Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter Episode 98, the One Less Than Jorge episode, verbalised and spuffed into noughts and ones with the roadside assistance of bikesocial.co.uk and their insuring overlords Bennetts, the bike insurance guys and gals.

And it’s a short and sweet episode this week, as we clear the FECsack in preparation for FEC100 (live at Cadwell Park near Louth, Lincs, on Tuesday Aug 13th), including:

• Mufga gets tugged by the Fuzz
• Why milking snail mucin for facials is a real thing
• WSB from the corkscrewy Laguna Se-ca, and the revelation pit lanes the world over are, entirely not in fact, named after Brad Pitt
• BSB from Snettingham Parks and the revelation Scotch Reading-not-from-Reading can’t half pedal a bike round a circuit he’s not seen before, but when is a jump start not a jump start
• would you beat Marquez on a road bike, first time out, down your favourite road?
• would WSB be livened-up by forcing winning riders to change teams?
• when is an oil flag not an oil flag?
• airbags – are they pointless out in the random environment on the road, away from predictable race track crashes? Or are they genuinely useful in certain road crashes?
• why is MotoGP’s video pass 30% more expensive in the UK than, say, France?
• should corporate greed be regulated?
• what’s a good, all-weather, non-dissolving London commuter bike for £3k?
• more from happy, hassle-free Triumph owners (but not Mufga)
• ...and a bit more.

Thanks for listening!

• email your thoughts, questions and comments to FEC100@frontendchatter.com
  • or why not record us a FEC100 message? Just a simple “Please stop!” would suffice...
• visit www.bikesocial.co.uk for your motorcycling news, stories, fun and frolicking about
• go get your insurance from Bennetts
• book yourself on the FECtacular/FECstival on 13th August at Cadwell Park
• follow @SimonHbikes and @Mufga on the Twitters, Instas etc

Apologies for the late arrival of FEC#97 – delayed by unexpected items in the bagging area – but now it’s here, let’s tuck in! Brought to you as always by the furiously febrile funkateers at bikesocial.co.uk and the bike-insuring bike insurers Bennetts, this week’s regurgitation of previously held opinions includes:

• MotoGP (remember that?) round-up from Assen and Sachsenring, including neck braces, tankslappers, youngsters v old ’uns, should JL99 and/or VR46 retire, who’ll take ZR5’s place at KTM, and who’ll replace MCN race reporter now he’s taken the gig as PR blerk for Petronas Yamaha?
• with Rea overturning Dave Bautista’s lead in WSB, does he still think his ZX-10R is “like taking a knife to a gunfight”?
• MotoE’s first race – pointless comedy, the future, or both?

 PLUS! Listeners’ emails, including:

• do leathers and other items of bike kit have a safety lifespan, and what’s best to clean them?
• living proof back protectors are worth wearing all the time...
• why are the roads in the Fens so bad?
• has Scott Redding done enough to justify a ride in WSB next year... but will it actually pay more than he’s already getting in BSB?
• has BTSport’s coverage of MotoGP been successful?
• Chinese 125 retros: stylish or not? And why don’t the big manufacturers build such stripped-back bikes?
• ...and should we make an ethical choice not to buy bikes from China, given their human rights record?

...and introducing our new bike-buying advice section, VFECR800 Corner, including:

• what’s the best big £3k sporty bike for a big sporty bloke, upgrading from a ZX-6R?
• what’s the best £4k second bike alongside a Daytona 675 for two-up weekend touring?
• what’s the best bike to replace a Husqvarna 701 Supermoto and a Triumph Tiger 800?
• what’s the best bike to deliver top-endy, rev-happy thrashable thrills instead of single-gear flexibility?
• What’s the best cheap track-day bike to suit a 6-footer for a £2k?

Thanks for listening!

• email your thoughts, questions and comments to anything@frontendchatter.com
• visit www.bikesocial.co.uk for your biking fix
• get your insurance from Bennetts
• AND! book yourself on the FECtacular/FECstival on 13th August at Cadwell Park – places still available!

 ...and follow @SimonHbikes and @Mufga on the Twitters, Instas etc