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Sunday, September 17, 2017

Ecuador Pics @ Canoa

It's Confirmed.....I will be enrolled at the Sundown Beach Resort for January 2018........taking Spanish lessons
 CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE              This place is just up the Beach from the Canoa Beach Hotel where Ken and I stayed on our trip with Freedom Bike Tours in February
The Pool at the Canoa hotel 
The hot tub

Now I find I have another problem.....Sundown Hotel has sent me an email asking me to pick out a Spanish Instructor
The PROBLEM....I can't see their faces....what the *****  

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Ronco X-Terra 258/285 Update-Sept 13 2017

Upgrades completed....pics of bike waiting my arrival at AROUND THE BLOCK ADVENTURE TOURS in Huanuco Peru..CLICK on picture to enlarge

This shows 12 hp @ 7500: however the Ronco site shows
The Ronco engine is a copy of the Honda CRF 230 engine used in the Honda XR 250 and is 18.76 hp@7500rpm....so Toby assures me that the power is comparable and says I can test it against the Honda when I arrive.......







Monday, September 11, 2017

Horizon Unlimited Ontario Meet-Sept 7th to 10th 2017

The Ontario gathering is now in the past with Greg, our host for the event getting together with Susan and Grant Johnson, the founders of this resource organization, to plan for 2018. A big thank you to Greg, and Liz Bamford who arrived on Wednesday to set up for the meet......hours prior went into planning and preparing to accommodate the approximate 200 attendees from across Ontario, Quebec and the USA.......don't think we had any asylum seekers. This was an opportunity to listen to travelers stories riding throughout Central, South/North America, Australia, New Zealand, India,Mongolia and Europe. Various clinics on packing/tire repair/border crossings/general preparation for M/c travel and Clinton Smouts demonstrations on safe handling of your ride were well received. Honda and BMW had 26 bikes for free demo rides throughout the event each test lasting over 1/2 hour. The weather was warm and sunny during the day and biting cold at night.

This was also a time to get together with fellow riders and swap yarns, make new friends and share the love of ADVENTURE RIDING.......this year I counted 3 Harleys' in attendance and these folks had a ball joining in the bike games which were more suited to Adventure type bikes but they enjoyed participating and it was a hoot to watch.....thanks goes out to Michel Levesque for putting this together. The meals prepared by the camps chef were delicious,all you could eat, buffet style with snacks/fruit put out each night along with fresh coffee available 24 hrs. Kassie Tyers a recording artist of country type gospel from Sudbury performed on stage after dinner each night. Though I was not a formal presenter at the event, I was able to promote Freedom Adventure Tours of Ecuador and   Around the Block Tours of Peru. Around the Block Tours was of particular interest to a number of people due to Toby Shannon's offer to buy a bike for you, handle all the paper work to get it in your name,insurance and plates included with a guaranteed buyback at the end of your trip. This is a much less expensive alternative to shipping your bike or renting when you are on an extended trip. Many are interested how my trip goes starting in December on my purchase of the 250 X-Terra built up to a 285cc for I am told close to a 24hp. They will follow my blog and/or hear of my experience at the next Horizon Event
CLICK ON PIC TO ENLARGE                            This is the bike I purchased with Toby upgrading the engine to a 285cc adding 4hp to the stock 18.76 @ 7500rpm

also the racks added,larger wheels to 19 and 21 inch wheels Perrelli 50/50 tires. note the fender changed due to increase wheel height.

A few pictures from the event
Clinton what not to do





scenic venue


all you can eat

Registration

packing lite

hardy campers