recorded strong results, including a well-deserved podium finish at Silverstone – impressive for someone in their first full season.

“We believe that Ben will be a future title contender and that he will be a good fit with our team. His mission next year will be to continue learning, consistently challenge for podium places and try to win some races. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Herve Poncharal and the Tech 3 Team for taking care of Ben this season and for giving him such good training for the years ahead. I hope that he will repay them by getting some more podium results in the second half of this season and helping them to secure top satellite team status at the end of this year.”

The KTM RC8 R with less orange paint then it's 47cc smaller brother the RC8. We were more than willing to test the 1195cc, 167 horsepower 75 degree V-twin KTM. The RC8's equipped with an honest, flexible engine with plenty of midrange. It matched Ducati's 1098 on peak power but, with less top-end rush, didn't feel as fast. The 'R' is the extra 47cc, accomplice by wider bores, plus new, high compression pistons and more aggressive camshafts completely alter the riding characteristics of the KTM RC8 R compared to the RC8.

The KTM RC8 R is now a beast, with amazing acceleration at any throttle opening and a stunning top end in the last few mm of the throttle twist. KTM claims 167 horsepower,; for me it feels less, anyway it's enough engine power to keep other 1000cc class motorcycles in sight.

The delivery is so explosive it makes controlling the KTM RC8 R tricky in the rain. Other riders complain of a mid-rev glitch which I didn't notice, but I certainly notice a sharp throttle pick-up which takes concentration to keep smooth, it feels like the KTM RC8 R's throttle response hasn't improved at all. Then I try the 'street' throttle, not the 'race' throttle which is fitted as standard – it's an alternative, mechanical way of shaping power delivery. Instead of electronic power delivery shaping or switchable power maps as you could find on other 1000cc class motorcycle, the KTM RC8 R comes with two throttle tubes; the race throttle uses a quick-action, circular pulley which delivers linear travel while the street throttle has a cam-shaped pulley which opens at a more gentle rate.