Front End Chatter

Hello and welcome back to Front End Chatter, Britain's most durable motorcycling podcast, with Simone Hargreaves and Marion Fitz-Gibbons – a pair of ye olde worlde motorcycle journalists like wot they had off them magazines they used to have, talking about bikes, talking about riding them, talking about remembering what it was like to ride them, talking about dreaming of riding them, and talking about other things as well. Or even better. There's more to life than bikes – you might think that's what you came here for, but bikes are just the start. Anyway, thank you to Bennetts, the marvellous bike insurers, and BikeSocial.co.uk, the best place on the web to locate all your motorcycling news, views and reviews. And check out their YouTube channel, whydontcher? On this mighty organ of FEC we have: • a chat about the BikeSocial group test of the Suzuki GSX-8S, Honda Hornet, KTM 790 Duke and Yamaha MT-07 • Yamaha's Tracer 9 GT+ with added radar soup • a bit of natter about manufacturers using throttle mapping to define the power delivery of their bikes • KTM's upcoming 1390 motor, and what size it might actually be • ...and do we really need more capacity, and is that what really sells new bikes? • plus some of your FECsack emails, including what bike best sums up the 1990s? Thanks again to everyone for your ears, and please write with your questions, thoughts, queries, jokes, funny experiences, and that time you met and he tried to get off with your girlfriend, to: [email protected] @SimonHbikes @Mufga

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 179 of Front End Chatter, Britain's Chattiest Motorcycling podcast with him Martin Fitz-Gibbons, and him, Simon Hargreaves – underpinned, as ever, by Bennetts, Britain's best bike insurer and BikeSocial.co.uk, the place to go for your biking info.

And on this week's FEC we have: • EXCLUSIVE details of a special ADDITIONAL FEC tour THIS YEAR!

Yes, we've teamed up again with our friends at MCI Tours to bring you a FECin Welsh Weekend. When's that, I hear you ask?

I'm glad you did – the FECin Welsh Weekend is taking place from the afternoon/evening of Friday 22nd September, riding on Saturday and Sunday, departing Monday 25th September. JOIN US – on the best roads in Wales, officially selected by the Cannes Jury Of Mint Roads in Wales, Bach.

Visit bit.ly/fecwales and get involved.

Also in this honestly massive episode of FEC (because bigger is better, right?) • Ivan Cervantes, multiple enduro world champ and Triumph test rider speaks about his world record endurance ride on a Tiger 1200, doing 2493 miles in 24 hours – and also updates on the progress of Triumph's forthcoming range of enduro and motocross bikes

Plus! • all the info on two new technologies coming up on BMW's R1300 GS – radar-powered front collision warning system and a new suspension system with variable spring rate (haven't we heard this before? – Ed) • details of Triumph's new 400 Scrambler X and Speed 400 • how to ride in the wet

...and if that's not enough, there's more of the same. Blimey. Please keep your emails coming in – queries, thoughts, musings, amusings, funny stories, nothing too heavy if you don't mind, keep it light – to: [email protected] Aye. Youse brilliant, youse are. @SimonHbikes @Mufga

Hello everybody and welcome to a Front End Chatter FECsack special. Special you say? Yes, very special indeed, thanks for asking.

Why so special? Special because in a change from FEC's (un)usual format, we've devoted a full hour to answering one single, solitary, lonely, individual question sent in by a listener. Well, you know, after 170-odd of these things, we figured it's about time we did one properly...

And as such it is the unbelievably enormously magnificently humongous pleasure of Britain's best bum-lickingiest biking podcast to welcome the one and only Adrian Morton - Britain's best bike designer - to the deepest deep dive (too soon?) you'll ever hear on:

• what it was like to work with (and then take over from) Massimo Tamburini - how the Cagiva, sorry, MV Agusta F4 750 came to life, and whether it can ever be repeated - how many designs does it take to get a footpeg right - who really designed the F3, despite what Wikipedia says - and much, much more, including the future of motorcycle design...

We hope you love this detour from our usual FEC waffling as much as we do. And if you'd like to contribute to our bulging FECsack of listener questions, please fire your ponderings through to [email protected]

Hello and welcome one and all to Front End Chatter, Britain's cakiest motorcycle podcast with she/him, Martina Fitz-Gibbons and it/blimey, Simone Hargreaves. As the country's leading formerly employed but subsequently jettisoned motorcycle journalistas, now freelancing for anyone with a gold sovereign and a glint in their eye, we're proud to be supported and stimulated by Bennetts, Brian's leading bike insurers, and BikeSocial.co.uk, more motorcycling news, reviews and blues clues on the web than the web really deserves. And on this mightily magnificent episode we have: • the NC500 and why it's not a Honda parallel twin, but a blummin' ace ride around the top of Scotland • BMW's new M1000XR • Kawasaki's new ZX-6R • the price is announced for Kawasaki's ZX-4RR • Michael Dunlop and Peter Hickman dominate the 2023 TT • how Triumph's Tiger 1200 is the fastest bike ever over the longest distance in 24 hours • details of Bennetts High Performance Awards for bike clothing, taking the complexity out of bike kit protection ratings and why you should look out for it • FECsack musings including why isn't cruise control fitted to smaller bikes, the best small-bore track bike, why bike modern bike seats don't always fit and much more... Thanks for your ears, please keep your musings and queries and general thoughts coming to: [email protected] @simonhbikes @mufga

Hello everybody, and welcome to a quick but exciting FEC cordially inviting you, dear FEC listener, to the Bennetts Snetterton Track Day on Thursday 13th July.

We're going, and we'd love you to be there with us for a chin-wag and a cup of coffee.

Bennetts BikeSocial trackdays aren't like other trackdays – they're WAY better.

As well as 7 x 20-minute track sessions, with novice, intermediate and advanced group options, you'll also get FREE action shots taken by a professional British Superbikes photographer, and be able to meet and ride on track with Mr John McGuinness.

An onsite BSB mechanic will offer set-up advice, a team of instructors will offer riding tips, and Yamaha track hire bikes are available to book. If you're a novice, this is the perfect introduction – there's an extended safety briefing if it's your first time, plus two free classroom sessions offering advice on body position and circuit riding.

And all of this costs just £139 – an absolute bargain.

Normally Bennetts trackdays are only available to BikeSocial members, but we've swung a deal to allow FEC listeners to come along too, even if you're not a BikeSocialist.

We'll be there, and we'll have a garage put aside exclusively for the use of FECers.

Obviously you will need all the usual trackday safety kit (ACU approved full-face helmet, full one-piece or complete zip-together two-piece leathers, proper boots and leather gloves and all the rest) plus a full length back protector, and a front brake lever guard or hand-guards, and your bike will need to meet the noise limit (102DB static / 92DB driveby).

To book, you'll need to head to the link below:

https://rewards.bennetts.co.uk/rewards/snetterton-trackday-13072023-discount-voucher-code

You'll find all the info you need, the terms & conditions, plus a link to take you through to book your place, at Snetterton, on Thursday 13th July. See you there!

Hello, good morning and welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain's best general-purpose biking podcast (apart from racing podcasts, of which there are many and excellent). This is Episode 177 of nonsense, the first since the FEC Grin Up North tour. And it's been a while because Simon and Martin have been busy eking a living from the dry, dusty soil of freelance motorcycle journalism. Thanks as always to Bennetts, with whom you ought to be insured for so many reasons – they're actually motorcyclists, for a start. And they support www.bikesocial.co.uk and its associated YouTube channel, where you can find road tests, launches, news, proper consumer advice and loads more genuinely useful, and entertaining, stuff. Check out becoming a BikeSocial Member, because the money-off offers alone are more than worthwhile – not to mention the competition offers. Anyway, on this episode of FEC Simon and Martin natter about: • The FEC800 Grin Up North Tour • Martin's impressions of Suzuki's GSX-S1000 GT+ • Simon's impressions of Honda's Gold Wing • Honda's DCT system and why it's taken 13 years for Simon to get over himself • why Ireland is SO NICE! • speculation about BMW's M1000XR • some truths about the hydrogen as an alternative fuel, and why the Japanese manufacturers have got together to find out it's probably not the answer • your FEC Sack questions and queries including why changing your tyres is a Good Thing, why there's good riding in the south of England if you go looking for it, is Ducati's Monster defined by a trellis frame, and riding bikes before you were born. *From* before you were born, not actually pre-womb. Thanks for listening, send your questions, thoughts and lunatic ravings to [email protected] Get me and Martin on the socials @simohbikes @Mufga This episode is dedicated to the memory of Boz.

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter E176... LIVE FROM THE 2023 GRIN OOP NORTH TOUR!

Yes folks, after a lengthy absence due to life, the universe and everything, Front End Chatter is back – and not only back, but back LIVE. Recorded in front of a hand-picked audience of FEC friends from a hotel in Lancashire, your hosts Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons talk a load of nonsense including:

• guff about the new Suzuki GSX-S 8S and why it might be better than Honda's Hornet

• guff about the new Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+ and how it helps you brake

• Mufga goes trials riding with Inch Perfect Trials

• plus questions from the audience, including: • how to set-up, or not, a GSX-S1000S

• why pillion seats are so small • how to save motorcycling

• who will build the last petrol engine ever

And a bit more.

Thanks as always to Bennetts and BikeSocial.co.uk for their enduring and endearing support.

Thanks also to Paul at MCI Tours (www.mcitours.com) for organising and managing the FEC Grin Oop North Tour.

Thanks to the staff of Crooklands Hotel, Kendal, for their hospitality.

And, more than anything, thanks to our friends on the FEC Grin Oop North Tour 2023: Matt, DJ, Peter, Jamie, Owain, Dale, Paul, Jono, George, John, Iestyn, Fazer John & Pamela, Andy & Carol, Stuart & Leonie, Stuart & Jenny, PJ, Connor, Matt, Avi and Jake.

@SimonHbikes @Mufga

Hello and welcome to Episode 175 of Front End Chatter, Britain's funkiest motorcycling podcast, presented by Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons, supported as ever by Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and BikeSocial.co.uk, the best place to get your motorcycling news and other two-wheeled resources.

And on FEC175 we have:

• Simon becomes one of a handful of humans to ride both Suzuki's V-Strom 800DE and Honda's Transalp at their respective launches – find out what he thinks and which one might suit you

• KTM and MV Agusta re-organise their dealers (which only matters to the half of the podcast who owns an MV Agusta)

• Irish road racing is back on after securing £90,000 from crowdfunding and a renegotiation of their insurance premium, which is good news – although is this now going to be an annual issue?

• the first two races from World Superbike at Phillip Island and Mandalika

• plus more of our emails, including:

- the when and where of throttle snatch

- why can't I go round right handers?

- how come Sikhs don't have to wear helmets?

- recalibrating quickshifters – urban myth or actual thing?

- why does my bum ache?

...and much more...

Thank you very much for listening, and please send your thoughts, queries and random comedy motorcycling moments to

[email protected] @SimonHbikes

@Mufga

Dearest FECers, welcome to episode 174 of the long-running – well, it's our ninth birthday, apparently, Happy Birthday to us etc – motorcycling podcast brought to you by Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons, and ably, nimbly and elastically supported by Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists (and if you haven't yet, you really should) and bikesocial.co.uk, the world of wokecycling on the web. And on this episode of FEC we have: • Martin making his spring comeback on his MV • top tips for getting back into it after a winter lay-off • the current state of play on the roads in Ireland • Simon rides BMW's R1250 RS and gets confused by Triumph's DRLs • plus a bunch of FECmails including naming your bike, which Guzzi, does your confidence dip, and what a compression and why is it ratioed? Thanks for listening once more, please spread the word, and please keep sending your thoughts, ponderings, musings, anecdotes, jokes, questions and offers of, well, anything, to: [email protected] @SimonHBikes @Mufga

Hello & welcome to Front End Chatter with him, Martin Fitz-Gibbons, and me, Simon Harararargreaves. This is episode #173 of a long-running saga, in which we are as ever indebted to Bennetts, the only bike insurers who actually invest a shed-load back into British motorcycling culture to promote the British Superbike series, create an ocean of free content at www.BikeSocial.co.uk, planted the seeds for a rich and fertile YouTube channel, and allow FEC to come in your ears once a fortnight. That's gotta be worth the entry fee. And on this fortnight's FEC we have a new bike blitz with the return of the sports 400 in the unlikely shape of Kawasaki's ZX-4RR, the return of the sports touring supermoto with KTM's 890 SMT, and the debut of Suzuki's V-Strom with a 21in front wheel. We also dive into the FEC sack – and, in a break with tradition, we harvest it from the top down, responding to the most current emails first (mostly commenting on FEC172's rather depressing message about the end of life as we know it). Anyway, we're still here, you're still here, and bikes are still awesome. So we're good. Please keep the questions (bike choice or existential), plus any other queries, comments and funny stories, coming to us at: [email protected] Catch us on the socials at: @SimonHBikes @Mufga Aye.