(continued)

"The beauty about this country, you come out with ideas and you have a ghostwriter," he says. "Every single celebrity, they have ghostwriter. That's the beauty about America."

Not surprisingly, Fabio is often asked for relationship advice, and he is happy to share his wisdom. In his own life, he says, there was one great love. They met when he was living in New York. Fabio was young then. He was immature. He didn't realize what he had.

"If you have many rotten apples before, when you find a good one, it's like, 'Oh, my God, this is a really good apple,' and you're going to hold on," he says, explaining how he let his soul mate slip away. "It's the worst when you really have a great apple, but you didn't know what a rotten apple was like, so you think that all the rest of the apples are going to taste like the good one. This is what happened to me." I nod my head knowingly. "I had an amazing one when I was 24—she was an incredible apple, you know, she was the best apple I ever had. And later I realize what a great person she was."

He allows that there is currently another "good apple" on the scene, but declines to provide details. He does acknowledge that dating in L.A. ain't easy.

"In Los Angeles, all they talk about is their career. You know, gimme a break," he says. "There's much more than that to life. Let's talk about worldwide, let's talk about politics, let's talk about what's going on around the world. I mean, we're in a major crisis—in Iraq, in Afghanistan, you know?"

It's been a year since I last saw Fabio when I drop by for a visit. As usual, he is glued to the news, this time CNN. "They are talking about Ahmadinejad coming to New York," Fabio reports. "I hate the bastard. He sponsors terrorists! The shitface ..."

Not surprisingly, Fabio's been busy juggling a whole new bag of marbles. He's developing a line of women's jeans. He's been approached about becoming the face of an American Motorcyclist Association racing team. He would love nothing more than to own a team of his own, but he worries about sponsorship conflicts. He's still shopping his Grand Prix motorcycle show, but has since added a new twist: The series will focus on up-and-coming women riders, with the big man serving as their coach and mentor. He has lined up a producer and says several networks are interested. He expects they'll come to terms any minute now.

His motorcycle collection is now 200 strong. The rusting Bentley is history, replaced by a new steel-black Lamborghini and a Mercedes SL65 AMG. The people at Evolution MotorSports are building him a specialized, state-of-the-art Porsche Twin Turbo, which he promises will be one of the fastest cars on the road.

That girlfriend he thought was a "good apple" didn't last. "I finished eating the apple," he quips. "I need a new one. I got down to the torso." The core?

"Right, the core. Sometimes, you move on in life. You realize maybe the person is not enough for you."

He's been thinking about children, but he's determined to find the right woman first.

"I want a girl with morals, values, simple, who loves life, who likes to work out, likes to have fun, but just a simple, beautiful soul," he says. "Trust me, I'm a simple person, I don't like complicated people." Also, he says, no actresses. Period.

His stance on the war hasn't wavered. "Those people, they hate us no matter what," he says. "And you know, we started the fight, so let's finish it. You can't just walk away with your back to them, because they gonna stab you."

Fabio's candidate of choice? Hillary. "She's so smart," he says. "And with her, you're getting two with one. You know I love women, because I owe my success to women. To me, it will be the biggest reward. I would love for the first time to have a woman president."

And with Hillary in charge, he says, the Iraqi insurgents better watch out. "When a woman gets pissed off at you," he says, "she's going to get you, you know?"

He's still plugging away at the Ride for the Heroes, but it's been tough. "It's so disappointing," he says. "But I'm trying, and there's quite a few celebrities who want to be a part of it."

Fabio's attention may have been distracted by another project. In the coming months, he's releasing his energy drink. It will be sold in gyms and health-food stores at first, but he plans to conquer a much broader market. At the moment, he can't say much about the product, because he still doesn't have all the patents in order. All he will say is that it's comparable to a "fountain of youth," and will "turn fat into energy in the most natural way." It's the special concoction he's been drinking for the past 20 years, and he doesn't feel a day over 25.

"I'm telling you, Spencer, it's insane," he says. "It's going to revolutionize the way people think about what they drink. This is going to be the biggest thing I ever did in my career. There's no clothing, no commercial I ever did that compares. I have people standing in line to invest money, and I say, 'No, thank you, I don't need it. I know how successful this thing is going to be, and you have to put your money where your mouth is. And that's what I did."

He adds: "You knew the Fabio that was big, but now you can understand what is huge!"

Other than that, things are pretty much the same out at the homestead. "I'm just enjoying life," he says.

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