Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, the motorcycling podcast, and none other than Episode 221 – they said we couldn't do it, but we've naysayed the naysayers. His name is Martin Fitz-Gibbons, editor of Bike magazine, and my name isn't but that's not important right now – what's important is we thank Bennetts, Britain's best motorcycle insurers who put more back into biking than insurance companies who put less back into biking, and some of whom put nothing back but merely take take take. Good people one and all. And also uber-thanks to the bikesocial.co.uk, the world of wokecycling on the web and on the YouTubes, with loads of news, views, new bike launches and road tests – all the good stuff.

Right, on with the show – and today Martin and Simon, for it is he, opine about, in no particular order...
• Suzuki's marvellous DRZ-Z4S and how old can be better than new
• the loss of Phillip Island as a MotoGP circuit
• Honda Hornet 1000 recall for excessive oil consumption
• UK bikes sales stats for YTD up to Feb
• fab epic bike doc by FortNine called Yalla Habibi
• plus a selection of your fine emails from the FECSack.

As ever, please keep your questions and queries coming to anything@frontendchatter.com

And thank you very much for listening!

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, the podcast home of all things motorcycle-related, albeit tangentially sometimes, which, let's be honest, it's a slow news decade and we have to talk about something so why not just gossip? He's Martin Fitz-Gibbons and he's Simon Hargreaves, a pair of motorcycle content creators. And they're Bennetts, Britain's Best Bike Insurers, to whom we are all indebted, sometimes quite literally. And they're bikesocial.co.uk, where the web meets the world of bikes.

And on the pod this month we natter about – blimey, where do we start?
• Bennetts pull out of BSB sponsorship – the why and the what it means for BSB
• The Buccleuch Arms Hotel, famed as the best hotel in Scotland and catering especially for motorcyclists, is up for sale! Details within
• Moors The Merrier FEC Tour in 'almost sold out' shock!
• 2025 new bike sales nearly 20% down on 2024
• Voge R625 ain't half bad
• Kawasaki Z1100 SE is more than half good
• revolutionary solid state battery-powered bike with 10min recharge and 300mile plus range, 'Verge'-ing on the ridiculous
• 62 historic MotoGP bikes worth zillions seized in Mexican drug bust
• what's your top speed, ever, no names officer
• which bike is the GOAT of all time?

All this and more! And it's all in one episode!

Send your questions, thoughts, comments, brain farts, top speeds and nominations for Greatest Bike Of All Time to anything@frontendchatter.com

And don't forget to book onto the Moors The Merrier Tour with us! It's in July, it'll be sunny, it's a weekend, and the beer is... well, it's not free but you might get a pint out of it!

May your god go with you.

Hello and welcome indeed to Front End Chatter, Episode 219, in which Martin and Simon use their vast misunderstanding of motorcycles as a basis for interminable waffling on a podcast. As ever, they are supported in their efforts by Bennetts, Britain's best bike insurers, and bikesocial.co.uk, all your motorcycling info needs on the web.

And on this pod, Simon and Martin natter about:
• the forthcoming FEC Tour 2026 – The Moors The Merrier – on July 17-20th in the N Yorks Moors
• smashing phones on bikes
• Triumph's Tiger Sport 800
• why bikes aren't as fast as they used to be, and why no-one cares
• Honda's CB1000GT
• Honda's VR3
• Honda's NW7
• BMW's F450GS
• Norton's Atlases
• CFMoto's KTM 990 Adventure
...and much much much more.

Thank you for listening, please spread the word amongst your peers, and please sign up to the FEC Tour by emailing anything@frontendchatter.com and registering your interest. Onwards!