Aye, wotcha, marnin', welcome to Front End Chatter, wiv him, Simon Fitz-Martin, and him Hargreaves Gibbons, a reet pair of motorcycle journalists speaking into a wizardy recording device for the 216th time of asking, except nobody is. You get what you deserve.

Massive thanks to Bennetts, Britain's Best bike insurers, and bikesocial.co.uk, for their support of this podcast, and seemingly limitless reserves of patience and understanding at this most trying of times (and we really are trying).

And on this week's FEC (which week is that exactly?) we have:
• why Triumph's 2025 Speed Triple RS has got us so excited we're figuratively and, in Simon's case literally, standing to attention
• why Kawasaki's Ninja 1100SX SE Tourer is a genuine contender for 'Sports Tourer of 2025" as if that's an actual thing, which it isn't, really
• why Yamaha's Tracer 7 GT is a genuine contender for "Sports Tourer of 2025 under 1000cc" as if that's also an actual thing, which it also isn't, also really
• why BMW's R1300 RT is more like a sports tourer, with a longer tank range and as long as you don't do more than 400 miles in a day
• how journalists have tested the patience of manufacturers (how many fingers have you got?)
• why CFMoto's 450 MT is about to take over the world
All this and not much more, come on, it was gone 9pm when we finished and I needed a lie down with a stiff one, it might not be the most physically demanding job but I don't remember that last time a plumber had to compromise his principles quite as often. Dahling.

Right, enough, go away, but not before you've summoned your thoughts, musings, queries, questions and hilarious stories of motorcycling mishaps and mayhem and committed them to an email to:
anything@frontendchatter.com

We remain your effervescent amis

Simon H
Mufga

Ride yer bike. You know it makes very little sense.

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, and it’s episode 215 of the long-running motorcycling podcast with him, Martin Fitz-Gibbons, and him, Simon Hargreaves – and immense thanks as always to the ever-supportive Bennetts, Britain’s best-by-miles bike insurer, and the magnificent bikesocial.co.uk, the website with all your info on the latest new bikes, used bikes, classic bikes, news, reviews and product tests.

Right, on with the show – and, today, we’re in for a reborn, reinvented, reimagined, reincarnated treat... because:

• Suzuki’s GSX-R1000R is back, baby, for 2026 – and we have all the details, hot off the emails from Hamamatsu: power, weight, colours and tech. You can read about it elsewhere – but you can only hear about it, er, here

• KTM are back, baby – details of production starting again in Austria; the what, the when, and the how many

• BSA’s Bantam is back, baby – yes, after only half a century, the owners of BSA, Mahindra, decide to resurrect the name for their new 334cc single roadster, as a direct rival to Honda’s GB350S
• and of course the FECsack is back, baby – more musings, ponderings and queries from you lot to us lot about that lot

Thanks for listening, please email your own compositions and questions and congratulations to Mufga on his new job to:

anything@frontendchatter.com – and we’ll do our best to read them out.

Thank ee again, and see you on the backside, baby!

Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain's crumbliest, flakiest motorcycling podcast, brought to you by the hapless hackery of Simon Hargreaves and Martin Fitz-Gibbons, nattering endlessly on and on and on anon. We are, as always, scrutineered and scrutinised by Bennetts, Britain's Best Bike Insurer, and bikesocial.co.uk (don't need the www, but try telling legacy media that).

And this month (as it turns out) on FEC, we witter about:
• Suzuki's new GSX-S8T and TT (cue schoolboy giggling)
• CCM going bust
• Dainese in debt
• global bike sales doing well, but not so much in Europe or North America, a pretty awful in the UK
• why automatic gearboxes are the opposite of a guitar solo

Plus much more, well, a bit...

Thank you for lending us your ears, and please keep you thoughts, musings, machinations and queries to:
anything@frontendchatter.com

Love ya!