Front End Chatter #213
Front End Chatter
Hello dearest ear-owners and welcome to Front End Chatter, source of the most significant soundwaves in British motorcycling since the feral howl of a raging Norton rotary haunted the quiet coastal village of Kirk Michael, or since the words "Go on then, I'll 'ave it" slipped breathlessly from the lips of a Derbyshire-born property developer attending the auction of a defunct motorcycle factory. In this aural delight of an episode, Simon and Mufga regale themselves with a recap of the spectacularly special Highland Fling tours (so good they did them twice), along with: • Loadsa goss about...
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Front End Chatter #212
Front End Chatter
Awrite hens and laddies, and welcome to a very special episode of Front End Chatter presented, ingested and recorded LIVE at the Highland Fling tour(s) in bonnie, sunny (no, really) Scotland! With not a lot to discuss in the world of motorcycling at the moment - other than the uncertain future of one of Europe's biggest bike manufacturers, plus a raft of new flagship models revealed by another of Europe's biggest bike manufacturers - our fabulous FECers have boldly stepped into our creative breach. Episode #212 is a Live FECsack extravaganza, with a wealth of wicked wonderings wittered by...
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Front End Chatter #211
Front End Chatter
Hello and welcome (and a special hello and welcome to Adam Danger, who reads this 'sometimes')... to Episode 211 of Front End Chatter, the motorbicycling podcast prefrontally-lobotomised by Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons, two motorcycle journalists who've been doing since their own, personal Day Ones. We are, as always and hopefully forever, in debt to and grateful for the patronage of Bennetts, Britain's Best Bike Insurers – FACT – and bikesocial.co.uk, the bestest and brightest biking website and YouTube channel, amen. And on the pod this time around the sun, we...
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Front End Chatter #210
Front End Chatter
Hello you lovely FECers you, and welcome to Episode 210 of the long-running, will-it-never-end, Front End Chatter podcast for motorcycles and motorcyclists, spoken out loud by Simian Hardgleaves and Marsupial Fatz-Domino. We are, as ever, indebted and beholden unto Lord Bennetts, Britannia's Best Bike Insurers and may his whaling fleet never run out of blubber, and bikesocial.co.uk, the hostess with the mostess, you know, you know... the one that goes up to 11. And on this month's episode we have, among many other things: • a bit of gen on Honda's Hornet 1000 and SP,...
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Front End Chatter #209
Front End Chatter
Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, and it's episode 209 of the 209 episode-long motorcycling podcast presented, and I use the word in its loosest sense, by Martina Fitz-Gibbons and Simone Hargreaves, a pair of transitioning motorcycle journalists whose personal pronouns are 'it'. Fronty End Prongs is supported and comported by Bennetts, Britain's biggest and best bike insurers, and without whom you would all be pretty bloody sorry, I can tell you, so make the most of their offers and support their support of motorcycling ya ingrates. And also BikeSocial.co.uk, the hub of motorcycling's...
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Front End Chatter #208
Front End Chatter
FEC208 Hello moi luverly FECers and this, believe it or not, is Front End Chatter episode 208 in a long-running series with him, believe it or not, Martin Fitz-Gibbons, and him, believe it or not, Simon Hargreaves. Believe it or not, you should get your bike insurance from Bennetts, Britain’s best bike insurers and supporters of Front End Chatter since 1894, with massive range of savings and offers on all sorts of kit and caboodle, plus lots of cool policy add-ons like 90 days EU cover and common mods (like road legal exhausts) covered – as standard! And you also get free...
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Front End Chatter #207
Front End Chatter
Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain’s physics-bendingiest motorcycling podcast, a vision formed when eccentric inventors Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons slipped off a toilet seat and banged their heads on a sink. This is episode #207 which, as always, is powered by the suitcase of stolen plutonium that is Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and , the first place you should point your browser for used-bike buying guides, in-depth product reviews, new-bike technical analysis, the week’s hotted two-wheels deals, plus so much more. And this week, in...
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Front End Chatter #206
Front End Chatter
HOT NEWS! The FEC Highland Fling is here! Yes folks, come ride with Simon and Martin in Scotland in May 2025 – we've booked an entire hotel in the heart of the Highlands as a base for three days of riding the most stunning loops around the most iconic routes in the UK. It's majestic, it's mind-blowing, it's the best riding – and the best hospitality – you'll get in 2025. The FEC Highland Fling starts with a grand ride-in on Friday 2nd May through Glen Coe up to the hotel near Garve. After an evening of greetings and meetings, we'll spend the next three days exploring the...
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Front End Chatter #205
Front End Chatter
Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain’s premium motorcycling podcast, hosted by Martin Fitz-Gibbons and Simon Hargreaves. This is episode 205, probably, and is supported in its endeavours by Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists – and bikesocial.co.uk, the number one place to go for bike-related news, reviews and product and kit tests. And check out Bennetts' YouTube channel, with all the lovely lovely lovely moving images contained therein. And on this week’s FEC we natter about • Motorcycle Live – was it any good, what was the vibe, any hot takes? • KTM...
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Front End Chatter #200ish
Front End Chatter
Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain's nerdiest motorcycling podcast with him Martin Fitz-Gibbons, and him, Simon Hargreaves, supported in our double century of biking chatter by Bennetts, the UK's best bike insurance bods of whom let it not be said by any man nor woman nor anyone in between that they take the money and thank you very much. Bennetts put more back into biking than any other insurance company by an absolute country mile, and that's a fact. For example, there's BikeSocial.co.uk, the website with the news, reviews and booze, and Bennetts' mighty YouTube channel with...
info_outlineHello and welcome to Episode 181 of Front End Chatter, Britain’s most electric, eclectic and eccentric motorcycling podcast, presented by hoary old motorcycle journalists Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons. We are as ever indebted and in cahoots with Bennetts, Britain’s leading bike insurance experts, and BikeSocial.co.uk. No flipping, don’t change that channel – check out the offers, competitions and discounts Bennetts offer and become a BikeSocial member to access them all even if, for some reason beyond the wit of man, you aren’t insured with Bennetts. Don’t take our word for it – see for yourself.
However, speaking as someone who always fails to take advantage of money-saving offers because I’m hamstrung by a belief that paying less than full value is somehow morally wrong (I don’t like using loyalty cards because why should a supermarket item be cheaper for someone who has a ‘loyalty card’ than for someone who hasn’t? An item should cost what an item costs for every human in that shop, regardless of where they habitually grant their custom). Mind you I’m perfectly happy to stream football matches off an eastern European website, so figure that one out.
On this episode of Front End Chatter we have topics as widely varied as:
• Triumph’s new 660 Daytona and how middleweight sportsbikes now often less sporty than middleweight naked bikes
• Triumph’s addition of user-lowered rear preload on Tiger 1200s to make them more usable for more people of inversely advantaged verticality
• why KTM’s 890 Adventure R could be a forever bike, even if it doesn’t last forever
• proving a Zero electric bike can manage a day’s adventure (including off-road)
• and why every single commentator on YouTube, in print or on podcasts need their riding advice filtered through an ‘it doesn’t apply to me’ filter – this stuff ain’t Gospel, okay?
Anyway, that’s enough for now because I’m on holiday and the wifi in the holiday cottage uploads at a prehistoric pace which, given I’m on the Jurassic Coast, is appropriate if not completely infuriating.
Please grace our inbox – [email protected] – with your thoughts, queries, jokes, funny stories and any random stuff that passes across your grey matter.
Catch me and him here:
@SimonHbikes
@Mufga