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 [email protected] and download us from www.bikesocial.co.uk @SimonHbikes @Mufga