Front End Chatter

Welcome to Front End Chatter E45 featuring not much racing, shock, partly because there hasn't been much since E44 but mostly because we didn't actually watch what there was. Which, as it turns out, was a wet Assen MotoGP (always a pleasure, never a chore). So we talk about a race we didn't see, plus wings they aren't going to use for a safety concern (or issue) they may or may not have. It's just like actually being there, only with your eyes closed and with fingers in your ears.

We also find time to chunter about:

• BMW's 2017 F700 and F800GS with thrilling new Euro 4 compliance
• Ducati's 939 SuperSport sporty sportsbike that fills the gaping hole in their range for a non-entry level, non-track day road sporty sportsbike
• Yamaha's MT-07-based 700 Tracer that has the same performance as a 1992 TDM850 but at a fraction of the price
• Triumph's rumoured 765cc Street Triple roady sportsbike-ish
• The recently opened David Silver Honda Collection based near Ipswich, for fans of vintage Hondas
• The very excellent Champions Flat Track School, run by our mate Boastie, which introduces noobs to the noble art of going slideways Plus! Some of your emails, including more on BMW ESA suspension replacement/service info, the absence of Irish bike MOTs, why the bloke at the back of a group ride always ends up speeding, and more! Thanks for listening, keep writing in, spread the word among your friends, and visit us on Twitter (@SimonHbikes and @Mufga) or Facebook.

And you can purchase Front End Chatter merch here: www.tshirtstudio.com/marketplace/front-end-chatter

Welcome to Front End Chatter #44, in which Mufga and SiH talk about a couple of MotoGP races that happened ages ago – and including the tragic loss of Moto2's Luis Salom at Catalunya, the slightly unedifying fallout, the race itself with torpedoes and last lap thrills, and a very necessary handshake to cap it all off.

We also natter about TT racing – and in our excitement over the difference between letting a MotoGP bike race in the Superbike class but chucking out a rider for coated cam buckets in another, completely neglect to offer condolences to the family and friends of lost riders Dwight Beare, Ian Bell, Paul Shoesmith, Andrew Soar and Dean Martin. Which we do here.

Mufga and Si also discover the joys of Bluetooth headsets, muck about in Wales on BMW's GS Challenge, ride KTM's 1290 GT (for the next issue of Bike magazine) and chunter about BMW's R1200 GSA v KTM's Super Adventure v Triumph's new Explorer v Ducati's new Multistrada Enduro (check it out in a forthcoming issue of Ride magazine). No spoilers. Ok, maybe just a couple. After all that, we run out of time to read out your emails so they'll be in the next episode of FEC, out sometime next week. Blimey. Love and rockets, email us on [email protected], Tweet us on @SimonHbikes or @Mufga, check out Facebook, and buy T-shirts and stuff from somewhere. Follow the link on www.frontendchatter.com

Welcome to Front End Chatter E43, brought to you in association with the enjoy-while-it-lasts British summer. In this episode, Simon and Mufga chatter about:

• results and matter arising from Jerez and Le Mans MotoGP including Brad Binder's hooky software issues in Moto3, Rossi's lauded flag to flag win, Lorenzo's flag-to-flag win that no-one cares about, synchronised crashing, more wings and things, being beaten up by a tangerine, and even more about who goes where, and who's talking about who's going where, in 2017. And why. And are you Team BTSport or Team MCN/MotoMatters? • Chaz Davies' WSB double for Ducati in Imola and a great weekend's racing at Oulton Park in BSB • a world first podcast review of TomTom's new Rider 410 sat nav, plus a bit of Garmin Navigator Street • loads more emails and questions covering topics as diverse (I nearly said 'perverse') as Circuit Of Wales, fantasy British MotoGP tracks, burying bodies, dropping other bodies on their heads, crashing a Desmosedici into a pig, best MotoGP books, Marquez' strategy for crashing, riding in fear, riding faster in groups, and what could possibly go wrong with 30,000-mile BMW ESA suspension? Thanks for your time, please subscribe on iTunes, tell your friends and tell them to tell their friends about FEC, write emails to motorcycle manufacturers explaining how important FEC is in your buying decisions, check FEC out on Facebook, follow @SimonHbikes and @Mufga on Twitter, buy stuff from our shop (www.tshirtstudio.com/marketplace/front-end-chatter) and all that other stuff. We are genuinely flattered, humbled and grateful for your wonderful emails, Tweets and downloads.

I dunno, you wait ages for an episode of Front End Chatter, and then two come along at once. Welcome to FEC#42, which is (almost) solely devoted to reading your emails and answering your questions on subjects as wide-ranging as:• riding the B500 in The Black Forest Gateaux, a nice road in Croatia, and what's the best off-road bike for a father and son (like we'd know)

• why a 2 x British world champ is doing a bit of half-naked Turkish oil wrestling on TV but isn't coming across as a nob

• choosing between a BMW R1200RT and a Suzuki GSX1250FA• whether a Honda VFR400 handles better than a Ducati 748 - or a modern sportsbike • on-bike tracking systems for £13• how the risk of riding a bike could put you off riding altogether• what bike manufacturers get from racing• why F1 cars blow up more than MotoGP bikes

Plus, a bit more natter about Circuit Of Wales wrangles and other bits and bobs. Please don't make me listen to it again just to fill this bit out. Thanks for downloading, please leave a review on iTunes and/or subscribe, and join in with Front End Chatter on Facebook, or on Twitter: @SimonHbikes and @MufgaYou can also visit www.frontendchatter.com, follow the links and purchase T-shirts, key-rings, mugs and mouse mats.

We're back! After a prolonged absence, which we find is the best kind, Front End Chatter returns with post-Argentina MotoGP gossip – and, let's face it, it had the lot: tyres, crashes, more tyres, boo-ing, early silly season, and some highly ill-informed nonsense about reverse-spinning cranks. Plus, Martin (him) and Simon (me) natter about some new bikes we've ridden, and where you can read about them. Ish. Thanks for listening, and thanks for remembering we exist. The next episode will be along shortly. x

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

HelloAndWelcomeToEpisode39OfBritain'sFavouriteBikingPodcast! And breathe...

In the first FEC of 2016, Simon and Martin discuss:

- The Dakar Rally, who's winning, who isn't, and who's paying any attention?

- All the new rules for MotoGP, whether we can predict anything before anything has happened, and whether that feller who said he doesn't want to race again will, in fact, race again.

- What's going on with WSB's barely comprehensible new format, and whether it will detract from what otherwise has the potential to be a pretty great year.

- Who in the BSB paddock recently failed a drugs test, who will be making a welcome return to the BSB paddock, and who in the BSB paddock has just made a pretty dramatic career change.

- Plus loads and loads (and loads) of your emails frantically read, mumbled, debated and, in a few cases, answered.

It's a busy one...

Email us: [email protected]Twitter: @SimonHbikes and @MufgaFacebook: www.facebook.com/FrontEndChatterYouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCgeS_FcXLqwZgirmG2OCW0wFEC shop: www.tshirtstudio.com/marketplace/front-end-chatteriTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/front-end-chatter/id827471484

Front End Chatter E38 looks back at 2015: the best bikes, the best races, the best racers, the biggest losers, and Martin and Simon's personal fave moments – plus the absence of British world champs on BBC Sports Personality Of The Year and FEC's New Year Resolutions.

Have a merry Christmas, you FECers!

Thanks for listening, and please get on touch on email: [email protected] or Twitter: @Mufga@SimonHbikes

...and try our Youtube channel!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgeS_FcXLqwZgirmG2OCW0w/videos

Welcome to Front End Chatter E37 in which, now the dust has settled, Martin and Simon discuss the ramifications of that race from the point of view of someone who was in the grandstands at Valencia, and someone who had the benefit of replays on the TV (*SPOILER ALERT* hardcore Rossi fans probably shouldn't listen to this). Oh, and there's something about the NEW BRITISH WORLD CHAMPION... but we sort of forgot to mention it at the start...There's also a load of chat about 2016's most interesting new bikes (plus a couple of less interesting ones) with the usual disagreement (and one notable agreement), plus emails and exhortations to buy magazines and merchandising. Thanks for listening, and please get on touch on[email protected]@Mufga

@SimonHbikes And if we don't speak again before Christmas (which is entirely possible), have a cracker!

Welcome to Front End Chatter, Episode 36 – the Scoop/Meltdown episode – in which Martin and Simon reveal details of Triumph's 2016 range of Bonnevilles, Thruxtons and Street Twin – what they are, why they are, why they've taken so long and why there's no Scrambler. The second half of the podcast is all about who said what to whom at Phillip Island, and who subsequently rode into who at Sepang, and why Keith Huewen had better cut down on his meals for a few days and get used to the taste of Arai. It doesn't seem like much, but at least it feels much longer when you listen to it. Thanks very much for downloading, spread the word, and

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