Front End Chatter

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 yo...

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...

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 adv...

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 R...

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...

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 be...

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 thi...

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 c...

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...

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 ‘...

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 go...

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:  anything@frontendchatter.com   or Tw...

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 so...

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, an...

Welcome to Front End Chatter E35, which contains details of Kawasaki's forking-great 2016 ZX-10R, BMW's gravity-defying G310 concept bike (and why, if it really does break the laws of physics and hover, it also breaks the law in Britain), the ramifications of the technology-sharing pact between Honda, BMW and Yamaha, and the usual wild MotoGP speculation and gossip.  Thanks for listening, and plea...

Front End Chatter E34 – the Less Than Honest Episode – in which: • Martin and Simon get their riding assessed and ride very sensibly – almost as if their livelihoods depend on it (which they do)  • VW are caught cheating on US emissions tests, but are bike manufacturers doing the same?  • details of Ducati's 2016 models are accidentally revealed online, by the same US emissions board who 'outed' V...

Back to scotch rumours of its (not our) demise, Front End Chatter E33 sees a lucid Martin and hungover Simon cover a wide range of two-wheeled gossip including: Jonathan Rea’s record-breaking World Superbike title, and whether Danny Kent winning the Moto3 title might be seen as a bigger deal new bike chat about the 2016 Kawasaki ZX-10R, Honda’s Africa Twin, KTM's parallel twin, Yamaha's XSR700 and...

Coming to you fresh out of last week and looking all the way into next year, Front End Chatter #32 covers: - Speculation, rumour, gossip, semi-educated guesses and, in a few cases, actual established facts about the new motorcycles we can expect to see in 2016 (and 2017). - Whether BMW's new hi-tech flashing brake light gizmo is really such a bright idea. - MotoGP recap from Sachsenring, the battl...

Britain's original motorcycle podcast is back once again with a hundred minutes of talk, discussion, argument, ill-informed rumour, shameful name-dropping and awful impressions covering: – Everything that happened at the Isle of Man TT races, including asking the question NOBODY IS EVER ALLOWED TO ASK! – All the last corner antics from the Assen round of MotoGP, including Rossi vs Marquez and Nikl...

Front End Chatter, Britain's best motorcycle podcast, celebrates its 30th episode with a Q&A special. This time we've passed the handlebars over to you, dear listener(s), as Simon and Martin spend a full hour finding, inventing, and in some cases, actually knowing, answers to your questions. Topics include: - Why many riders find life gets in the way of riding, often for years at a time - Are bike...

After six weeks of sponsored silence, Britain's least-consistent motorcycle podcast is back. In episode 29, Simon and Martin discuss: - Why watching MotoGP racing is a bit like watching two walruses fighting, or a Shakepearean play, or something. - Will Valentino win the title, will Ducati win a race, and will Melandri win a point? - The North West 200 race that was won by a movie star. - The new...

Welcome to Front End Chatter episode 28, in which Martin and Simon: • discuss the drama of the 2015 season-opening MotoGP race from Qatar • preview (just) the upcoming 2015 season-opening British Superbike race from Donington • interview BSB Series Director Stuart Higgs in the back of a van and talk about what’s in store this year, why BSB is a success, whether the rules on electronics and the Sho...

Front End Chatter, Britain's best motorcycle podcast, considers joining The 27 Club and contains: - A 30-minute preview of the 2015 MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 seasons with respected journalist and racer Mat Oxley (@matoxley), including: whether Ducati really has turned a corner in turning corners; whether Jorge Lorenzo will fit into his leathers; why Moto2 isn't as exciting as it was; and why the you...

Episode #26 of Front End Chatter includes: - Britain's best motorcycle podcast celebrates its one-year anniversary by being ignored at the London Motorcycle Show. And Martin finally fulfils a four-year promise. - World Superbikes recap from Phillip Island, including the record-breaking (not in a good way) return of Troy Bayliss, why the podiums resembled the setup to a rubbish old pub joke, and th...

Episode 25 of Front End Chatter, Britain's best and most superlative biking podcast, returns from a lengthy absinthe to discuss the first stirrings of a MotoGP season from testing at Sepang, Malaysia, and whether anything can be inferred from said performances other than some bikes and riders will definitely be on the grid at the start of the season, and some will be faster than others (the chance...