Front End Chatter

Welcome to Front End Chatter 53b – made possible by www.bikesocial.co.uk; go check them out! – and it's a special FEC dedicated to answering, or failing to answer, your emails. Topics up for Front End Chattery include:

• what's happened to the UK sportsbike market?

• do ex-police bikes make good winter hacks?

• why a BMW K1200LT is the best-value used bike out there

• the best set of one-piece leathers for under £600...

• ... and what should be worn under them?

• more headphone chat (that's quite enough of that – Ed)

• what's better: being faster or being safer?

• why MotoGP frames are hand-made and production bike frames aren't

• is a Honda Varadero more comfy than a Pan European, and are they more comfy than a VFR800? And where does a CBF1000 fit in all this? (and what about a BMW K1200LT?)

• why there's a TAT, might one day be a TET, but probably not a TIT or a TWAT

• more Honda heated grips gripes – and turns out it's not just the Africa Twin that suffers

• more top five favourite bikes, and a few least favourite bikes... including Honda's 929 Blade and Kawasaki's 2007 Z750

• how to decode new bike launches, why they're honest, and why context matters

Thank you very much for continuing to listen to our ramblings and thank you even more for contributing with your emails, thoughts and questions – all are welcome; if anything pops into your head, or if we can help, or you disagree with us, please write and tell us at:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @SimonHbikes and @Mufga

Visit our shop: www.tshirtstudio.com/marketplace/front-end-chatter

FB: www.facebook.com/FrontEndChatter

And don't forget, click on www.bikesocial.co.uk – then go buy insurance from Bennetts!* *other insurance brokers are available, but they're all the same with the lights out and, to be honest, with this one you get to help fund FEC!

Welcome to Front End Chatter Episode 53a, powered yet again by our friends at www.bikesocial.co.uk – and yes, it's the first of two FECs; 53b will be along shortly. Or at least soon.

In the meantime, feast your ears on the will they, won't they two-wheeled soap opera of Qatar MotoGP – including:

• how recording BT Sport in hi-def when you haven't upgraded your package can result in missing the race
• the argument for and against remounting a crashed bike
• how Tech3 Yams (pronounced 'Trois', but don't tell Simon) do well at Qatar until a certain Moto2 champion gets carried away
• disrespeculation about why Crutchlow crashed
• some nerdy stats about top speed
• what exactly Lorenzo is packing in his lunchbox
• plus chatter about World Superbike, World Supersports 600 and 300 at Aragon, and BSB at Donington – including a guest appearance by Martin Fitz-Guintoli...

We also say farewell to Sir John Surtees, have a quick tour around Suzuki's new and rather wonderful V-Strom 650, the less new and less wonderful V-Strom, and chatter about the launch of the least powerful, least torquey, most heavieriest and most expensive Yamaha R6 ever which neither Martin or Simon attended, but about which they have an opinion anyway. Typical.

Thanks for listening, your emails will be answered in FEC53b, and please please please get in touch via:

email – [email protected]

Twitter – @SimonHbikes and @Mufga

Facebook – Front End Chatter

And, of course, please listen to FEC from our new home at www.bikesocial.co.uk

Chatter again soon!

Welcome to Front End Chatter, episode 52 – and it's a very special episode of Britain's least regular but much-loved motorcycling podcast because this is the first to be brought to you by the lovely people at Bike Social (www.bikesocial.co.uk)!

Front End Chatter is a podcast spoken at length by us, a right pair of motorcycle writers called Martin Fitz-Gibbons and Simon Hargreaves, and we chatter about every and any subject with two wheels and an engine: racing, news, new bikes, old bikes, and the issues that effect you, me and him (like what bike should you get next, how to ride, what kit to wear, and generally why things are the way they are). We don't know all the answers (in fact we hardly know any of them) but we now people who do.

Bike Social – and if you're not reading this on their website, WHY NOT? – is Britain's most comprehensive biking website, packed with road test, new bikes, old bikes, features and news. It's like a bike magazine, but on the web, created by Bennetts, the bike insurance people. Did I mention you can find it here: www.bikesocial.co.uk So if you're a long-time FEC listener, it's good news because it means we'll be coming in your ears twice a month.

And if you're a Bike Socialist, it means FEC will be brightening-up your browsing experience. We may even have a few other bits and bobs about the place after a while. So, from now on, please get your Front End Chatter fix from www.bikesocial.co.uk – and it's on with the chatter...

This episode may contain nuts: • MotoGP 2017 is nearly upon us, so we have look at the final test from Qatar and rate the chances of the major runners and riders courtesy of William Hill (other bookmakers are available)

• World Superbike, on the other hand, is underway and the burning question is: can the WSB racing from Thailand live up to the craziness of the opening Supersport 600 race from Phillip Island a few weeks ago? • KTM 1290 Super Adventure v BMW R1200 GS Rallye Sport: we've been lucky enough ride both bikes recently – one in Portugal and one in Peru – so we compare our experiences and discover how one is genuinely capable off-road bike for novices while the other is one of the best road bikes in the world, in a frock. Plus, is semi-active suspension really 'better' than comparable standard suspension?

• more news on the Honda Africa Twin heated grip saga

• The best waterproof textile jacket and trouser combo for £400, with buying advice help from www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk

• why covering your bike in aftermarket tat isn't the smartest idea

• why photochromic visors don't go black faced with car headlights (it's obvious)

• your five dream bikes

• why MotoGP bikes don't have vacuum die-cast frames. Or do they?

Please send you questions and comment to: [email protected]

You can follow us on Twitter:

@SimonHbikes

@Mufga

Or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FrontEndChatter

Thank you for listening, thank you for your support, please listen to us and download from Bike Social at:

www.bikesocial.co.uk

Say hello to Front End Chatter Episode 51, a numerically insignificant episode that nonetheless contains much chatterage about:

• the opening round of World Super Brits from Phillip Island – although if you haven't seen the racing you'll be none the wiser afterwards because we watched it and still manage to get the race result wrong not once, but twice...

• MotoGP testing from the very same Phillip Island at which, it seems, "They're all going really fast..."

Plus!

• how Ducati's new SuperSport is less sports tourer, more sportsbike

• why Kawasaki's new Z900 is a 123bhp entry-level naked bike

• and why the new Ninja 650 is, er, an entry-level bike with a full fairing

And there's more:

We read out your lovely emails on subjects as wide and wonderful as:

• the great hi-viz debate – to yellow or not to yellow

• bike security in London

• the wisdom of modifying modern sportsbikes

• a comparison of the average increase in rider skill v the increase in motorcycle performance

• the great Honda Africa Twin underperforming heated grip and corroding spokes problems – BOTH SOLVED! Ish.

• why some new bikes are released with obvious problems you'd think the factory would sort during testing

• what's the better choice – a six-grand Triumph Daytona 675 or Suzuki GSX-R750?

• why we should argue more often ('no we shouldn't', etc)

• why photochromic visors are a good idea

• how FEC is 'helping' native Spanish-speakers with their English comprehension

• Honda's DCT v quickshifters

• what bikes do we prefer – riding older, nostalgic machines or sampling the new stuff, with modern technology?

• how oe fitment tyres are completely different to aftermarket tyres with the same name from the same manufacturer

As ever, we remain humbly grateful for your continued ears. Thanking youse! You can get us on:

@SimonHbikes

@Mufga

And please email [email protected] with whatever thoughts stray across your mind

www.facebook.com/FrontEndChatter

Buy merch at www.tshirtstudio.com/marketplace/front-end-chatter

Welcome to Front End Chatter Episode 50 – yes, you're not imagining it, it's really real, and only a week after Episode 49.

Anyway, with next to no racing to chatter about, we've finally got round to answering all your emails (at least, the ones that had a question) – some from as far back as last September; sorry about that. So, in some particular order, we natter about:

• Sportsbike luggage systems
• What will happen to production racing when there are no more production sportsbikes
• Why sports 600s are dying out
• The best headphones for on bike entertainment
• The perils of Hi-Viz
• An extremely long-winded and rambling piece about girls in bike sport
• Does size matter? (this is a different point)
• Why you only see Ducatis in the Ducati factory car park
• Who's better – Rossi or Marquez?
• Why Honda's Deauville is desirable
• The future of electric bikes
• A whole heap of buying advice for several FECers which always seems to end up in the recommendation of a Ducati Multistrada or a BMW R1200GS
• ...and much, much – some would say too much – more

Thanks for enduring this one – it's a monster – and look forward to some exciting news regarding Front End Chatter in the near future. Email: [email protected]

Tweet: @SimonHbikes

@Mufga

Webshop: www.tshirtstudio.com/marketplace/front-end-chatter

Facebook: www.facebook.com/FrontEndChatter/

Welcome to FEC49, finally – at least in the sense it's been a long time coming, not in the conclusive sense. And, despite no actual racing to talk about, we find enough to fill half a podcast: • Why MotoGP team launches are fake news – and, worse, they even have fake soundtracks

• Why testing is a pointless guide to the outcome of the season, but it's worth taking notice of because it's some motorbikes going round a track

• Crazy new World Superbike rules

• How BSB should fill a Supersport-sized gap with naked bikes and Moto2

• Who will be the busiest Aussie racer in 2017

• Why this year's TT will be the best ever

• What that crazy Guy Martin has been saying about his TT comeback and why modern bikes are rubbish

PLUS! We have a few mini-reviews of some 2017 bikes, including:

• Kawasaki's Z1000SX and why it's better than before but has odd steering
• Ducati's 950 Multistrada and why comparisons are odious
• Ducati's sportier-for-2017 Monster 1200 S
• Suzuki's perfectly nice but slightly ordinary GSX-S750
• Ducati's properly off-road Desert Sled Scrambler

Thank you for bearing with us always, please keep emails coming, and we'll read them out in FEC50...

...WHICH WE'RE RECORDING NEXT WEEK, WE PROMISE!

@SimonHbikes

@Mufga

[email protected]

www.frontendchatter.com

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter E48, which you'll be pleased to hear has no racing at all apart from a brief discussion about the merits of being called Danny Kent but not actually coming from Kent, unlike Danny Webb who does come from Kent. Anyway, this one's all about 2017's new bikes you *can* buy, and 2016's bikes you can't any longer.

Thanks for listening, hope you like it, and see you at Motorcycle Live at the NEC. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SimonHbikes and @Mufga

Hello and welcome back to Front End Chatter E47 - it's been a while, so we've come back with an episode purely about racing – who's won what, why, how, and what will happen next year – and we introduce a new word to the English language: disrespeculation.

Thanks for bearing with us – more episodes will follow soon, about 2017 new bikes, and reading your emails and answering your questions.

Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SimonHbikes and @Mufga FB: www.facebook.com/FrontEndChatter/

Welcome to Part Two of FEC's Summer Special, featuring your emails and assorted chatter about: • the pros and cons of riding at night

• the ethics of washing bikes and bikinis

• the truth about new tyres

• how best to listen to music while riding

• is the future electric?

• have electronics spoiled racing?

• is Ducati's new Supersport a Monster in drag with the wrong engine?

• what's the best adventure bike for a tall Hamburger?

• why buying a Crossrunner is a good, good, good thing

• why sportsbikes might not be the best idea for people with little self-control

• what's the best bike to strap to the back of a motorhome? And as if that isn't enough, you can hire Simon to come and play bass at your party/wedding/festival etc. Once again, we thank you for listening!

Hello, and welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain's original... most original... oh, whatever. It's a podcast mostly about bikes, with added swearing. This is the Front End Chatter Summer Special Part One, which is only special by virtue of being a) shorter than usual and b) accompanied almost instantly(ish) by Part Two. So this half is the usual racing chatter, including gossip from the Austrian Red Bull Ring Pull MotoGP round, followed by mini-reviews of a couple of bikes we've ridden recently, and Part Two will be along in a while with a sackful of readers'... no, listeners'... emails. Of which there are many, and for which we thank you. We read all of them, even if we don't read them all out. It would take a long time and there aren't enough seconds in, well, a second, basically. Thanks for your patience in waiting for the least consistent podcast in all creation, and please get in touch via [email protected] or @SimonHbikes or @Mufga