Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain's most celebratory biking podcast, currently marking the historic 223rd anniversary of the moment Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons opened up a small family firm manufacturing essential podcast components. After the original Chatter Manors was flattened by an implausibly large quantity of pancakes falling from the sky, the burgeoning business was brought under state control by the good folk at Bennetts, Britain's best motorcycle insurance brokers. If your bike insurance is due soon get yourself a quote direct at bennetts.co.uk - and if it isn't, then head instead to bikesocial.co.uk for all manner of two-wheeled news and reviews. Oh, and don't forget to check out Bennetts BikeSocial on The YouTubes, where a brand new season of The Great Escape To The Country - sorry, What Bike Next? - will be dropping soon.

Anyhow. In this episode Si & Mufga chatter all about:

• Downsizing, and whether small bikes are the next big thing
• Why Langen's Lightspeed is the polar inverse of BMW's R1300GS
• Silently sneaking around the countryside on Stark's Varg EX
• Screen (extenders) if you want to go faster
• Whether bike security is a total waste of time
• More grey import goodness
• Endurance racing glory
• and probably some other stuff too!

It's a (relatively) tight one this, clocking in at just over an hour [Thank goodness - All]. Thank you, as always, for listening - and for the lucky few, we'll see you on FEC's 2026 The Moors The Merrier tour very soon!

Until then, keep on sending your thoughts, wonderings and ponderings to [email protected]

Mwah