Front End Chatter #117

Explicit content warning

06/16/20 • 128 min

Halló og velkomin to Front End Chatter E117, briefly the most popular automotive podcast in the whole of Iceland (a country renowned for its exquisite and most excellent taste) and also, briefly, the second-most popular automotive podcast in the UK (er, yes, them too).

Great bundles of thanks to the hominids at Bennetts BikeSocial – improve everyone’s lives and get your bike insurance from Bennetts and your biking infotainment from www.bikesocial.co.uk (and their YouTube channel). Right, on this week's episode we have chatter about: • The return of racing, with condensed schedules proposed for MotoGP and BSB – and which riders will benefit? • Rider line-ups for 2021 taking shape, with him there and him going there, does that mean he won't go there? • no Motorcycle Live in 2020 – so what new bikes will we see in 2021, and where can we see them? • why do manufacturers make bikes with small fuel tanks? • the four-wheel Honda powered by an Africa Twin engine • how to fit earplugs properly, and are foam plugs better than custom-made plugs? • with touchscreens and electronics, are bikes getting too complicated for their own good? • will voice-activation be a thing for bikes in the future? • ...and much, much more, no, really. Thanks again for supporting us, please leave a review on iTunes, visit bikesocial.co.uk and get your insurance from Bennetts, follow us on Twitters at @SimonHBikes and @Mufga and email your thoughts, musings, questions and insults to: [email protected]

Previous Episode

Front End Chatter #116

Hello you lucky people you, and welcome to Front End Chatter Episode 116 with Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons, brought to you via Durham with a detour to Castle Barnard. Front End Chatter is supported through thick and thicker by Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and BikeSocial.co.uk, internet's home of motorcycling. And in this episode, a still socially distant Martin and Simon rabbit on about: • the return of MotoGP, and whose Alpinestars Jack Miller will be filling at Ducati in 2021... and if they turn out to be Petrucci's, will the Italian then go and do the Dakar instead? • getting back on a bike after post lockdown, and is 'riding rust' actually a thing or is it just riders getting overexcited after a period of inactivity? • what bikes do we think are the best of all time in a FEC's Factor? • should we celebrate 125 episodes of FEC by doing 125 laps of a flat-track oval, or a roundabout? • will Kawasaki's supercharging technology eventually trickle down to smaller bikes in their range, or will it always be flagship technology? • is an R1250GS *really* the ultimate aspirational bike, or is it over-hyped? • will wearing an air-bag suit one day be as normal as putting on a helmet? • is it ever okay to cheer a rider crashing on a race track? ... and much more natter and chatter. Thank you for your continued appreciation, and please keep your emails with questions, answers, thoughts and ideas to: [email protected] Catch us on the Twitters: @SimonHBikes @Mufga ...and see you next time!

Next Episode

Front End Chatter #118

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, the occasionally number one motorcycling podcast in Iceland and, now, Singapore. This is episode 118 in a series we can confidently state contains at least 118 episodes recorded from the orals of Martin Fitz-Gibbons and Simon Hargreaves, a pair of motorcycle journalists who’ve both forgotten more than they ever knew anyway.

Eternal thanks to that font (sans serif) www.bikesocial.co.uk – all your two-wheeled infotainment emanating from one convenient portal (and YouTube) – and Bennetts, the bike insurance experts who not only insure your motorcycle but also add all kinds of benefits and bonuses; discounts, offers and competitions. Quite the array of offers should you so be inclined, as indeed you should.

Anyway, to matters in hand: in this episode of FEC we have: • more speculation on the MotoGP merry-go-round of who’s signed for who and who’s not signed for anyone and who might be getting the Herr Flick • disgraced Norton ex-boss Stuart Onions is required to pay back £14m of other people's money he no longer has • Yamaha release details of the Ténéré 700 Rally, which may or may not be the best-looking bike of 2020 • Ducati launch the Superleggera in an exclusive ride at Mugello, and it's really fast and really expensive and sounds nice, aye Plus! • our favourite rides of all time • the perils of using a phone as a sat nav • keep the GSX-R750 or get an SV650X or a Tiger? • why tracing fuelling faults is the worst job in the world • why aren't photo-reactive visors more common? • the problem with carbon fibre wheels ...and much more including Simon's sandwich recipe and Martin's biking spirit guide revealed. Thanks for watching with your ears, and you'll hear from us again soon! @SimonHBikes @Mufga