Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter E146, the UK’s most iambically pentametered motorcycling podcast, poetically performed and produced by Martin Fitz-Gibbons and Simon Hargreaves, and perennially supported by Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and www.bikesocial.co.uk, the happeningiest place to go for offers, deals and square meals – if you can buy it for your bike or your riding life, you can get discounts and cool points with Bennetts BikeSocial. Fact. And on this episode of FEC we have: Bagnaia and Bastianini go big in Misano, plus a bit of wow from Aragon the week before A look at the career of Chaz Davies, who’s called WSB a day, so... see you at Darley Moor Suzuki’s new GSX-S1000 GT – is it good value or not, and should we be excited or not? Ducati’s Desert-X – a Multistrada in an off-road frock? Or an entirely new ‘middleweight’ adventure bike (we don’t invent these categories... oh, hang on, we do) Triumph’s new Tiger 1200, with a T-plane crank, and how it’ll fare against BMW’s R1250 GS – featuring the return of the Mufgulator and some educated guesses on the Tiger's actual capacity, bore x stroke, and a prediction on its power output Plus more of your thoughts, musings and questions from the FEC-sack Thanks for listening, and keep an eye out for details of the FEC800, a tour around Scotland's Greatest Hits in May 2022 and to which you are all cordially invited to ride with Simon and Martin, and drink beer in the evening. Full details on the socials:  @SimonHbikes @Mufga 

Front End Chatter

Front End Chatter #146

Hello and go away to Front End Chatter, the UK’s most motorcycling podcast featuring aural nonsense from Martin Fitz-Gibbons and Simon Hargreaves. This is episode 145, supported and nourished by Bennetts Bike Social; so much more than just bike – and now car – insurance: check out their website to discover the multifarious munificent benefits of membership. And, if you’re at all interested in Yamaha’s Tracer 9 GT v Triumph’s Tiger 900 GT Pro v BMW’s F900XR v Kawasaki’s Versys 1000 SE GT, check out the road test video at https://youtu.be/C5SJO6trgz8 Anyway, on this week’s moany, miserable-ass FEC we have: on-the-scenes goss from the British MotoGP at Silverstone, including why Mufga loved being there on Saturday and Simon hated it Dorna’s race feed going down just before the race Marquez crashing out *again* and why he’s the crashingiest rider this season Aprilia’s... we can’t call it a resurrection so let’s just call it an erection... WSB gets a mention with some fab racing from Magny Cours – and some scandalous losing more new bikes from Triumph with a teaser for the all-new Tiger 1200 and leaked shots of the new Speed Triple RR ...and the new Moto Guzzi V100 – all-new water-cooled engine, with fins, with fairly *interesting* looks... Plus the FEC sack, including: changing pads to change braking character re-setting the quickshifter on an S1000XR a touching story about becoming emotionally attached to items of bike clothing when is a tubeless tyre not a tubeless tyre? Answers please, because we don’t know... And much, much more – including more info on the first, and perhaps only, FEC Tour coming in May 2022... Thank you for listening, please keep your questions and thoughts coming in to: anything@frontedchatter.com And get us on the socials: @SimonHBikes @Mufga    

Front End Chatter #145

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter Episode 144, Britain’s – nay, the world’s – most irreverent motorcycling podcast, with Martin Fitz-Gibbons and Simon Hargreaves. Thanks as ever to Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and BikeSocial.co.uk, the world of motorcycling on the web, for their unwavering support (especially while the new wing of Chatter Manors is built).   And on this week’s episode we have: what year would Kenny Roberts Snr have retired if he’d had Rossi’s career longevity? excerpts from the Secret Diary Of Maverick Vinales, Age 14 and a half, and does he need sympathy or a stiff talking-to, or possibly both? ...but if you think Vinales’ behaviour is odd, wait until you hear what Miguel Oliveira’s been up to ...and we finally get an explanation as to why Rossi’s not come first for ages plus, the will-they/won’t-they Isle Of Wight road race saga continues ex-Norton boss Stuart Garner is in the dock Triumph’s new half-faired sporty-ish Speed Triple 1200RR... ...and Triumph’s also new Tiger 660, based on the Trident speculation about Yamaha’s sporty MT-09, the R9 can we put E10 fuel in our tanks? Mufga has the answer (for SV650s) plus your FEC sack queries and thoughts...   PLUS! A vague hint about a potentially forthcoming FECing tour of Scotland sometime next year – gauging interest, what do you think? Fancy going for a big ride with Simon and Martin, involving bikes, beer and banter? Let us know at FECtours@frontendchatter.com Thanks super so much for ears and support, please keep the FEC mails with your thoughts, queries and mad ideas coming in to anything@frontendchatter.com   Get us on the socials: @SimonHbikes @Mufga      

Front End Chatter #144

Welcome, friends, to Front End Chatter E143 – the one hundred and forty third time Martin Fitz-Gibbons and Simon Hargreaves, some-time motorcycle journalists past and present, have sat, stood and otherwise presented themselves before a pair of microphones and spoken unto them, sometimes with funny accents.  And special thanks to our sponsors and friends at Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and www.bikesocial.co.uk where you can find new bike news, racing, buying guides, used reviews, and gear guides – and don't forget their Youtube channel! And on this episode of Front End Chatter: The GOATI (Greatest Of All Time Ish) announces his retirement: not a moment too soon, or wailing and gnashing of teeth? all the spills and thrills... yes, count them... from the Styrian MotoGP, let’s call it Austria #1 between friends Aprilia’s new Tuareg 660, the third model in the popular parallel twin series, picked apart on paper if you could buy your first bike back now, would you restore it to its original condition or put it back to how you last rode it? What's the best sportsbike to buy now as an investment?  weren't the 1990s great? All this and more on FEC143. Thanks for lending us your ears, please tell your fwends about us, please keep sending us your thoughts, musings and questions to anything@frontendchatter.com and download us from www.bikesocial.co.uk  @SimonHbikes @Mufga    

Front End Chatter #143

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter E142, and right up front please accept sincere apologies for the lousy sound quality – the usual recording room at Chatter Manors has been flooded by an unfortunate incident involving a blockage in the sceptic tank and Ron, the missing handyman, who, it transpires, is in fact the blockage. Thus Simon and Martin have been forced to squeeze into the only room in Chatter Manors that isn't knee-deep in effluent – which is, ironically, the downstairs toilet complete with its unfavourable podcasting acoustics. It might have an echo but at least it's not swimming in raw sewerage. Although some might suggest the two have a lot in common.   None of this is the fault of Britain's best bike insurance specialists, Bennetts, nor indeed BikeSocial, who both are blissfully unaware of the infernal plumbing irregularities plaguing Chatter Manors. Anyway, assuming you can tolerate the infuriating slapback delay, here's what's in store on FEC this week: • Isle Of Wight Races are back on – or are they?  • Triumph's plans to race enduro and motocross  • Cal Crutchlow subs for Morbidelli at Silverstone and Austria x 2 • who's done more for motorcycling: Keanu Reeves or Tom Cruise? • when are you too old to ride an MV Agusta?  • when are brakes too good, and how do you make them worse? • why isn't more love given to Kawasaki's 2004 ZX-10R?  All this and lots more on this week's Front End Chatter, brought to you from the echo chamber. Please keep your thought, ideas, mad plans and questions coming to: anything@frontendchatter.com Get Simon and Martin on the socials @SimonHbikes @Mufga  

Front End Chatter #142

Hello and welcome to E141 of that Front End Chatter they have nowadays, spoken with words by Martin Fitz-Gibbons and Simon Hargreaves and supported, enabled and legitimised by our fwends at Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists (and yes, they will insure a Tuono!), and Bike Social, the bike club that gives you access to discounts, track days, events and competitions – as well as running the most up-to-date and informative biking website and YouTube channel, at www.bikesocial.co.uk And on this episode we have:  • how Suzuki's Hayabusa is still the go-to bike for old-school performance • how Suzuki's revamped 2021 GSX-S1000 is much, much better than the previous version • why WSB might be worth watching • how Norton are still getting it wrong • does Harley-Davidson's history of 'breakout' models bode ill for the Pan America? • are UK bikers more conformist these days? • do riders from different countries ride differently? All this and much much more! Thanks for listening, and please keep your thoughts, queries, arguments and ideas coming to anything@frontendchatter.com Get Mufga and Simon on the socials @Mufga @SimonHbikes  

Front End Chatter #141

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter Episode 140 – in which Martin Fitz-Gibbons and Simon Hargreaves (supported and nurtured by Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and www.bikesocial.co.uk, the world of biking on the web) natter at length about: the Dutch TT at Assen and very much about the future of one Maverick Vinales – and where *is* his head at? BMW’s new R1300GS and why it might not be what everyone thinks it might be news of Mufga’s SV650 renovation which sporty middleweight twin for the larger gent and costing around £8000 which regular commuter middleweight what’s the best way to park a bike upright that isn’t a paddock stand? when do you tell a mechanically incompetent friend not to touch his bike? ...and much, much more... Thanks for listening, please tell your friends and spread the FEC word, thanks again to Bennetts and www.bikesocial.co.uk – and: Send your thoughts, musings, arguments and questions to: anything@frontendchatter.com And get Simon and Mufga here on the socials:  @SimonHBikes @Mufga  

Front End Chatter #140

Hello and welcome to episode 139 of Front End Chatter, the marvellous motorcycling podcast supported and, indeed, buoyed by Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and www.bikesocial.co.uk, the world of motorcycling on the web. And on FEC this week we have: • young Fabio’s habit of getting his boobs out, and the propriety of doing it on the last laps of a MotoGP race plans to livestream the 2022 TT, plus more racing in 2023 where we stand on Ana Carrasco’s balls Simon’s latest headphone revelations Plus! more on where to your feet when you’re riding if you haven’t got a bike, are you still a biker? what would you do and where would you ride if you knew you had limited time left? are electric bikes *really* green or is it just a great big hypocrisy? And much, much more! Thanks for listening, please support Bennetts and www.bikesocial.co.uk with your patronage, email your thoughts, questions and musings to: anything@frontendchatter.com And catch us on Twitter and Insta @SimonHBikes @Mufga

Front End Chatter #139

Hello and benvenuto to Front End Chatter, Britain’s most tardy motorcycling podcast with Martin Fitz-Gibbons and Simon Hargreaves. And why not. And, lest we forget, grazie to our wonderfully benevolent benefactors Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, from who you can secure not only, some say, the most competitive insurance premiums in the business, but who also are the only bike insurers who plough so much back into motorcycling – where do you want your cash to go? Into the pockets of fat cat shareholders using retired racers as a PR stunt for an existing bike insurance broker? Or actually back into motorcycling and, full disclosure, into our pockets? Right, on Episode 138 of FEC we natter about: MotoGP from Mugello, in which the racing was overshadowed by the death of Moto3 talent Jason Dupasquier in qualifying. But the racing went ahead anyway: should it? Plus why can't Marc Marquez and Alex Rins stay upright?  we also natter about Yamaha’s R7 (we wuz rite) why southern Italy is a cool place to ride a bike why a 2021 Tracer 9 GT is a good bike to ride it on why a 2021 BMW S1000 XR maybe isn't and Simon's completely unbiased opinion of Bridgestone's new Battlax T32 sport touring tyres (cheque to the usual please Mr Stone) Plus! do we still have to deduct a Covid year of not riding from a helmet's life?  should we give Harley's Pan Am a chance? if adventure bikes are the bikes for all occasions, and we don't like scooters, what doe we think of Honda's X-ADV?  should a first-time A2-licence bike owner go for a project bike or a new/used bike - and what's the best pillion A2 bike?  All this and much more! Is this the longest FEC ever?  Many thanks again to Bennetts and www.bikesocial.co.uk, please remember to like and subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, please send your questions, queries and thoughts to anything@frontendchatter.com And please follow/get in touch on Twitter and Insta @Mufga @SimonHBikes        

Front End Chatter #138

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter Episode 137 in the long-running series of 137 so far, in which Simon H and Mufga, a pair of motorcycling outfluencers, talk about motorbikes and motorcycling – and are supported in their endeavour by the mighty Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and www.bikesocial.co.uk, the wonderful world of widing on the web. In this episode we have: MotoGP from Portugal, wherein did Marc Marquez return to the fray and managed to score more points in one race than Valentino Rossi has in the first three. And although his body may be weak, it took but a few minutes to discover the Marquez spirit is still strong. a brief summation of a first ride on KTM’s new 1290 Super Adventure S a few impressions from the first big trips on Suzuki’s 2021 Hayabusa and Mufga’s final road test (maybe for a while, maybe not) on Aprilia’s Tuono 660 how hot is too hot to ride a bike? best tourer for a six-footer with a sportsbike background? why a Kawasaki KLX230 might the answer to reliving your biking youth (if you could buy it in the UK) best sporty all-round tyres for a custom-built Suzuki SV650… …should used scrubs from racing be used on the road? …all this and much, of so much, more! Thanking you muchly for listening; please keep your thoughts, observations and questions coming in to: anything@frontendchatter.com And you get us on the socials, here: @SimonHBikes @Mufga Aye! Till the next time, whenever it is. 

Front End Chatter #137

Hello and welcome to Episode 136 of Front End Chatter, the UK's most chocolatey motorcycling podcast.  Thank you to Bennetts, the suspenders to our stockings, and www.bikesocial.co.uk, the internet's repository of all that is wise and current about motorcycling. A And in this episode Simon and Martin rattle on about:  • MotoGP is back! Two races from Qatar, a veritable oasis of human rights, and a few lefts, in the desert – where, true to current MotoGP form, there is literally and metaphorically no form book.  • Suzuki's Hayabusa gets ragged up a runway fo some speed figures, and reveals the result of its engine changes • Triumph unveil the TE-1 – their electric Speed Triple [it's not a triple - Ed] and even cynics are taking an interest [will the first test be written by Sir Alan Cathode? Hahhaahha – Ed] • and a deep dive into the FEC sack, with wide ranging questions such as: • which Scrambler is the best? • are there any bike models in which the bike with the smaller engine is better than its bigger brother? • are illegally ridden electric mountain bikes putting kids off 'proper' motorbikes?  • advice on new bikes and rubbish tyres ...and much, much more.  Thanks again to the patron saints of FEC – Bennetts and BikeSocial – and please keep you thoughts, questions, queries and musings coming to:  anything@frontendchatter.com And get Simon:  @SimonHBikes And Martin: @Mufga Laters! 

Front End Chatter #136

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, the world’s most self-deprecating motorcycling podcast in which, for the 135th time, Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons talk two wheels into a microphone. FEC is supported by Bennetts, Britain’s best bike insurance specialists, and www.bikesocial.co.uk, the web’s central repository of all the news, new bike reviews, product tests and touring info worth a read. And on this week’s FEC we have: the season hasn’t even begun yet, but MotoGP testing from Qatar has already produced a long list of winners and losers, and raised more questions than it answered: will Dovi race an Aprilia this season? when will Marc Marquez return? who will be Yamaha’s top rider? will this be Rossi’s last season? Plus we have gossip about: a potential return for the R7 name, but not as we know it when buying a crash helmet, do you get better protection the more you spend? is a KTM SUperDuke GT a better sports tourer than a Kawasaki Z1000SX or a new Yamaha Tracer 9 GT? where should we put our feet, part II what’s Moto Guzzi’s next step? is a 2021 FireBlade really a better road bike than a 2011 model? what’s the best bike for a motorcycling Rip Van Winkle? All this and more! Get it while it’s hot! Thanks for listening and please continue to fire in your emails with thoughts, musings, meanderings and mutterings to: anything@frontendhcatter.com And catch Simon and Mufga on the socials: @Mufga @SimonHBikes    

Front End Chatter #135

Hello and welcome to Episode 134 of Front End Chatter, the UK's most scatterbrained motorcycling podcast featuring the musical talents of Martin 'Maverick Not Vinales' Fitz-Gibbons and Simon 'Iceberg Lettuce' Hargreaves. Apparently it's the seventh anniversary of Front End Chatter. Happy birthday to us.   We are enabled and besotted with Bennetts, the Bike Insurance specialists – yes, ask them nicely and they'll do their best to help, as proven by Mufga – and www.bikesocial.co.uk, the world of motorcycling on the web.  And on this week's episode we chatter about:  • which bikes from the 1990s Performance Bikes archives did *exactly* 134.0mph? • Harley-Davidson's Pan Am adventure bike and what we can glean from the – let's not be coy – frankly amazing spec. Is it too good to be true? And is it ugly or good-looking?  • the return of Buell, which probably isn't actually • Keanu Reeves' virtual sex • Suzuki's Hayabusa, with an explanation by Suzuki as to why it makes less power – and does it matter?  • will the battery-swapping tie-up between Honda, Yamaha, KTM and Piaggio make any difference to the acceptance of electric bikes? • what's the best road to the West Coast of Scotland? • what bike from the last ten years will go to be collectable in the next ten?  All this and much, much more. Thanks for listening and continuing to support the podcast with your magnificent ears, we really do appreciate it. Please keep your thoughts, queries, questions and musings coming to: anything@frontendchatter.com ...and please download from www.bikesocial.co.uk if you can.  Find Simon and Martin on the socials:  @SimonHBikes @Mufga

Front End Chatter #134

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain’s most pancake-powered biking podcast, with Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons, Britain’s most pancaked motorcycle journalists. And Front End Chatter is, as ever, made from the plain flour and two eggs of Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and www.bikesocial.co.uk, the world’s most comprehensive motorcycling website. And on this episode of Front End Chatter we have: how do you like your pancakes? full details of Suzuki’s 2021 Hayabusa, including some thinking behind that headline power deficit over the old bike… Martin’s new bike – what’s he got and why’s he got it? how cool would an adventure bike rally-cross race at the Isle of Man be? how will a proposed naked superbike class effect the prospects of up-and-coming young riders on an international stage? wouldn’t it be cool if Triumph lay on a Speed Triple one-make series to promote the new bike? the pros and cons of the Rekluse auto clutch system fuelling and throttle snatch – why, oh why does it exist? why is fuel injection less efficient than carbs? … all this and much more chattering! Thanks for listening and supporting the pod, and please keep your emails and questions coming to: anything@frontendchatter.com And catch us on the socials: @SimonHBikes @Mufga    

Front End Chatter #133

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, and episode 132 of the long funning ramily drama in which ranty old seadog Simon Hargreaves (played by Oliver Reed, in his final screen role), rattling around alone in the east wing of Chatter Manors, is faced with moral bankruptcy and can only be saved by the intervention of the saintly Martin Fitz-Gibbons (played by Peter O’Toole in his final screen role). Together they form an unlikely alliance with Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists (played by Alan Bennett, in his final screen role) and www.bikesocial.co.uk, the world of biking on the web (played by Meryl Strepsil, in her final screen role). And there are some motorbikes in all this, in case you’re new round here. And in this episode, Simon and Martin chatter about: a new Suzuki Hayabusa they know nothing about, but which you, by now, do – was we right or was we right? Triumph’s new and rather impressively spec’d Speed Trip KTM’s updated but also impressive 1290 Super Adventure with rude tyres Are BMW really not going to bike shows any more? And in the FEC sack, we have topics as varied as: how to secure your helmet to your bike when going walkabout how to ride over potholes and bumps (at speed) what do electric bikes have to achieve to find widespread acceptance? what makes a bike exceed expectations? what’s the Five Nations Tour? when is a Vyrus not a virus? ...and much, much more... Thank you for downloading and listening, and sending your thoughts, ideas and questions to: anything@frontendchatter.com And thanks to Bennetts and BikeSocial for continued support! Get Simon and Martin on the socials at: @SimonHbikes @Mufga  

Front End Chatter #132

Britain's best biking podcast, with Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons

hubhopper

Front End Chatter

hubhopper