Hello and welcome to Front End Chatter E130, and the first FEC of 2021; a brand new year, and hopefully things will get better – but some things stay the same and there’s not much chance of FEC improving any time soon.

Thanks as always to Bennetts, the bike insurance specialists, and www.bikesocial.co.uk, home of all that’s good and virtuous in motorcycling.

And on FEC this week, Simon and Martin chatter about:

• Davide Brivio’s shock exit from Suzuki MotoGP team boss to F1... and who we’d choose to replace him
• John McPint MBE has won an MBE from the Queenie, but who else has and who hasn’t?
• when motorcycle manufacturers get market research wrong
• hello to Aprilia’s new Tuono 660...
• ...and goodbye; we mourn the passing of true racing and engineering pioneer, Peter Williams

We also dive in the FEC sack and answer some timeless wonderings:

• what was that about preload and ride height again?
• winter hacks – it’s a love/hate thing
• magazines are for old riders; YouTube is for young ’uns: discuss
• are the Isle Of Wight Diamond Races going to happen in 2021?
• all this and much more!

Thank you very much for listening, thanks to Bennetts and www.bikesocial.co.uk for putting up with us, and please keep your thoughts, musings, queries and fact correcting coming to:

[email protected]

Catch us on the Instas and Twitters:

@SimonHbikes (but to be honest it’s more paracord hobbies and current affairs than bikes; I like to think it’s context)

@Mufga (he’s funnier than me)