Front End Chatter

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

Front End Chatter #197 09/30/2024

Front End Chatter #196 09/07/2024

Front End Chatter #195 08/04/2024

Front End Chatter #194 07/26/2024

Front End Chatter #193 07/11/2024

Front End Chatter #192 07/02/2024

Front End Chatter #191 05/09/2024

Front End Chatter #191 Greetings, podcast pilgrims, and welcome to Front End Chatter - just like having a fun chat down the pub with your mates about bikes, only without the drinks, or the ability for you to say anything back, or your actual real-life mates being involved. Or the fun, come to think of it. Alright, so it's nothing like having a fun chat down the pub with your mates, and much more like earwigging in on a pair of motorcycling mid-life crises unfolding in real time, mixed in with the odd history lesson pinched shamelessly from Wikipedia, half a badly photocopied GCSE maths exam paper, and a few swear words. Still, after 190-odd of these things it's somehow gathered enough momentum that neither of us knows where the handbrake is. And so in episode #191 of this moss-dodging rolling stone, Simon and Mufga cover: • KTM's return to building sportsbikes, in the thinly camouflaged guise of the new 990 RC R, heading to a Supersport race series near you • MotoGP's plans to drop two dress sizes by summer, slim down those aero love handles and give their saggy rear ends a long-overdue lift • Yamaha's XSR900GP, which proves it can delight everyone from Rose-Tinted Racers to Portuguese school kids • Husqvarna's Svartpilen 801, which also stirs together dollops of the past, present and future like a timeline trifle • BMW's new Automated Shift Assistant tech and, perhaps more intriguingly, which as-yet-unannounced (but possibly already-photographed) bike it'll debut on • Whether one bike exists that could possibly replace a listener's pretty awesome-sounding three-bike garage • What motorcycling experiences you'd want to experience if your body had just a few years of riding left in it • Why tyres dare to demonstrate so alarmingly little respect for mathematical consistency • Whether hip replacements and motorcycles go together like a femoral head and an acetabulum If you get through all that and are thirsty for more, don't forget to like and rate and subscribe and leave a comment and tag a friend and all the rest, but most importantly do remember the great and benevolent Bennetts the next time your motorcycle insurance is due. Go on, they're Britain's best bike insurers, and if you get your insurance direct from them you'll also get free BikeSocial membership, which is statistically possible to make your motorcycling year both better and cheaper by virtue of its capacious catalogue of discounts, deals, experiences, offers, opportunities and more! As always, if you're on the X-stagram socials you can find us lurking at @SimonHbikes and @Mufga And if you're reading this in May 2024, it's not quite too late to join us on our incredible Viva FECspana tour - head to Peace, love and understanding x /episode/index/show/frontendchatter/id/31223142

Front End Chatter #190 04/22/2024

Front End Chatter #190 Hello everyone, two, three here we go and welcome to Front End Chatter episode 190 in series one of Britain's best (or at least longest-running) podcast-flavoured semi-occasional long-form motorcycling nattertainment, no thanks to him, Simon Hargreaves, and even less to him, Martin Fitz-Gibbons. FEC has been FECing for a whole FECing decade now, mostly thanks to two things: not knowing when to quit; and the tireless support and encouragement and assistance of Bennetts, easily Britain's best bike insurers. You need some of that motorcycle insurance they have these days? Actually, that's not really a question. You need some of that motorcycle insurance they have these days! And you should head directly to Bennetts.co.uk to get it, or at least get a quote for it. Not only are they wonderful people who put back in the bike industry (like, cough, this load of free ear-muck), but if you buy your policy direct you'll get a year's free BikeSocial membership, which unlocks all manner of exclusive discounts, competitions, offers and experiences like some kind of cheat code for your wallet. And in this episode, we have: - Honda's new E-Clutch, ridden and rated - have Honda finally figured out a way to overthrow the manual transmission after nearly 70 years of trying? - Triumph Tiger 1200 - only two years old and already updated, well a bit, but also a hell of a lot. - BMW R1300GS - what's it like compared to the R1250GS, and what will BMW do with the Adventure? And a hearty shuffle through the bulging FECsack, including * Street Triple - standard or R? * Guess the shaft-drive, garage-wood inducing tourer * How long do helmets really last, really? * The Biking Ladder - is it a load of tosh? * Fun bikes for occasionally taking a pillion (who may or may not be fun) * Best tyres for a Tenere * Credit where Viva FECspana credit is (over)due Please keep topping our FECsack up by emailing your thoughts, wonderings, ponderings and observances to [email protected] And it's not too late to join us on a 10-day biking tour of a lifetime! Viva FECspana takes in amazing best roads in France and Spain, fab company and lush hotels. Don't miss out on the highlight of your summer - bit.ly/fecspain And, as ever, find us on the socials: @SimonHbikes and @Mufga /episode/index/show/frontendchatter/id/30931048

Front End Chatter #189 03/20/2024

Front End Chatter #188 03/01/2024

Front End Chatter #187 01/14/2024

Front End Chatter #186 12/21/2023

Front End Chatter #185 11/19/2023

Front End Chatter #185 Hello and welcome to FEC185, the new-bikes-for-2024 special version of Front End Chatter, Britain’s fave motorcycling podcast with him Martin Fitz-Gibbons and him Simon Hargreaves. But WAIT! Before you move on, thinking “Oh, I’ve already endured that pair of idiots nattering about the new bikes for 2024 in their EICMA Show review on the Bennetts BikeSocial YouTube channel they have these days,”... (to watch it, go to www.bit.ly/feconfilm) ...well – yes, that’s what you’re getting here; the audio version of the video, but one you can take on your travels while you’re raking up fallen leaves on the lawn, walking the dog (or dogs if you have two of them), spannering in the garage (not heard it called that before) or even dogging on the treadmill in your local gymnasium. Jogging. I meant jogging. But there’s more! Because we’re also revealing details of something far more important than the tired old toot the manufacturers are trying to foist on you in 2024. Because, dear FECers, we have details of not one, but TWO FEC Tours in 2024 – both flawlessly organised, as always, in conjunction with Paul from MCI Tours. For the first tour, and to celebrate the 10th birthday of Front End Chatter (aka A Decade Of Drivel), FEC Tours is going international with a 10-day FECstravaganza – riding for two days across France down to the Pyrenees, spending three days exploring the sensational mountain passes, then another two days across to the fabulous Picos range in northern Spain before heading back to Santander and the leisurely cruise back to Plymouth – with a live podcast recording on the boat.* *subject to sailing conditions and Brittany Ferries playing ball, which we’re sure they will. Viva FECspaña promises to be a spectacular motorcycling holiday and the trip of lifetime. The dates are: Sunday 2nd June (depart Portsmouth) to Tuesday 11th June (return Plymouth). Find more details here: www.bit.ly/fecspain The second tour is a little more modest in scope and commitment, as we FEC Up The Borders. Long overlooked by passing tourists, the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway are regions of stunning riding and gorgeous scenery. FEC has (literally) taken over the Buccleuch Arms Hotel in Moffat, a legendary motorcycling establishment dedicated to serving the needs of hungry motorcyclists. We have an extensive ride-in and ride-out either side of two days exploring both areas including Britain’s second-longest B-road, the birthplace of Steve Hislop (plus riding some the roads he surely cut his teeth on), a suite of border passes steeped in tribal history and legend, and the desolate splendour of the Galloway National Park. It’s some of our fave riding in the UK. The dates for FEC Up The Borders are: ride-in on Tuesday 30th July, ride-out on Friday 2nd July. More info here: www.bit.ly/fecborders STOP PRESS – the FEC Up The Borders Tour is almost sold out already, so get your enquiry in pronto to secure a place! Only after putting up with all that – hope you enjoy the FEC Guide To 2024’s New Bikes (well, the ones we’re really interested in!). Thank you for listening/watching, if you appreciate what we do please get your insurance from Bennetts and become a BikeSocial Member, email your thoughts and questions to [email protected] (normal service will be resumed next episode) and catch us on the socials: @Mufga (wry commentary and nerdy tech stuff) @SimonHbikes (drunken passive/aggressive shit-posting and paracord/bass guitars) Aye. /episode/index/show/frontendchatter/id/28708653

Front End Chatter #184 10/15/2023

Front End Chatter #183 10/08/2023

Front End Chatter #183 Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain's most foresighted motorcycling podcast and, as regular listeners, you don't need to be Nostradamus to know what we're going to say next. So no surprise it's a massive thank you to Bennetts, Britain's best motorcycle insurers, who continue to amaze and astound with a litany, nay, cornucopia of offers, competitions and nice things – one of which is bikesocial.co.uk with all the biking news, new bikes, consumer features and BSB info fit to eat. And check out Bennetts' YouTube channel coz it's amazing. And become a Bennetts BikeSocial Member and get access to all the above, for a paltry £60 a year – and it's free if you're insured with Bennetts. Right, after all that, onto the pod. And it's a Knobbly News kinda week, what with BMW's R1300 GS getting the full nerd-out in-depth detail – what's the motor/frame/suspension/styling, and how's it different, why's it different and will we like it? Plus Honda have nibbled at the Africa Twin and ruined the Adventure Sport by not importing a manual gearbox version (we love Honda, we really do, but blimey they make it hard sometimes). Meanwhile Suzuki unveil the V-Strom 800RE, possibly the most useful motorbike of 2024, and Triumph announce some prices. And in the green corner, literally, there's Kawasaki letting slip a small trump of details about the "Strong Hybrid Ninja 7" - a half battery, half petrol-powered 451cc parallel twin with what Kawasaki say is the fuel economy of a 250 combined with the performance of a 750 and the 0-60 of a ZX-10R, yeah right chinny chin chin (that bit wasn't in the press release). And after all that, we FECsack about CX500s, commuting 100 miles a day and cramming a lifetime of motorcycle choices into a few years as you work out what kind of biker you are. Right, that's all for now. We should start a newsletter. Hey, that's a good idea. Email your thoughts and queries and desires and offers of, well, anything goes tbh but money's good, to: Thanks for listening, you mad FECers you x @SimonHBikes @Mufga /episode/index/show/frontendchatter/id/28259351

Front End Chatter #182 09/27/2023

Front End Chatter #181 09/04/2023

Front End Chatter #181 Hello 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 – – with your thoughts, queries, jokes, funny stories and any random stuff that passes across your grey matter. Catch me and him here: @SimonHbikes @Mufga /episode/index/show/frontendchatter/id/27931422