Letter from the Editor........................................... 3

Reader Response...........................6

SCENE ....................................8

........................12

NATIONAL DESTINATIONS

Shamrock Tour® - Gainesville, Florida

Ambling the Endless Arrow.............16

Southwest Oklahoma

Roamin' the Range.....................28

Arizona: Grand Canyon Suite..............50

The Catskills: Solo Solstice.............68

INTERNATIONAL DESTINATIONS

British Columbia

The Kettle Valley Railway.............82

From Mongolia to China

Chinggiz Khan's Country...............94

. .. . v

Behind the Scenes

The Production of an Aluminum Case....44

The 2008 Triumph Urban Sports Models

Triples Play..........................78

Ride Like A Pro.........................102

The Centenary Isle of Man TT............108

Serivce: Getting Started in Motorcycling.1 14

KHNNG IMPRESSIONS

2008 Buell Ulysses® XB12XT

Taking It To the Street...............40

2008 BMW R 1200 RT vs.

2008 Moto Guzzi Norge

Two Sides of the Alps, One Mission....60

2008 Suzuki Boulevard C109/C109RT

King of the Boulevard.................90

2008 Honda FSC600A Silver Wing

Little Wing, Big Scoot...............104

r ........................ns

Moto Views...............................130

Subscription Cards.......................131

Tankbag Maps.............................133

In the late 1800s a gold rush engulfed the interior of southwestern Canada. However, to be worth the

assayers' valuations, the precious metal and other mined commodities had to reach the Pacific coast.

Great mountain ranges and deep river gorges stood in the way, and at that time, building the Kettle

Valley line proved to be the most difficult and cost-intensive construction of a railway ever. It took 20

years to complete, and the first train ran in 1915.

By the '60s, new roads had taken

precedence, leading to the decline of

the railway. Wrecks were common in

this hostile terrain, and the costs of

maintaining the 600-kilometer line had

skyrocketed. So, when the Canadian

Pacific Railway finally tore up the

tracks, the rail bed was reincarnated

as a great trail crossing southern British

Columbia. I've come to ride the best

part of it, east to west, from Castlegar

in the Kootenai Region to the Fraser

Valley near Vancouver.

The sun is getting low, immersing

the deep blue lake and surrounding

mountains in beautiful orange light. A

scenic spot by the shore makes the de-

cision to set up camp an easy one. The

water is much warmer than it looks, and

I cannot imagine any greater joy than

diving in right then, with this summer's day

pushing the mercury into the nineties.

While pitching the tent, I suddenly

hear a loud splash behind me. A beaver

is fishing only a few yards away. As

he drags his bounty onto a big tree

trunk afloat in the lake I notice that I'm not...