Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter, Britain's Best Biking Podcast presented by 'Fox Mulder' Hargreaves and 'Dana Scully' Fitz-Gibbons – because, spookily, this is FEC Episode 218; exactly the same number of episodes as TV's The X-Files. Except it's not spooky at all because it's not a coincidence. It's inevitable there's a TV show with exactly 218 episodes, and it's the X-Files; if we waited until FEC 219 to make the connection, it would be the same number of episodes as the original ABC run of the American improvisational comedy series Whose Line Is It Anyway? Insert your own joke here.

And thanks as always to our benevolent benefactors Bennetts, Britain's Best Bike insurers, and bikesocial.co.uk, the website/YouTube channel for all your biking needs. And remember to become a BikeSocial Member – it's automatic if you're insured with Bennetts, or it's £60 per year or £6 per month if not. But it means you get access to loads of competitions, offers and money-off deals on a veritable panoply of kit – basically, if you're thinking of buying anything for your bike, check to see if it's on the list; you might be able to save more than the cost of membership.

For a list of current offers and discounts, visit rewards.bennetts.co.uk/categories

Right, on with the show, and this week Simon and Martin natter about:

• Triumph's new Trident 800
• Ducati's new Monster
• Kawasaki's new KLE500
• Honda's new CB1000F
• Yamaha's new Ténéré 700 World Raid

Plus
• BMW R1300 GSA v RS v RT, and the merits of riding 600 miles for one photo
• Has motorcycling got too easy; if you don't have to earn it, is it worth anything?
• What's it like riding Honda's RC213V-S in 2025?
• Riding 'signatures'
• What's the easiest engine to work on?
• And loads of other hot air and nonsense

Thanks for listening, please tell your motorcycling pals and spread the FEC message of love, hope, friendship and riding as far and fast as possible at all times...
And please continue to grace the inbox and anything@fronteendchatter.com with your thoughts, questions, queries and general bantz.

Aye. Carry on.