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Front End Chatter

Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons

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

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  • 224 episodes
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Episodes224

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  • Aug 1, 2021 · 2 hr 2 min

    Front End Chatter #142

    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

  • Jul 18, 2021 · 2 hr 13 min

    Front End Chatter #141

    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

  • Jul 1, 2021 · 1 hr 43 min

    Front End Chatter #140

    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

  • Jun 18, 2021 · 2 hr 13 min

    Front End Chatter #139

    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

  • Jun 2, 2021 · 2 hr 22 min

    Front End Chatter #138

    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

  • Apr 25, 2021 · 2 hr 5 min

    Front End Chatter #137

    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.

  • Apr 5, 2021 · 2 hr 2 min

    Front End Chatter #136

    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!

  • Mar 21, 2021 · 2 hr 7 min

    Front End Chatter #135

    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

  • Mar 7, 2021 · 2 hr 8 min

    Front End Chatter #134

    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

  • Feb 18, 2021 · 2 hr 12 min

    Front End Chatter #133

    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

  • Feb 5, 2021 · 2 hr 5 min

    Front End Chatter #132

    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

  • Jan 21, 2021 · 2 hr 3 min

    Front End Chatter #131

    Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter E131, Britain's favourite and longest serving motorcycling podcast, possibly either or, who's counting? What's for sure is we're indebted and abetted by Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and www.bikesocial.co.uk, the marvellous motorcycling website. And on FEC this week, Simon and Martin chatter about: Triumph's new Speed Triple 1200 RS – how big will it be really, is it bored and/or stroked, and will Triumph go after hyper-naked revs and power, or keep the Speed Trip a raunchy but slightly more useful super-naked? when is a spy shot not a spy shot? guesswork around Aprilia's new RSV4 and Tuono, for whom the passenger has always been a "barely tolerated guest" according to Aprilia – and wouldn't it be nice if they made a CapoNord V4? We also dive in the FEC sack and ponder delights such as: when is it too cold to get your pegs down and why motorcycling shouldn't be a faith-based activity where should we put our feet when we're riding? how racing isn't necessarily a mandatory next step on from track days what's the adventure bike equivalent of a ZZR1400 for £6-£7k? and much, much more! A bit. Thank you very much for listening, thanks to Bennetts and www.bikesocial.co.uk for putting up with us, and please keep your thoughts, musings, queries and fact correcting coming to: anything@frontendchatter.com Catch us on the Instas and Twitters: @SimonHbikes @Mufga

  • Jan 11, 2021 · 2 hr 10 min

    Front End Chatter #130

    Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter E130, and the first FEC of 2021; a brand new year, and hopefully things will get better – but some things stay the same and there's not much chance of FEC improving any time soon. Thanks as always to Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and www.bikesocial.co.uk, home of all that's good and virtuous in motorcycling. And on FEC this week, Simon and Martin chatter about: Davide Brivio's shock exit from Suzuki MotoGP team boss to F1... and who we'd choose to replace him John McPint MBE has won an MBE from the Queenie, but who else has and who hasn't? when motorcycle manufacturers get market research wrong hello to Aprilia's new Tuono 660... ...and goodbye; we mourn the passing of true racing and engineering pioneer, Peter Williams We also dive in the FEC sack and answer some timeless wonderings: what was that about preload and ride height again? winter hacks – it's a love/hate thing magazines are for old riders; YouTube is for young 'uns: discuss are the Isle Of Wight Diamond Races going to happen in 2021? all this and much more! Thank you very much for listening, thanks to Bennetts and www.bikesocial.co.uk for putting up with us, and please keep your thoughts, musings, queries and fact correcting coming to: anything@frontendchatter.com Catch us on the Instas and Twitters: @SimonHbikes (but to be honest it's more paracord hobbies and current affairs than bikes; I like to think it's context) @Mufga (he's funnier than me)

  • Jan 5, 2021 · 26 min

    Front End Chatter #Joan Mir Interview

    Hello and welcome to a very special mini-episode of Front End Chatter, sponsored by Bennetts and www.bikesocial.co.uk – and it's the one where Simon and Martin, literally a quartet of spods in underpants, get to have a 10-minute chat with none other than the 2020 MotoGP World Champion, Suzuki's Joan Mir. It's short and sweet, a bit like Mr Mir himself.

  • Dec 23, 2020 · 2 hr 19 min

    Front End Chatter #129

    Hello and welcome a fully festive, technically flawed, partially visual (which makes no sense to listeners in black and white) but otherwise entirely oral episode 129 of Front End Chatter, Britain's favourite motorcycling podcast helmed by Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons and kept afloat by the oceanic Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and www.bikesocial.co.uk, all your two-wheeled needs digitally delivered via fibre optics (get well soon John!) And this week on FEC we have: good news for Norton donors good news for scooter and moped manufacturers how the Covid pandemic has affected bike sales and how far and often we ride, and how it's given us renewed motivation to do the things in 2021 we've always put off doing our favourite bikes of the year, and biggest disappointments what we're looking forward to riding in 2021 plus! Do you want an MV Agusta Turismo Veloce, or would a Tracer GT do the same thing? Or even a Z1000SX? would a Guzzi V85TT suit a novice off-road rider? is the NC500 really worth it? what's Britain's most picturesque motorway? is the 1998 Kawasaki ZX-9R C1 the most underrated sports tourer ever? ...and much much more. Thanks again to Bennetts and BikeSocial, thanks to you for listening to us, supporting us and sending in your thoughts, queries, ponderings and questions to: anything@frontendchatter.com ...and we hope you manage to have a great Christmas. See you in the New Year!

  • Dec 10, 2020 · 1 hr 58 min

    Front End Chatter #128

    Ladies and gentlemens, pray welcome to Front End Chatter E128. Inside you'll discover presentation by the ineffable Mr Simon Hargreaves and the inestimable Mr Martin Fitz-Gibbons, plus their delightfully delictatious Mr Ben Nets, the bike insurance specialist, and wwwbikesocial.co.uk, the world of motorcycling on the webbage. And in this episode of FEC we have: Mufga's riding impressions of the new Aprilia RS660 (closes eyes, makes brum brum noises) and SiH's riding impressions of the new Ducati Multistrada V4 (closes eyes, makes brum brum noises), in case anyone hadn't been watching Bennetts YouTube channel, reading the website or picking up just about every UK bike magazine and newspaper in the last few weeks Marc Marquez going for third time lucky for arm operations, while FEC will henceforth be acting as medical advisor for DORNA on the grounds we have a better handle on what constitutes fitness to ride than they do why we shouldn't dismiss Long Way Up with such offhand flippancy why do we measure bike tank size in litres and fuel consumption in mpg? how to – but really, why – pull a wheelie what should a rider do with their helmet when dismounting and walking about? what's the best electric bike out there, and why? why oe tyres might not be perfectly not great, but it's not the tyre manufacturer's fault, it's the bike manufacturer we should blame Thanks to Bennetts and BikeSocial for their indulgence and please download FEC from www.bikesocial.co.uk if you can. Thank YOU massively for indulging our nonsense, and please continue to populate the FEC sack with your thoughts, ideas, questions and nonsense of your own – write to anything@frontendchatter.com You can catch us on the socials here: @SimonHbikes @Mufga One more before Xmas! Yay! A Yuletide FEC.

  • Nov 29, 2020 · 2 hr 12 min

    Front End Chatter #127

    Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter Episode 127, the slightly behind the curve episode, with Martin Fitz-Gibbons and Simon Hargreaves waffling along as usual – supported and enhanced by Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and www.bikesocial.co.uk, the home of all things two-wheeled and powered by an engine, internally combustible or electric or, indeed, propelled by little more than an inappropriate fragrant emission. And on the show this week we have: a new MotoGP World Champeen, and a slightly subdued Portimao ending to the craziest, least predictable and – let's be honest – luckiest MotoGP season in modern history • the best Joan Mir stat you will ever hear new bikes for 2021, including: – BMW's S1000R, the bike with the wrong half of the fairing removed – Ducati's Multistrada V4 which Simon hadn't ridden, much, when the podcast came out, but which it subsequently turns out he had. It's very confusing – Ducati's underrated SuperSport, now called a 950 – ...and the Panigale V4 SP, whatever that is – Triumph 850 Sport, and how it replaces the world's shortest-lived model, the Triumph Tiger 900 – Yamaha MT-09 Tracer and GT – Yamaha's track-only R6, and the death of the supersports 600 PLUS! A brief dip into the FECsack and topics such as do track days matter when you're over 50, is a Z900 RS Café better than a Z H2, tyre scrubbers, how come more people don't commute on bikes, and much – a bit – more... Many thanks to Bennetts and Bike Social for their continued patronage, and many thanks to you, dear listener, for lending us your ears... and please keep sending your thoughts, musings and life stories to us here: anything@frontendchatter.com You can get us on the Socials: @SimonHbikes @Mufga Cheers ma dears.

  • Nov 1, 2020 · 1 hr 52 min

    Front End Chatter #126

    Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain's most paracorded motorcycling podcast Fronted by Simon Hargreaves, Ended by Martin Fitz-Gibbons and Chattered by www.bikesocial.co.uk and Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists. And in E126 we have: • Yamaha's overhauled, uprated and enlarged (but not in the way you might have read) MT-09 • Martin's unnatural desire to buy a Piaggio MP3, as winter-hack path to an almost equally irrational Aprilia RS660 • the usual ramblings on MotoGP including where in the world is Marc Marquez, has he been moonlighting as his own brother, and what does this all mean for the 2020 title? • plus emails on topics as wide-ranging as more small acts of human kindness, the IOW Diamond Races (or not), ugly features on otherwise not ugly bikes, the difference between buying the first bike you look at and the bike you look at first, why under- (or over-) inflating a tyre for an extended stint on a motorway might not be a good idea, and the real reason you want to adjust your suspension. Thanks for letting us into your ears, hope the new lockdown and winter aren't too savage for you, and please email us your further thoughts, comments and/or questions to: anything@frontendchatter.com @SimonHbikes @Mufga

  • Oct 17, 2020 · 1 hr 59 min

    Front End Chatter #125

    Hello and welcome for Front End Chatter, Britain's best biking podcast, and Episode 125 of the aforementioned, presented by him, Martin Fitz-Gibbons, and him, Simon Hargreaves. And we are, as ever, enabled and legitimised by Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and www.bikesocial.co.uk, the wonderful world of woking on the web. And in this fun-sized Mars Bar of an episode we chatter about: how IAM observers are like twitchers what's the best 125 ever, why isn't it the Varadero, and are modern 125s better than classic 125s? how to topple off an Africa Twin and an F800GS in style how far can you go on a Zero SRF, and still get back in a day? wet MotoGP from Le Mans including an uncannily prescient Martin suggesting Covid could play a part in sideling riders THE DAY BEFORE a viral Rossi misses a couple of rounds loads of chat about Ducati's new V4 Granturismo motor powering the new Multistrada – how it's bigger, but smaller, lasts longer, makes more power but less torque, and where has the whole Desmo business gone? And why? a natter about details of Aprilia's RS660, as Martin from the past pays a visit to remind us his half of FEC worked all that stuff out a year ago. Apart from the price. all before we dive into the FEC sack with its usual barrage of good points, corrections and fab stories. Please email us all your thoughts and questions to: anything@frontendchatter.com Thank you very much for listening, please spread the word, leave us a review on iTunes, and if it's not too late and you're in the US – VOTE! @SimonHbikes @Mufga

  • Oct 5, 2020 · 2 hr 5 min

    Front End Chatter #124

    Hurrah for wet roads, diminishing daylight and dropping temperatures. We're so excited about the onset of winter. Excited, excited, excited. Apparently, a study of the moods of the Nordic peoples shows a successful strategy for coping with long periods of little sunshine – and Seasonal Affective Disorder – may be to simply develop a positive attitude toward it. Literally, repeating "I am excited about " has been shown to reduce anxiety. So we're excited, excited and excited to invite you into Fronty End Prongs, episode 124, brought to you by Bennetts, the people who offer amazing discount deals and offers with bike insurance thrown in, and the world of motorcycling at www.bikesocial.co.uk. Please remember to wipe your feet on the way in and your bum on the way out. And this week Simon and Mufga natter about: autumn – why? why Dumfries and Galloway is a good place to ride a bike why we don't review bikes any more BMW's new M1000RR and why it's failing to light Mufga's fire future Mufga pays us a visit down the time tunnel Triumph's Trident – what it is and how much it should cost high speed MotoGP review where, or not, to get up-to-date info on MotoGP engine use advice for your second track day is the current lack of spectators at race events sustainable, and if the racing has to change, how will it change? is buying a bike while under the influence a good idea? ...and much, much more. Thanks for listening, and let's do this again in a fortnight. Please send thoughts, questions and musings to: anything@frontendchatter.com Keep up with Simon and Mufga on the socials: @SimonHbikes @Mufga