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' VW (who own Audi, who own... Ducati) • Suter release a Grand Prix replica two-stroke, with an engine ba...
Oct 07, 2015•1 hr 24 min
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 Ducati’s Monster 1200 R (and whether it is really is their most powerful naked bike ever, or if the...
Sep 21, 2015•1 hr 16 min
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 battle for championship points still to fight, and the battle for focus Martin found himself fighting dur...
Jul 21, 2015•1 hr 17 min
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 Niklas Ajo vs his knees. – Whether getting the ’80s and ’90s GP band back together in Spain is a race we...
Jun 30, 2015•1 hr 41 min
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 bikes getting taller? And does size (of a bike's seat height) really matter? - Is the Ducati Scrambl...
May 30, 2015•1 hr 1 min
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 Honda Africa Twin, and whether it would have been much, much better or much, much worse if it was mo...
May 20, 2015•1 hr 12 min
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 Showdown are a good thing or a bad thing, and what he regrets most after seven years in charge • rumina...
Apr 02, 2015•1 hr 38 min
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 young Spanish rider who could dominate Moto3 is slightly less Spanish than MFG thinks. - All the two-wh...
Mar 21, 2015•1 hr 39 min
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 the frank confessions and bruised buttocks revealed by social media. - More intrigue from MotoGP pre-s...
Feb 25, 2015•1 hr 3 min
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 chances of a dead heat involving the entire field in every race are slim). Episode 25 also features the FE...
Feb 08, 2015•1 hr
Episode 24 of Front End Chatter does not, sadly, contain Kiefer Sutherland defending the world from a series of increasingly improbable terrorists. Instead, Simon and Martin discuss: - The two-week, 5000-mile Dakar Rally compressed into 10 minutes - A pre-pre-season preview, as MotoGP prepares to start testing, World Superbikes prepares to start racing, and the internet prepares to start using the c-word about Casey Stoner - Why the 2015 Isle of Man TT has turned into the world's fastest group t...
Jan 25, 2015•1 hr 20 min
The first Front End Chatter of 2015 covers such diverse subjects as: - Simon enters a race through a village on his FireBlade, only to find out that's it's not really a race. - The first (and last) Front End Chatter 2014 Manufacturer Countdown, pop-pickers. - Listeners' problems solved (or at least answered), from trials clubs to tourism advice. - Does racing sell road bikes? - Do tall-rounders make sportsbikes look silly? Plus, Front End Chatter's off-road correspondent JP (@Jonpe23) returns to...
Jan 12, 2015•1 hr 11 min
This year's final episode of Britain's best biking podcast comes to you from the jungle... no, Andorra... no, Benidorm. And Sicily. In this hour-and-a-bit, Ant and Dec - sorry, Simon and Martin - cover: - Is Britain officially in love with Foggy once again (the stats suggest so), or did he just surf a wave of cult nostalgia (the stats suggest so...)? - Marquez moves out of his parents' house, cries, then proves he's the greatest rider on the planet even in the off-season. Plus, a review of his n...
Dec 21, 2014•1 hr 15 min
Welcome to Front End Chatter episode 21 v2.0 (apparently the dog ate episode 21 v1.0). This week Martin and Simon visit Motorcycle Live and wave a microphone at Kawasaki’s H2R, use the word ‘artisan’ twice, dissect Carl Fogarty MBE’s stellar performance on a reality TV show and whether drinking a puréed kangaroo testicle really is tougher than winning four World Superbike titles, discuss air-bag protection, lament the passing of the thrust curve, and Simon reveals how talking out loud while you’...
Dec 06, 2014•1 hr 24 min
Front End Chatter, Britain's best (and original) biking podcast celebrates its vigintennial anniversary by remembering about the good old days. Actually, it doesn't. Instead, it gets totally lost in the seemingly bottomless pool of brand new bikes and their impenetrable acronyms. Opinion and analysis abounds, including attempting (or not) to answer: - Might Kawasaki's new H2 be a tiny weeny bit of a porker? - Will Honda's road-going RC213V really happen? - Is Yamaha's new R1 deceptively good loo...
Nov 14, 2014•1 hr 33 min
Front End Chatter, Britain's best (and original) biking podcast, returns for an hour of fun and games (literally) including: - What Ducati's latest high-tech acronym actually does - What Yamaha's latest high-tech acronyms might do - Whether the 2015 BMW S1000RR is any good to ride (Simon's back from the launch, not that he mentions it much) - The frantic debut of Hipster Bingo - The remarkable true story of how a man who once set his own beard on fire drinking cocktails is at the centre of fresh...
Oct 26, 2014•1 hr 14 min
Britain's best and... hang on, have to stop you there. Anyway, this week's/month's/insert-random-time-interval's episode of Front End Chatter is all about new bikes – Kawasaki's supercharged H2R, BMW's S1000RR and R1200RS, Suzuki's GSX-S1000F and Ducati's Hipster, sorry, Scrambler – and a newly-crowned MotoGP Wold Champ, which is like a World Champ only from Lincolnshire, not Spain. There's some other stuff too. We hope you enjoy it, and please spread the word, subscribe via iTunes or an Android...
Oct 17, 2014•1 hr 43 min
Front End Chatter, the UK's finest biking podcast, goes all supercharged this week, in honour of Kawasaki's much rumoured, substantially teased and probably very exciting new sportsbike, the H2 (although it turns out your level of excitement depends on your promiscuity, gullibility and general willingness to indulge in fantasy). We also talk about the other noteworthy 2015 bikes likely to debut at the forthcoming Intermot bike show in Cologne, why sportsbikes may or may not be making a comeback,...
Sep 12, 2014•1 hr 17 min
Welcome to Front End Chatter episode 16, brought to you live, in the sense we're breathing, from Silverstone MotoGP – or is it? There's a lot of chatter about the race itself, and plenty of ill-informed gossip surrounding the event, and... well, let's just call it a wide-ranging conversation that takes in men in public toilets, why sportsbikes appear to be in decline, which one you should buy anyway, crashing on a protest ride, Aussie police, no new bike news, stolen racing trophies, how manufac...
Sep 01, 2014•1 hr 6 min
Front End Chatter hits the big one-five chattering about Marc Marquez crashing (or not), new bike news including Suzuki's big naked, Yamaha's semi-naked and BMW's wish-it-was-completely-obscured, why Welsh taxpayers may end up paying Silverstone (not in Wales) to host a Grand Prix in 2015, and lots more ill-informed chit-chat about this and that on two wheels (guaranteed to drive anyone who knows anything about bikes to distraction). We hope you like it, but have sympathy with those who don't....
Aug 27, 2014•1 hr 33 min
If you like quantity over quality, then the longest-ever episode of Front End Chatter, Britain's best (and only) biking podcast is for you. Simon and Martin return with nearly 90 minutes of words, covering: - Cal Crutchlow's last-minute change of heart. And employer - Live (though not live by the time you listen to it) commentary from the Thruxton round of British Superbikes - A new cruiser we both like the look of, and one we definitely don't - Why a great value bargain new offer might not be s...
Aug 04, 2014•1 hr 27 min
After two months of radio (or, indeed, not-radio) silence, Britain's best (and only) biking podcast is back with episode 13. But what happened to episode 12, you ask? You'll have to listen to find out... Front End Chatter #13 also covers: - Who's going (or staying) where in MotoGP, and should they? - The hectic year of the world's foremost freelance racer (who may or may not be French) - Why top-name racers don't appear at the Suzuka 8-hour (because they do?) - Unsubstantiated speculation about ...
Jul 26, 2014•1 hr 8 min
Front End Chatter episode 11 is here and contains, for your aural pleasure, Simon and Martin chattering about the following: • The Isle of Man TT – who's winning, who isn't, BMW's first win for 75 years (or is it?), when's a Norton not a Norton, when a TT racer should call it a day (or not) & Twitter incontinence ('he's Twat his pants!') • Marc Marquez' autobiography (Chapter One: Womb With A View, Chapter Two: My Time With The Midwife, Chapter Three: Going Home From The Hospital etc) • Duca...
Jun 08, 2014•1 hr 10 min
The tenth episode of Britain's best (and only) biking podcast is bursting with astounding revelations, such as: - Marc Márquez isn't the fastest rider in MotoGP - Bike racing isn't the same as football - One city has more bikes than the whole of Europe - Two genuinely interesting electric bikes are launched in the same week - Ducati make lots of money by selling very expensive sportsbikes And some other stuff too. Twit a twit on @Mufga or @SimonHbikes, or email anything@frontendchatter.com Subsc...
May 25, 2014•48 min
After a two-week hiatus (that's a posh word for slacking off), Britain's best (and still only) biking podcast is back to cover all the goings on, in, over and under the two-wheeled world. There's talk about whether MotoGP's getting dull now Marquez has won every race (it isn't); how long Marquez can win every race for (not long... probably); and whether we should all be watching World Superbikes instead (we aren't, but why not?) Then there's stuff about a bike with a small-capacity engine (Yamah...
May 14, 2014•57 min
The eighth episode of Britain's best (and only) biking podcast spreads its wings wider than ever, with irreverent (who said irrelevant?) discussion of road bikes' past (Kawasaki's KR-1, which Simon has just ridden), present (Suzuki's GSX1250FA, which Martin has just ridden) and future (electric bikes, and does anybody want to ride them?). There's also the usual racing rambling, including our attempt to work out a religious building based heirarchy for circuits around the world. And Front End Cha...
Apr 27, 2014•59 min
Welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain's best (and only) biking podcast. In this week's shambles of an episode, the gun-slinging Magnificent Seventh, Martin and Simon chatter about last weekend's stunning (or not) MotoGP race from Texas, interviewing TT racers (or not), putting the entire Japanese motorcycle industry to rights (or not), a new, road legal, two-stroke V4 (or not), why Honda's new CB650F isn't very good (or not; neither of us have ridden it). Hope you like it; please leave a review....
Apr 19, 2014•1 hr 7 min
In the sixth episode of Front End Chatter, Britain's best (and still only) biking podcast, Simon and Martin look back at the fact-filled career of Colin Edwards, preview this weekend's racing action in both Texas and Aragon, explore Simon's mid-biking-life crisis at the Yamaha Off-Road Experience, and discuss the stark differences between BMW's new R1200RT (which Simon has ridden, but didn't realise) and Honda's not-so-new VFR800 (which neither of us have ridden). Plus, our tribute to Massimo Ta...
Apr 12, 2014•58 min
In the fifth episode of Front End Chatter - still Britain's best (and only) biking podcast - Simon and Martin discuss the opening MotoGP race from Qatar, new bike news, riding a pair of new V-twins in the shape of Ducati's Diavel and Erik Buell's new EBR 1190RX sportsbike, plus some other stuff including a review of James Toseland's new album. We hope you like it, despite a passing jet about halfway through. If you're a Twitterist, we're on @Mufga and @SimonHbikes. Emails to martin@frontendchatt...
Mar 31, 2014•56 min
After the naive first episode, a difficult number two, the critically panned and self-indulgent third episode, Front End Chatter, the UK's best (and only) biking podcast, returns after a week away with a stream-lined, sleek, punchy fourth episode: FEC the 4th. I can't remember what we talk about because I had a late night last night. But there's some stuff. Hope you like it! Please email us at frontendchatter@frontendchatter.com or get us on Twitter: @Mufga or @SimonH_on_bikes...
Mar 22, 2014•49 min
