Just found us? Wondering what this motorcycle travel gig is all about? You've come to the right place!
We peddle dreams, the achievable kind. For over 10 years, we've been helping people just like you to achieve their dreams of travel to faraway places, not on a packaged tour but overland, with their own vehicle. We hope to create an addiction to travel that will never end. And it all starts here...
E-zine - Tales of adventure, joy and sheer terror from around the world! Stories from travellers on the road right now! Edited monthly (or as often as we get to it). Now in its 8th year of publication, with over 7,500 subscribers. Free to your e-mail box!
Travellers Stories / Blogs - Exciting, humorous and sometimes terrifying stories from intrepid motorcycle adventurers. Over 250 travellers, from first-timers to legends (sometimes only in their own minds ;-) Thousands of great stories and pics. Written on the road, from internet cafes in Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and all parts in between.
Grant & Susan Johnson, your hosts, are also seasoned (some would say crazy) motorcycle travellers. We did our own RTW trip north to south, two up on a 1986 BMW R80 G/S from 1987. We've been to over 50 countries since then, traveling and working all over the world, and we're not finished yet! And quite frankly, if we can do it, so can you!
Read our stories from the road...
The Horizons Unlimited Bulletin Board, or HUBB for short, is a fact-based forum for overland travellers, whether by motorcycle or 4WD. Started in 1999, it now has over 31,000 users from all over the world, and a fantastic bunch of people they are too!
There are 50,000+ threads on every subject you can imagine, grouped into around 60+ separate Forums, from Which Bike? and bike forums to Regional forums, Trip Paperwork, Trip Transport, 4WD Tech and Travel forums, and the very popular 'Travellers Seeking Travellers', which serves as a meeting up point for those starting off on long journeys, and has resulted in more than a few lasting friendships...
HUBB Ride Tales - From weekend rides to Round the World trips, over 350 stories. Inspirational and entertaining!
More sources of inspiration... Horizons Unlimited is more than just a forum, more than just a website, and even more than just a global community of motorcycle travellers. We also produce informative and entertaining DVDs to help get you on the road! The Road Heroes DVD series answers the question - Why Go?
Road Heroes Part 1 - DVD. The first in an exciting new series, Road Heroes features inspirational stories by veteran travellers Peter and Kay Forwood (Challenges of travelling to 193 countries 2-up on a Harley Electraglide), Dr. Gregory Frazier (5 times RTW on a variety of bikes), Tiffany Coates (Mongolia Mayhem) and Rene Cormier (the University of Gravel Roads).
Read more...
Calendar pics from the HU Annual photo contest! The contest is an annual event for travellers to showcase their best photographs from their travels around the world. The winners feature in the annual HU calendar!
Read more...
Travel Books - from Ted Simon to Greg Frazier, Lois Pryce to Sam Manicom, Paddy Tyson to Simon Roberts, and many others, we have all the inspirational motorcycle travel books you could want!
Have you been dreaming of a motorcycle trip to distant climes? Heading to the markets of Marrakech, tackling the Karakoram Highway or cruising the Pan American to Tierra del Fuego?
But you have questions: Where and when should I go? How much will it cost? What happens if I get sick? What about the paperwork? And what the heck is a carnet de passage, anyway?
This section will help you to answer these questions and many others, and to plan your trip, whether it's just to the next state or country or all the way around the world!
Country Information
Budgeting for your trip
Paperwork for you and your bike
Health & Medical - Vaccinations, insurance, medical kit
To Do Lists
Travel Books - Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, Adventure Riding Techniques, and many others, we have all the books you need to get ready for your trip!
Planning your Route
Trip Paperwork
Money Saving Ideas
Travellers Seeking Travellers
Women's Topics
The Achievable Dream 5-part series - the definitive guide on DVD for planning your motorcycle adventure.
Part 1 - Get Ready! provides reassurance for those who aren't sure if it's all possible - it is! - or you have to be rich and famous to do it - you don't!
Topics covered in 'Get Ready!' include:
See the trailer and comments here!
Budgeting
To Do Lists
Medical Insurance
More...
You could just get on a plane with your credit card and passport and buy or rent everything you need when you get there. That includes the bike, riding gear, etc. etc. But if you do want to take your bike and all your stuff with you, the information in this section will help you to make better choices, and part with less of your hard-earned dosh!
At this time, most of the content for this topic is in HUBB Forums, on the Gear Up DVDs and in the Links pages.
Camping Equipment and all Clothing
Navigation - GPS + Maps
Equipment Reviews
Bicycles
The Achievable Dream 5-part series - the definitive guide on DVD for planning your motorcycle adventure.
Part 2 - Gear Up! is a 2-DVD set, almost 6 hours of informative content!
Although virtually any bike can travel around the world, 'which bike' is always a lively topic for discussion among motorcycle travellers.
For the favourite travel bikes, we interviewed knowledgeable owners - why did they choose it, what's good and bad about it, how did they make it better, and what are their top tips for this bike.
Through interviews with experts, we also cover how to prepare the bike for overland travel, what spares to take and choosing tires.
Finally, we cover what to take and how to pack it, including riding gear, clothing, panniers, tents, sleeping bags, cooking kit, medical/first aid kit, maps, GPS and much more.
See the trailer and comments here!
Packing Lists
More...
So you've done it - got inspired, planned your trip, packed your stuff and you're on the road!
This section is about staying healthy, happy and secure on your motorcycle adventure.
First, though, you have to get there! It's great if you can just ride your bike out of your front yard and go overland all the way. But that's not always possible. Sometimes you have to ship the bike over an ocean or a war zone!
Shipping the Bike - Do's and Dont's
Air vs Sea Shipment
Shipments Database - over 700 shipments by travellers - who to contact, how much did it cost, what was the paperwork involved.
Crossing Borders - reports of good, bad and ugly border crossing experiences by travellers
Trip Transport - Shipping the bike and yourself.
Organized Tours
Bike Swap or Rent - Shipping too expensive for a short trip? Try Swapping bikes with someone, or Renting / Hiring!
Recommend - Sleep and Eat. Tell us about any good or bad experiences you've had.
Bodger Fix - What they don't show you in the repair manual - tales of duct tape, bailing wire and WD 40.
Recommend - Repair Shops
Travel Advisories - Recent News, political or military events, which may affect trip plans or routes. Personal and vehicle security, tips and questions.
Staying Healthy on the Road - Medical info, e.g. malaria, vaccinations, travel medical tips, medical insurance, where to find a doctor.
TRAVEL Hints and Tips - All the interesting little tidbits you learned on the road about packing, where to get stuff, and how to cope with problems.
The Achievable Dream 5-part series - the definitive guide on DVD for planning your motorcycle adventure.
Part 3 - On the Road! is a 2-DVD set, 5.5 hours of informative content!
You'll get the advice you need to help you cross borders, break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike across oceans or war zones, and deal with the 'stuff' that happens such as breakdowns and emergencies.
See the trailer and comments here!
Part 5 - Tire Changing!
On a long-distance motorcycle trip, you will find that nail, usually in the most inconvenient time and place. When you're venturing off the beaten path, you can't just call your friendly automobile association!
Fear no more - Grant will demystify the black art of Tire Changing and Repair in this DVD full of expert tips and information to help you STAY on the road!
See the trailer and comments here!
Just because you're on a trip doesn't mean you have to be out of touch!
This section will help you to stay connected to your friends and loved ones. If you're one of those friends or loved ones, there are information sources to check their status and support groups you can join. NOTE: This will be new content, partially using Organic Groups for a 'Friends and Family' group.
We're very proud of the 700+ HU Communities in 109 countries. These are people who want to meet travellers, who can provide local assistance when you need it, and may turn out to be your new best friends! And you can start or join your own HU Community when you get home, to give back to other travellers.
Contact a Community
Join your HU Community
We want your motorcycle travel story, whether it's around the world or a once-in-a-lifetime trip to anywhere. At Horizons Unlimited, the most popular motorcycle travel website, you'll get a lot more readers than in some obscure corner of the web. You can inspire others to take the plunge! Plus, your readers won't be subjected to popup/under ads or turned away because you've exceeded their bandwidth limits. And yes, it's free and will remain so. But even better, we'll share the revenue from Google Adwords with you! Motorcycle travel stories only, please.
Travellers seeking Travellers - the closest thing we have to a dating site! Meet up with other travellers on the road, or find someone to travel with to the ends of the earth!
Communications - with your travel companion, or with your friends and family stuck at home (bitter and twisted ;-)
Women's Topics (open to all!)
Photo Forum - Everything on Travel Photography
Questions that don't fit anywhere else
Make a Difference - Tell us how you 'made a difference' while travelling, by fundraising or donating time and energy to a worthwhile cause, what the experience was like, and how others can help.
After the big trip - What to do with all the travel experience and how to use it? Was the trip the best - or worst - thing you ever did?
Gone, but not forgotten
The Achievable Dream 5-part series - the definitive guide on DVD for planning your motorcycle adventure.
Part 4 - Ladies on the Loose!
Here, for the first time ever, is a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! An intrepid band of well-travelled women motorcyclists share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure - choose and maintain a bike, decide what to take and tackle tough terrain. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road!
This highly inspirational and entertaining DVD is presented by Lois Pryce, veteran solo traveller through South America and Africa and author of 'Lois on the Loose', and 'Red Tape and White Knuckles.'
Guys, if you hope to persuade your significant other to join you on a trip, you need to buy this DVD and watch it together! "It has got me all fired up to go out on my own adventure."
See the trailer and comments here!
Helpful People
Motorcycle Clubs and Events
You can meet people who don't think you're crazy for wanting to ride your bike to South America or Africa or across Asia, or even around the world! Admit it, all your 'normal' friends and most of your family fears for your sanity!
So, this is your opportunity to meet the people who will encourage you in that craziness, share their experiences and advice on how to do it, and maybe you'll meet them again in Mongolia or Timbuktu!
Small 'local' HU Community meetings, often held in someone's backyard/garden/field for a barbie, or in a restaurant or local watering hole. Held to welcome a traveller passing through, or just as an excuse to get together and keep the travel fires burning.
Argentina
Thailand
Travellers Meetings - Australia
Travellers Meetings - Europe
Travellers Meetings - North America
Travellers Meetings - UK
Travellers Meetings - Other parts of the world
HU Meeting Organisers Forum
Motorcycle Events around the world
HU meetings are NOT like your typical bike rally! To get a sense of what goes on at an HU meeting, watch the meetings trailer here
Tell your story!
Volunteer!
Host a meeting!
Submit your amazing photos of your trip and win fabulous prizes!
Details...
T-shirts - Cotton t-shirts or synthetic sweat-wicking t-shirts with the Horizons Unlimited logo on the front and a snappy slogan (changing every year) on the back.
Get them here...
Calendars - Featuring the 13 winning photos from the Horizons Unlimited annual motorcycle travel photo contest!
Get them here...
Books - Motorycle and travel books to inspire and inform you (or someone you're trying to persuade to travel with you!)
Get them here...
Why become an HU Member?
We're not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997, but quickly (by 1998) became a full time job and a labour of love. We both now work full-time+ on the website / bulletin board / e-zine, usually 8-12 hours per day and 7 days a week.
When you decide to become a Member, it helps directly support the site, and is very much appreciated. In return you get additional privileges on the HUBB, access to the Members Private Store, and more to come on the site as we roll out new systems. And of course, you get our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. :-)
Become a Contributing Member with a $20 annual donation.
Become a Gold Member with a $45 annual donation.
Become a Lifetime Gold Member with a $1,000 donation. This entitles you to a listing in our Supporters page and our undying gratitude!
The Achievable Dream 5-part series - the definitive guide on DVD for planning your motorcycle adventure. "The ultimate round the world rider's how-to DVD!" MCN UK
Get Ready!
Gear Up! 2-part set
On the Road! 2-part set
Ladies on the Loose!
Tire Changing!
Collectors Box Set - all 5 DVDs with a custom printed slip case for less than the price of buying them individually!
Road Heroes - NEW series! "Essential Inspiration!"
Grant & Susan Johnson, your hosts, are veteran motorcycle travellers. We did our own RTW trip north to south, two up on a 1986 BMW R80 G/S from 1987. We've been to over 50 countries since then, traveling and working all over the world, and we're not finished yet!
Read our stories from the road...
The bike is unique and has its own story.
Press stories about us
Our 'Rules of the Road' - things we have learned about travelling, usually the hard way!
Trip Photo album - 500+ images
See them here......
Advertisers - Horizons Unlimited is well-established as the first source of reliable, unbiased information on all aspects of motorcycle travel.
We reach a dedicated, worldwide group of real travellers, and are the only website focusing exclusively on long distance motorcycle travellers.
If you sell motorcycles or motorcycle accessories, riding gear, camping equipment and clothing, transport motorcycles, organize motorcycle tours, or have motorcycles to rent, you should be advertising with us!
Become an HU Supporter - help keep your favorite website going and get additional HUBB privileges!
