Front End Chatter #121

Explicit content warning

08/05/20 • 122 min

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter E121, Britain’s most aromatic motorcycling podcast, presented by the fragrant Simon Hargreaves and the perfumed Martin Fitz-Gibbons – and supported as ever by the mellifluous niff emanating from the guys and gals of Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and the aromatic scent wafting from www.bikesocial.co.uk, the world of motorcycling on the interweb.

And on this edition of FEC we natter about:

details of the proposed Isle of Wight Diamond Races – Britain’s first new road race in modern times – and ask how likely it is to happen, who's paying for it, and what do the islanders have to say – plus, a detailed look at the layout and quality of the circuit itself
action from MotoGP from Jerez #2, including the wisdom of racing with broken bones
action from WSB at, er, Jerez again
more electrical issues and who can solve them
is there such a thing as a good, cheap, sporty V-twin?
does comfort matter on a naked bike?
have sportsbikes got too radical and would a Superleggera outsell a GS if it was the same price?
what does 'best bike of 2020' actually mean?

...and loads more!

Please send your emails of thoughts, musings, questions and offers of free Fazer 1000s to [email protected]

Thank you very much for continuing to grace our chattering with your ears, please continue to support Bennetts with your dollars, BikeSocial with your eyes and MCN and RiDE and Practical Sportsbikes with your dollars and your eyes.

You can get us on the socials:

@SimonHbikes

@Mufga

And on this edition of FEC we natter about:

details of the proposed Isle of Wight Diamond Races – Britain’s first new road race in modern times – and ask how likely it is to happen, who's paying for it, and what do the islanders have to say – plus, a detailed look at the layout and quality of the circuit itself
action from MotoGP from Jerez #2, including the wisdom of racing with broken bones
action from WSB at, er, Jerez again
more electrical issues and who can solve them
is there such a thing as a good, cheap, sporty V-twin?
does comfort matter on a naked bike?
have sportsbikes got too radical and would a Superleggera outsell a GS if it was the same price?
what does 'best bike of 2020' actually mean?

...and loads more!

Please send your emails of thoughts, musings, questions and offers of free Fazer 1000s to [email protected]

You can get us on the socials:

@SimonHbikes

@Mufga

Previous Episode

Front End Chatter #120

Hello and welcome to FEC120, the 120th episode of not the UK’s most popular automotive podcast but one of them. As ever, we are indebted to Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists – and check out www.bikesocial.co.uk for the kind of comprehensive investigative consumer journalism you can’t find anywhere else. However, if it isn’t comprehensive investigative consumer journalism you want but a pair of gas-bags waffling instead, here’s what’s in store for you in episode 120:

does a necktube count as a face mask?
a scatter-gun and largely incoherent round-up of MotoGP from Jerez #1 – including: - should riders be allowed to race with broken bones, and is the ‘medical’ tough enough? - will the championship result be any less significant if the favourite is injured? - should Repsol team manager Alberto Puig be allowed to troll other riders? Plus!
goodbye to the Honda Ron Haslam Race School
does just the thought of selling a bike mean eventually selling becomes inevitable?
which is the best Multistrada: original 1200S, Skyhook version, Pikes Peak, Enduro or 950?
if a bike is SORN, is it worth MOTing it?
should you try your first track day without tuition?
what’s the future of bike magazines?
what happens to press demo bikes?
do phone cameras fail when they’re used on bikes as sat navs?
is it safe to plug a tyre puncture with a plug kit?

...plus loads more... Thanks for listening, please get your insurance from Bennetts – it helps the world keep turning – and take advantage of the Rewards scheme! Get your bking info from www,bikesocial.co.uk, plus RiDE, MCN and Practical Sportsbikes magazine! Keep your questions, thoughts, musings and jokes coming to:

[email protected]

And get us the Twitters and Instas:

@SimonHbikes

@Mufga

Next Episode

Front End Chatter #122

Hello und velcome, friends, to Front End Chatter Episode 122 in which Simone and Marion chatter endlessly, augmented into three dimensions under the auspices of Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists and BikeSocial.co.uk, the finest accumulation of news, sport, views, product tests and road tests ever to grace the ether.

And this week – well, what do you reckon? Let’s talk about the myWorld Motorrad Grand Prix Von Österreich. Topics include:

who’s to blame for that crash?
is the circuit safe?
why did Ducati apparently provoke Dovi into sacking himself?
if riders could be somehow 100% protected from all harm and injury in crashes, would we still find racing such a compelling spectacle?
is ‘safer’ inherently a) less exciting than dangerous, and b) is it inversely proportional to speed?

Plus

is Honda BSB rider Andy Irwin a liability ?
what’s not the correct method for transporting a guitar on a bike?
more ‘heaviest things you’ve carried on a bike’, and why it might include 14 bottles of Jerez brandy, 24 bottles of Kronenburg and 45 multipacks of Orbit chewing gum
don’t buy the first bike you see, unless it’s not the first bike you’ve seen
more rear brake cornering advice
is it worth chopping in a 2005 R1200 GS for the new R1250 GS?
is a Sur Ron Light Bee (a sort of electric mountain bike) the future of biking?
which bike has the best-sounding standard exhaust note?
which is better: Triumph’s old Tiger 800, new Tiger 900, old Tiger 1200 or even older Tiger 1050? And what will Triumph’s almost certain new Tiger 1200 have a grumbly T-plane crank, and will it come with a 30-litre tank Adventure option?

And muchly much more gossip and slander. Don’t sue us. We’re skint anyway.

Thanks again to Bennetts and BikeSocial – but especially to you, for listening and putting up with us – and please keep your emails of thoughts, observations, jokes and questions coming to:

[email protected]

And get us on the socials at:

@SimonHbikes

@Mufga

Ta-raa.