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I'm with you on the Vincent, and the 1700 V-Max. Not long after I bought my XS Eleven, the son of a friend of my mother announced that he had bought a Vincent Black Shadow. We went for a ride, he on his newly acquired Vincent, me on the Yamaha. Let me tell you, I was astounded by the way that Vincent accelerated from low revs. I had to use far more throttle than I expected to keep pace with him!

You're so lucky to see one in person. I've never seen Vincent except on photos. It's been my dream since 1980's. I loved the look right away. I missed out on so many opportunities, but it was a much different reality then. I bought a 1956 AJS 500cc for 200 dollars in 83 I think. Poland was so cheap under communist rule. By Western standards that is. That AJS was a beauty, I sold to to a friend for the same 200 in 86, after totally rebuilding the engine. We had no access to original parts, so things were made up. Literally. The piston was a machined piston from a car called Warszawa, and the valves machined from valves of a 500cc Jawa close circuit on grid speedway racing motorcycle. The cylinder sleeve I think machined form a Warszawa car as well. Those races were very popular in Poland. We had a few champions in 70's. With time, I will post some photos from those times. My big regret is I haven't taken more...

One thing that is very important to our health, and is seldom mentioned by our doctors, is the bacterial balance that lives in our gut. Your gut is host to trillions of bacteria of several hundred types. These bacteria play an important role in the healthy function of our bodies. Not only do they break down the food we eat into usable components, they also provide the building blocks for our immune systems and a host of other duties such as keeping unhealthy bacteria and yeasts in check.

A few years ago I was a very sick man. I developed a diverticulitis which is an infection in the lining of your colon. It needs to be treated with powerful antibiotics before it becomes life threatening. It can cause a perforated bowel which leads to sepsis, and possibly death. This was after many years of what the doctors told me was IBS. Diarrhea, cramps, gas, pain for years.

In my case, it was not responding to the normal antibiotics so they tried me on many combinations over several months. It kept coming back so my next option was to have surgery to remove the infected segment of bowel. I went from 165lbs to 125lbs in 6 months. I was in constant pain and nausea. Couldn't eat. Couldn't sleep. I had thrush from all the antibiotics I was taking because it screwed up my bodies bacterial balance. On more medication for the thrush and nausea.

In desperation I turned to the internet and stumbled across a website which outlined the importance of healthy gut bacteria as I did above. How antibiotics, our diet, stress and other factors kill off our good bacteria. The next day I started taking high dose probiotics in capsule form.100 billion per capsule.

In two weeks, both the diverticulitis and thrush were gone. No pain. I started eating more and gaining weight. I started eating probiotic foods. Kefir, Saurkraut. Kosher Dills etc. Three months later I felt better than I had in years and since then I've enjoyed better overall health. My gut is healthier than it has ever been. No more IBS. Ever.
In the past few months I have been having other health problems which are rather unrelated but other than those I am still better than I was before.

Lots of stress and a poor diet likely killed off my good bacteria in sufficient numbers that let that bad bacteria take over. Prior to selling that particular business in 2010 I lived on fast food twice a day, most days of the week. I moved to the country and had a much better lifestyle and diet but the damage was done so I ended up getting seriously ill for a while. So much better now.

Probiotic foods are a beneficial part of any good diet. Those trillions of little buggers are what really keep you alive so take care of them. There are studies underway which seem to indicate certain cultures who eat certain foods have better defenses against cancer and other diseases as well.

Very good points about probiotics. The problem in Britain, in my limited experience of orthodox medicine, is that doctors seem to have little interest in, or knowledge of natural remedies. They are too keen to prescribe antibiotics or other drugs. One could be forgiven for thinking they are in the pay of the hugely powerful drug manufacturers.

Probiotics have been in the forefront for the past few years. Yougurt manufacturers have been focused on advertising their products while raising the fact that their products contain probiotics. One of the little known facts is that probiotics (the good gut bacteria) thrive on prebiotics, indigestible fibers that provide nourishment for the probiotics—much like fertilizer for a garden. These soluble fibers are often found in plant-based foods and are indigestible by us. In fact, what makes this type of fiber an excellent prebiotic is its ability to pass through the upper gastrointestinal tract undigested and make its way into the colon, where probiotics can ferment it to use as fuel.

Here are a few of prebiotics’ noteworthy benefits:
1. Decreasing your stress. Studies show that consumption of supplemental prebiotic powder is associated with lower cortisol (the “stress” hormone) levels and better performance on emotional tests.
2. Improving your nutrient absorption. Prebiotics can enhance magnesium and calcium absorption, boosting bone health and increasing bone density. And, better nutrient absorption means more energy and improved vitality!
3. Helping you lose weight. Research demonstrates that prebiotic fibers can increase the hormones that tell us when we’re full (satiety hormones), thereby helping to prevent overeating that can contribute to weight gain.
4. Optimizing your immune function. By increasing numbers of protective good guys in our gut (like Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli), prebiotics naturally support our immune function. But, some prebiotics—like acacia fiber—also nourish specific probiotic strains that use the fiber to make short-chain fatty acids like butyrate that bolster the gut barrier against hostile invaders.

Fortunately, prebiotics are beginning to make their way into the limelight as a critical component of a healthy gut.

Yes indeed. You have to feed those bacteria the proper diet or they will die off and start taking the rest of your health with them.

Biltonjim: It is much the same with doctors in Canada. The over prescribing of antibiotics does a lot of damage to the body because antibiotics don't discriminate. They kill off both the bad and the good. There are a few doctors here which are catching on and recommending the intake of probiotics opposite your antibiotic schedule to mitigate the damage. There are a few types of yeast based probiotics like Florastor that are particularly useful against antibiotic induced diarrhea.

The highest dose probiotic capsule I've found is Critical Care Ultimate Flora which has 100 billion of 12 different strains.

Natural source Kefiir, like The Cultured Coconut brand, on the other hand contains 300 billion of 50+ strains in a two tablespoon serving according to their laboratory reports. Cost wise this is a far better way to go since you get so much more for much less money. One bottle lasts me a month and its $16.99 locally. A month supply of the capsules is almost $50 with tax here.