Horizons Unlimited Travellers Meeting

• Pre-Registration
  
  
  • Pre-Register to attend the Meeting
    
    
  • Present YOUR travel adventure!
    
    
  • Present YOUR Tech Clinic - good at something of interest to motorcycle Travellers? Please do a Tech Clinic for us!
    
    
  • Vendors! Register here
    
    
  • Press! Magazine, newspaper, TV, radio etc with credentials, Register here
    
    
  • Please Volunteer to help out! Odd jobs, registration, gate, etc. Just 2 hours of your time, and it's a great way to meet people! Register on this page and tick Volunteer box, OR here if you have already registered and want to add volunteering.
    
    
• Meeting Location - Where is it?
• Camping on site
• Other Accommodation
• Information about the area
• Membership
• Rides
• Local hosts, information

How you can help - put up a few posters! Event poster available! Please post it everywhere!

Want to know what people thought of other HU Meetings? Is it worth coming to the Meeting?

"I'm so looking forward to another UK meet. My only problem is that I simply can't get to every talk I want, such is the amount of terrific presentations on offer. Each year I've been astonished at how articulate, intelligent, informative and entertaining the speakers are. I'm willing to help with anything that doesn't keep me from a talk - and my timetable will be full to bursting!"

The Plan

The plan is simple. Show up on Thursday or at the latest Friday afternoon, meet people and setup. Travel Presentations and Tech clinics are planned throughout the meeting, starting Thursday night. More Detailed Schedule here.

We can always use some help! If you want to assist, please sign up to volunteer to assist on the day or here for advance work or to ask questions. Thanks!

 

2010 Speakers and Tech Clinics:

• Breakdowns in Small Towns All Around the World
  • Carla King USA
    Carla will talk about her various trips on indigenous motorcycles: China on a cranky Chang Jiang, India on a Royal Enfield Bullet, and riding a Moto Guzzi in Italy and around the Adriatic. And why breakdowns aren't always a bad thing.
• Trip of a lifetime...not a lifetime of savings!
  • Lorraine Chittock, famed for crossing the Libyan desert accompanied by 200 camels on an ancient caravan route, has just returned from a four year expedition through South America accompanied by two Kenyan-born canines. Their conveyance? A 30 year old Chevy van purchased for $750, and once used by the Arizona police department. Lorraine offers practical advice to women and men wanting to transform their lives with the rallying cry, "The trip of a lifetime does not take a lifetime of savings!" (Lorraine is the author of Shadows in the Sand and other books on the animal/human bond.)
• A beginners guide to Mexico
  • Dale Boisclair, Canada
    A middle-aged, middle-class, middle of the road motorcycle trip through Mexico
• Around the world on a V-strom
  • Erdem Yucel, Turkey/USA
    A first long trip, and it's around the world in 6 months!
• Smitty's Trip to the End of the Road
  • Jeff Smith
    Solo trip through the wilds of Canada and Alaska to the end of the road at Inuvik, NWT Canada
• Basic Roadside Repair
  • Kevan Ibbotson, Canada
    The English would call it bodger repair or us Canadians might call it a "farmer fix" but basically it means "How do I get my bike back on the road so I can get to the next town with a qualified mechanic to get it fixed properly". Designed for the novice rider who has little mechanical skills and who is concerned about having to make that dreaded roadside repair. Does duct tape or WD 40 actually fix everything? No, but you'd be surprised what will plug a leaking radiator. We will go over basic mechanical applications of the motorcycle: fuel, electrical and cooling systems, and how to diagnose their failure. What tools and repair materials to carry with you and how to use them to find out why your bike has quit working. More importantly we will review how to use on hand items to get yourself back on the road.
• Where there is no doctor...
  • Molly Martin
    How to prepare for medical emergencies on your RTW - or any! - motorcycle trip.
    Bring a helmet and a foamie!
• Women only
• a very popular session - I'm told it's a must for the ladies, so be sure to plan on being there!
• Fix that flat! How to change a tire anytime, anywhere
  • Grant Johnson
    How to prevent flats in the first place, and fix them when you get one. The best tools and how to use them for tube and tubeless tires. Hand's on practical and tire changing contest for beginners to experts.
• Photo Composition for Travellers, and a Critique of YOUR photos
  • Grant Johnson, Canada
    Transform your trip photos from boring to fabulous! Bring 10 photos on a USB key or SD card for discussion - what's missing, or not quite right, or just plain BAD - and how to correct the mistakes we all make. Bring some photos on a flash drive if you'd like a critique.
• 11 Years on the Road, RTW
  • Grant Johnson
    Grant and Susan's show of their RTW trip hasn't been seen since 2000, so due to popular demand - well one or two - it's been resurrected with loads of never seen before pictures. Maybe...if there's time.
• Experienced Travellers Panel - ask the experts anything you want!

• and more to come! How about you? We're all here to learn, and there's LOTS to learn! We want to do more presentations and clinics - but we need volunteers to give them! Any topic you can contribute having to do with motorcycle travel, maintenance, planning etc, lasting 20 minutes or more, would be great. Please contact me here to volunteer.

Presentations and Tech Clinics

Here's what we had in 2009:

There were slide shows and tech clinics on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, and all day Saturday. Come early and make it a great weekend! We recommend riding on Thursday Friday and Sunday, and participating in the clinics evenings and Saturday.

Rideouts

 

Schedule

The Meeting Location

The Mattole Grange, Petrolia, California
36512 Mattole Road, Petrolia, CA 95558

Climate
COOL at night so bring the warm sleeping bag! Ideal riding temperatures! :)

Maps and distances

Camping

• One price, only $6 per night per tent, no reservations required. (Not included in registration fee, so only campers pay)
  • Pay on the day when you arrive and check in.
  • Grassy field right at the meeting room
  • Toilet facilities
  • Great views etc
  • Shower facilities - the river that flows right by the Grange is very refreshing! :) or...
• Showers at one of two nearby RV parks, pay-as-you-go. We'd like better, but it's the best we can do at this time.

Other Accommodation

Links to local Hotels and Motels. There isn't anything very close - it's 1:15 to the nearest ones in Ferndale, (north) or 1:45 to the East in Redcrest or Myers Flat on Hwy 1, so plan on camping. Neither route is recommended after dark.

There is free camping on BLM land, but it's a fair distance - the miles you will need to get there and back will eat up any savings.

A. W. Way Campground, a block from the Grange

$18 to camp per night, 30 spaces only. BUT $3 for day use and 1 cold shower!

Information about the area

www.mattole.org
www.mattolenews.com
www.honeydewfire.com
Weather forecast

Any info you have on the area, rides etc, please let me know.

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Local Bike Shops

Let us know any good dealers nearby!

From David Bany, Windsor CA:

"...a little motorcycle shop in Point Arena, CA called The Zen House. It's quite a way south (157mi.) of the site of the HU meeting in Petrolia but I thought it might be helpful to list it in the links for anyone that might be passing through on Hwy 1. The owners, David and Kelley Harris, are real nice people."

From Duncan Thomas, Fortuna, CA:

The closest motorcycle shops to the Meeting are:

• In Eureka about 1hr to the north:
  • Eureka Motor Sports (KTM, Kawasaki, Suzuki 707-445-3093)
  • Humbold Motorsports (independent repair 707-269-0991)
  • Pacific Motor Sports(Honda, Yamaha )
• To the south is:
  • Dazey's Supply (Yamaha 707-923-3002) in Redway about 45 min away

Most normal supplies and tires can be found at these shops. There are some additional small independents not listed here.