A quick gas stop found us in conversation with some bull-riding cowboys, before we were once more alone with our thoughts and the vast Canadian vista. (Photo: Tom Riles and Brian J. Nelson)

A quick gas stop found us in conversation with some bull-riding cowboys, before we were once more alone with our thoughts and the vast Canadian vista. The Ultra quickly became my favorite of all the motorcycles I had ridden in the past days, and with the tachometer needle right around the 3,000-rpm mark, I was transported to a state of bliss. At this engine speed, the big 1690cc V-twin is smooth and very relaxed, perfectly ready and eager to launch you forward for overtaking maneuvers with just the slightest roll of the super-light throttle. With a strong mechanical sound track added in to the moving picture flowing across the windshield, at times I t rolled on the throttle just to hear the engine, and feel the big, yellow machine surge forward as if it were as excited to be there as I was.

Sitting comfortably in the low, wide seat with a natural reach to the wide bars, the floorboards seemed perfectly placed for my feet, and I felt I could have just sat there and ridden all day, and the next, and the next. Good luggage space is available in the lockable hard bags, and with some careful attention, I could easily have attached enough gear to the rear carry-on for a couple of weeks. The Caribou Highway was just out of this world smooth, flowing, and undulating as it climbed and fell through the breathtaking Canadian landscape, which thankfully was seemingly devoid of four-wheeled traffic. Occasionally a tour bus would loom into view, and the odd loaded-down family wagon with faces pressed to the windows, but for the most part it was our small group snaking our way east. And as we all settled into our natural riding pace, I found myself alone with my good friend Andy Cherney. The way the smooth road flowed through the mountainous terrain was as if it had been built for us to bring touring motorcycles to play, and the big Harley felt completely at home in the rugged surrounds. Occasional horse ranches broke up the landscape, as we followed large rivers cut deep into steep mountain gorges. Dropping down to ride alongside one particular river on a roller coaster of tight, switch-back bends, we indulged in some peg scraping, as the Ultra is not against having some fun in the turns. The Ultra offers highly competent handling for a bike of this size and weight, and while I wouldn’t encourage this sort of behavior, it’s not going to end in tragedy if you do. Running parallel to the river, we marveled at its size, as the wind whipped up the surface creating whitecaps as if we were alongside an ocean.

Out in the wilds of Canada in the saddle of the quintessential American motorcycle, I was once more reminded, as an extremely small subset of the human population roaming this vast planet, how truly fortunate we are. The motion, the power, the freedom, and the ability to fast forward, rewind, or pause the landscape we are traveling at any time makes me realize I have barely scratched the surface of the reasons why we ride on this journey. And out under those huge, silent stone giants towering above us, with their muscular shoulders thrusting up into the cloudless, blue sky, a warm smile turned into a grin, then a laugh, followed by a rapturous chorus of one of my favorite songs. Sung, I might add, so badly I would have been thrown out of any self-respecting karaoke bar in the interest of keeping the other patrons there. But alone in the saddle, I could have cared less, as no one could hear me.

Our high-tech lives are invading these experiences too often, and at s an alarming rate. It had taken me three days of connecting with old friends, and making new ones, to be fully reminded of what matters. Sending our millions of bits of information at lightning speed around the world, we think we are so clever and so advanced. But looking at just one scene through the windshield, I thought of each drop of water in the thundering river beside me, of each cell of every leaf on every tree, and of each blade of grass in the densely forested mountain ridge that dominated my immediate skyline. Mother Nature has been sending trillions of bits of information in every direction, for as far as my eye could see, every picosecond since the beginning of time just to make this view, and the next, and the next, and the next. It made me feel humble and grateful in equal measures that I was fortunate enough to be able to see this incredible beauty once more, and to be in the small subset of humans who choose to see it from the saddle of a motorcycle.

Before our time together was finished I rode the Fat Boy Lo, the Blackline, and the regular Fat Boy, but I came away with a tie between the big Ultra for the wide-open spaces and the Street Bob for around town. Whatever your personal big-twin taste, it seems Harley’s got you covered, and with their exciting Hard Candy Custom campaign, their 110th anniversary celebrations, and expanded H-D1 Factory Customization program to add to their fantastic new tour packages, it looks like 2013 is going to be an incredible year for Harley Davidson.