Episode 40 of Front End Chatter, the Finger On The Pulse episode, comes not so much hot as slightly tepid with gossip from MotoGP testing (at Sepang, Malaysia, not Phillip Island). Fortunately, the big issues are still the same: will Casey race in 2016? Will the new Michelin tyres and retro-spec ECU mix results up this season? Will Lorenzo win the title by mid-season? When will someone first say ‘silly season’?

There’s also plenty of FEC-ing tittle-tattle about:

• Guy Martin’s no-show at the TT this year
• Triumph’s new Tiger 1050 Sport
• 6000 houses created at the Circuit Of Wales site. Sorry, we meant ‘6000 jobs’
• why splitting WSB races over two days might be a good idea
• why manufacturers don’t make more of their Dakar race success
• reviving the Transatlantic race series – good idea or not? And are any American racers good enough? Or Brits, come to that
• are anti-theft bike tracking systems a good idea or a bit ‘after the fact’?
• does a near-miss take the shine off biking?
• is it okay to still like being a biker, but go off actually riding bikes?
• choosing between a Suzuki Bandit 1250 (too old school?), Kawasaki Versys 650 (too tame?) or a Yamaha Tracer (too expensive) for hustling mountain roads, touring and commuting. Or just pick a Yamaha FZ1 Fazer. • what are the best tyres for a Yamaha XJ6?
• choosing the fabulous FEC theme tune.

Please email questions, comments and/or abuse to: [email protected] Twitter us at: @SimonHbikes & @Mufga Facebook: www.facebook.com/FrontEndChatter YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCgeS_FcXLqwZgirmG2OCW0w Please visit support FEC and visit our shop for T-shirts and mugs: www.tshirtstudio.com/marketplace/front-end-chatter Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/front-end-chatter/id827471484

We're also on Android podcast apps. Thanks for listening! Keep watching for new episodes (and sorry they're so sporadic etc).Simon & Martin