Equipment Evaluation

2008 Harley-Davidson FXDF FatBob: (http://www.jimshd.com/) The best bike I've owned hands down! What a pleasure it was to be able to ride fast and hard and put the bike away wet without even a miss fire. That bike can run and didn't get its legs until it was in 6th gear at seventy five miles an hour where she held steady hour after hour. Fifty-three miles to the U.S. gallon at that speed and she didn't use a drop of oil for the entire 3400 mile trip. Now I couldn't say that about my 1971 FX, or any of my Sportsters and my 58 Sportster used to drink oil like I drink tea.

Now I'm a rider and not a loafer so putting on a windshield was against my better judgement but boy did I thank the gods that I did decide to use one. I would have been bug splattered and tuckered out after the first hundred miles. It was an easily removed shield so I went to Port Dover sans the shield only to discover that eighty per cent of the bikes were sporting one.

2008 Yamaha Raider: (http://ridenow.com/clearwater) I've ridden this bike and its a tree puller with 113 cubic inches! Smooth, fast and gone before you could think "twist of the wrist." We were planning on using it on the farm to plow the fields in the off season. Phil chose the smaller shield and rightfully so because we saw another Raider with the large shield and it looked like a bull moose in heat. But the smaller shield did give Phil more of a fight in high winds. His bike got about forty-eight miles to the gallon, which is very respectable.

Road Master Luggage Rack (http://www.motorcycletravelrack.com/) Well I was the best dressed and up first in the morning and ready to ride because of the ease in which I could load my Kuryakyn bags on the bike by simply placing them and buckling the straps. The rack held my equipment in place no matter what paces I put my bike through. I did put a couple of hose clamps on just for safety sake and peace of mind. It even held firm through "The Tail of the Dragon" 318 hairpin turns in 11 miles. The bumps in the road, which seamed to be every few miles, would bounce me around but the bags didn't move a hair.

Frogg Toggs: I know Phil mentioned that I burned through my rain pants by touching them to the pipes. Here's the lesson learned, "Don't put your rain pants on when it's windy and always dress away from a hot bike." Simple enough! They worked perfectly, it was me who failed them not the other way round. Couple of tire patches and they're good as new.

The Wholefood Farmacy (http://www.revital.wholefoodfarmacy.com/) Nutrient dense survival food that tastes good and fills you up and keeps you full! Both Phil and I ate Phi Plus while traveling to and from Canada. We only ate in a restaurant once on the way up and once on the way back. Why eat fake food that makes you fat when you can eat nutritious food which is fullfilling and gives you energy. I continued eating Phi Plus and drinking a mix of AmpliPhi and DetoxiPhi in the morning to start my day. The food stayed fresh and tasted great.

Here's my video from the photos and videos I took with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX30, 7.1 megapixel camera. I carried this tiny camera strapped on my belt within easy reach so that I could pop it out and start shooting. I'm always amazed at the quality of the video and photos as well as the sound for a camera that fits in the palm of my hand.

Paul Turnbull