Our Ride For Sight

Demo Rides

The main attraction of the Ride for Sight for us was that all the major manufacturers would be present with their demo bikes. It would be a great opportunity to see in one place what Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki , Harley, Buell, and Polaris had to offer, and then take one for a spin if so inclined. Knowing that both Andrew and Gail were strongly attracted to Buells, we went directly to the Harley area.

Found parked with the Polaris demo fleet. If nothing else, this bike is certainly unique.

Sure enough, that's where they were. We saw Gail standing near the bikes with her cell phone clutched in her hand (no doubt still waiting for our call) while Andrew was in the process of donning his helmet. The first demo ride was about to depart and he had chosen the CityX as his test bike. Gail had sat on the various Buells earlier, but wisely decided she wasn't ready to take one out in a group. After all, she had less than 2000km of motorcycling experience to her credit. More importantly, she had to tippy-toe when holding up the bikes and didn't want to risk dropping one at a stop. There were no low models available that day.

With Andrew gone for the next 45 minutes, we decided to make our way to the sign up table. By pure luck, only two models were still available for the next demo ride at 2 o'clock and they were exactly the ones we wanted to try. Caroline has been in love with the Heritage Softail ever since they first came out, and so that would be her bike. I wanted to try something as different from my bike as possible and was pleased that I would get the Springer.

While we waited for Andrew to return, we stayed under the shade of the Harley demo tent. Being dressed all in black including a semi-formal short sleeved shirt with HD monogrammed over the breast pocket, people kept mistaking me for staff. Since I wasn't getting paid, we finally moved to the shelter of a nearby tree. Have I mentioned how HOT it was? With temperatures across Ontario for the past week reaching mid thirties, but with the humidity feeling more like forties, the clothes we wore all ready clung to us in the oppressive and sticky heat. It seems we live in a climate of extremes these days. It's either we roast, or we freeze. Sometimes we do both in less than 24 hours.

This portion of the parade went down vendor alley after it split off and veered away from the main parking lot.

Once Andrew was back, he quickly registered for another ride; this time on a Firebolt. Since we had a couple of hours to kill, we decided to check out the rest of the park and get some lunch before it got too busy. Before leaving the demo area, Gail and I took the time to photograph a sampling of demo bikes with the intent to incorporate them into a poster we had been asked to create for an Eastern Ontario HOG chapter event. This event will be open to all motorcyclists and we wanted bikes from different manufacturers to convey that message. We picked three very different and distinct machines: a BMW tourer, a Honda CBR, and of course a Harley which happened to be the Springer I would soon be cruising on.

As we made our way towards the outdoor vendors, we had a chance to do some people watching. Considering that two thousand or more bikes were expected to arrive from Toronto by the noon hour in one long parade, it was amazing how many riders were here all ready. The event seemed a success even without the 'Big Smoke' contingent.

As with all Canadian motorcycle rallies that I have been to, the wares on sale were predominantly focused around jewelry, tee-shirts, sunglasses, and leather (which included saddle bags and tool rolls as well). There was also an indoor market which offered a bit more. In there we found tattoo artists busy with clients, spray-brush artists, more tee-shirts and patches, and an importer of the 'Trailer in a Bag' product.

There were plenty of concessions there to satisfy our hunger. From the usual dogs and burgs, to brats, BBQ ribs, and fresh squeezed juices, everyone could find something to their taste - and as far as I could tell, all for a reasonable price. We bought our meal and settled ourselves in the blessed shade to enjoy our food, and to be entertained by the passing bikes and bikers.

Bikes on the parade streaming in from the Toronto area.

Suddenly horns started to blast, engines were enthusiastically revved, and all attention turned to a new flood of bikes headed our way. The parade from the Center of the Universe (better known to outsiders as the Greater Toronto Area) had finally arrived. We were at the west end of the park at the time, and were seeing only a small fraction of the onslaught. We quickly moved to the 'Official" parade entrance that was centrally located, and that was where the big numbers were. It is always cool to see a parade such as this, especially here in Canada where we rarely see the kinds of numbers our American cousins typically do.

Once the last bike had made it onto the grounds, it was almost time for our demo ride. This meant we had to once again navigate our way past the vendors, and this time it would be expensive. What is it with women and jewelry? They have boxes of the stuff at home, yet they always seem to profess a need for more. We stopped at each display to check out the goods, and I sighed with relief each time we moved on having found nothing to Caroline's liking. We were so close to making it through the merchants' gauntlet; then at the very last one she found the perfect adornment.

"Not in a million years! I'd much rather have the Heritage Softail."

I think anyone watching would have been amused as Caroline excavated through the various compartments of her purse searching for every last penny. But no matter how hard she searched, she still remained $50 short - Visa not accepted. The saleswoman realizing that her sale would soon be lost sweetened the deal significantly. Caroline now needed just $10 more. I knew this would cost me, but being a hero is a good thing. While Caroline beamed with her newest prized possession, my back pocket had gained a little more space. [It was a silver and turquoise necklace made by natives in the Southern US - Caroline.]