Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain’s – nay, the world’s – most socially isolated motorcycle podcast, with Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons... and welcome to Episode 114 – the third in a series in which Martin literally phones it in.

Thanks as ever to our brothers and sisters at bikesocial.co.uk – the worldwide web of motorcycling (check out their YouTube channel!) and of course Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists.

And in this meandering soufflé of waffle we touch lightly on subjects as varied as:

• what constitutes an ‘essential’ journey, and is a bike an appropriate vehicle?
• Norton has been bought by TVS of India for £16... sorry, £16 million... so will any of that go to refund deposits, reimburse pensions and repay creditors? And what does it mean for future Norton motorcycles?
• the MotoGP 2020 season guessing game continues with news of cancellations and possible fan-free races financed by an energy drink
• plus! What have the MotoGP stars been getting up to in lockdown, and why they should maybe keep it to themselves

Plus!

• why owning a Firestorm isn’t as fun as dreaming of owning one
• should manufacturers be forced to reveal where a bike is assembled on the VIN plate?
• how much influence does the bike press have, and if they covered smaller brands, would it sell more bikes?
• do bikes have a soul?
• is downsizing an admission of defeat?
• more rear brake advice, this time from a MotoGP rider and WSB champ
• the most embarrassing things we’ve ever done on a bike
• can you go further riding on your own?

...and much more nattering and chattering.

Thanks for listening, hope it’s helping in this really crazy time. Please keep your emails (and sound files!) coming in with thoughts, advice, queries, questions and observations. Catch us both on the socials at:

@SimonHbikes @Mufga And please visit bikesocial.co.uk for all your biking infotainment (and their YouTube channel!), get your insurance from Bennetts, and get your kicks on the A66 – just not right now. Even for decking screws. Peace and health.