Hello friends and welcome to episode 196 of the long-running but desperately sporadic motorcycling podcast otherwise known as Front End Chatter, hosted by its own petards, Martin Fitz-Gibbons and Simon Hargreaves.

As ever, we are mightily humbled to be supported and nourished by Bennetts, the UK's leading motorcycle insurer, and bikesocial.co.uk, where all your biking needs – and, indeed, nerds – are well met.

And on this episode of FEC we chatter about:
• the rise and rise of Chinese adventure bikes – Kove, Voge and CFMoto to name but three – and are they any good and how long do they last?
• can riding bikes be TOO easy?
• what's it like riding a Multistrada the entire length of the A1?
• and loads of other stuff, including a healthy rummage through the FEC Sack of your emails and questions.

Thanks for listening, please come back for more and tell yer mates about FEC, and see you on the next one!

X

Hello and welcome to the most excellent and hospitable Buccleuch Arms Hotel in Moffat, where we're bringing you a live episode of Front End Chatter in front of a special audience of FECers – yes folks, this is FEC Up The Borders 2024!

Thanks as always to our cyberspace hosts Bennetts, the UK's best bike insurers, and bikesocial.co.uk, the UK's best biking website - and a very big thanks to Dave and his team at the Buccleuch Arms in Moffat for extraordinary hosting.

And on this live, unscripted, unprepared and generally ad hoc episode of FEC, we have a bunch of questions from our live audience including:
• Pamela's interface with a Honda Rebel seat,
• exactly how long is it since Fazer John actually had a Fazer,
• how does Stuart's R1M feel on the B709,
• has the curse of the Simon struck yet again on a FEC Tour,
• how well does an Africa Twin camouflage in bracken,
• and much much – well, some – more...

Thanks to Paul and Jo at the amazing MCI Tours for being the grown-ups in the room, and – maybe maybe – see you on the next FEC Tour in 2025?

@Mufga
@SimonHbikes

Hello Geeks and Nerds, and welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain's Bestular Biking Podcast with him, me, and me, him. Or is it the other way round? Stick to the script!

Anyway, your erstwhile hosts @SimonHbikes and @Mufga are, as always, indebted and in balls-deep with Bennetts, Britain's Bestular Bike Insurers, as voted for by the residents of Mavis Enderby for the fifth year running – and the quietly awesome bikesocial.co.uk, populated with over 6000 pages of news, views and reviews.

On the pod this fortnight we have words on:
• Ducati's new V4 Panigale and the absence of a singularly-sided swingarm
• possibly Ducati's final V2 sportsbike, the Panigale V2 Superquadro Final Edition (the clue's in the name)
• the ongoing KTM cam drama
• the very quickly and efficiently executed Suzuki V-Strom 800DE recall (that's how ya do it lads)
• Bennetts BikeSocial new Bike Club (don't call it a forum but it is, no shame in that, I use them all the time)
• Kawasaki's hydrogen-powered prototype, and why we shouldn't take it too seriously because a) it'll never be practical and b) it's probably a corporate vanity project anyway
• Yamaha's decision to put their new auto-transmission on an MT-09, and will it wheelie?
• ...which we discover Harley's LiveWire Costa Del Sol is more than capable of...
• plus loads of your FECsack emails containing thoughts, musings, amusing, ponderances and preponderances – sent in to:
anything@frontendchatter.com

Thanks for your ears, and if you fancy two days riding around with Simon H (and Simon Weir) on the Road Test Experience, go to roadtestexperience.co.uk and sign up!