Dreaming of a motorcycle trip to distant climes? This section will help you to plan your trip, whether it's to the next state, country or all the way around the world! Start here!
The Achievable Dream 5-part series - the definitive video guide for planning your motorcycle adventure. Get Ready! covers planning, paperwork, medical and many other topics! "Inspirational and Awesome!" See the trailer here!
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.
Gear Up! is a 2-DVD set, 6 hours! Which bike is right for me? How do I prepare the bike? What stuff do I need - riding gear, clothing, camping gear, first aid kit, tires, maps and GPS? What don't I need? How do I pack it all in? Lots of opinions from over 150 travellers! "will save you a fortune!"See the trailer here!
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. And crossing borders, war zones or oceans!
On the Road! is 5.5 hours of the tips and advice you need to cross borders, break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike and deal with breakdowns and emergencies."Just makes me want to pack up and go!" See the trailer here!
Tire Changing!Grant demystifies the black art of Tire Changing and Repair to help you STAY on the road! "Very informative and practical." See the trailer here!
With an HU blog, you'll get a lot more readers than in some obscure corner of the web, it's all set to go, no setup required, and it's free! Start your Travel Story Blog right now!
800+ HU Communities in over 115 countries! People who want to meet travellers - yes that's YOU - and can provide local assistance, and may be your new best friends!
Make a DifferenceTips on fundraising or donating time and energy to a cause.
After the big trip - Was the trip the best - or worst - thing you ever did?
Resources and Links
Horizons Unlimited Presents!
Ladies on the Loose! For the first time ever, a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! These intrepid women share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road! 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.'
"It has me all fired up to go out on my own adventure!" See the trailer here!
Meet people who don't think you're crazy for wanting to ride your bike to South America or across Asia! They will encourage you, share their experiences and advice on how to do it!
We're not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown a hobby into a full time job and a labour of love.
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T-shirts Cotton or synth sweat-wicking t-shirts with the cool Horizons Unlimited graphic on the front and a snappy slogan (changing every year) on the back.
Calendars Featuring the 13 winning photos from the Horizons Unlimited annual motorcycle travel photo contest!
World Map Sticker for PanniersShow your route on your panniers. Great conversation starter when you meet people on the road!
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Videos - Watch and Learn!
Horizons Unlimited presents!
Achievable Dream The definitive guide to planning your motorcycle adventure! This insanely ambitious 2-year project has produced an informative and entertaining 5-part, 18 hour video series. "The ultimate round the world rider's how-to!" MCN UK.
"The series is 'free' because the tips and advice will save much more than you spend on buying the DVD's."
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Hello i am going to be traveling from the UK to Gibraltar and will be traveling through France and Spain and i want to know if any of you guys can help me what what regular unleaded petrol is called in these countries?
thanks guys and have a merry Cristmas and safe riding
read this page, it contains every possible option of international translations world wide, for any kind of fuel, even for stoves... very good an complete source.
contains a lot of corrections of international folks who keep it alive and to make sure that the more odd fuel names are written right. It may sounds like it would be for stows only, but vehicle fuel translations are well sorted too.
another very good translation link about vehicle related technical stuff in case you need to tell a local mechanic what bike part needs repair.
translating:
English-German-French-Italian-Spanish like:
Deutsch English Francais Italiano Español
Batterie battery,accumulator accumulateur batteria bateria
Lager bearing roulement cuscinetto cojinete http://www.ta-deti.de/ta/english.html
and so on.. in a well organised table...
I think in most of Europe you can only get unleaded.
In France it is called "Sans Plomb"
the green pump are usually 95 octane and teh red one 98 but both are unleadeds.
WARNING. They have started to use a slightly different green 95 octane mix called somehing like GPL10 This has 10% alchohol in it. I have found you get about 20% less mpg when using it.
WARNING. They have started to use a slightly different green 95 octane mix called somehing like GPL10 This has 10% alchohol in it. I have found you get about 20% less mpg when using it.
It's called E10 - Ethanol 10%. Its cheaper than the standard "sans plomb" Only seen it in the supermarkets so far and then only in 1 or 2 pumps out of 10.
I dont know if it will give you less mpg or km/litre but it will feck with your tank if its plastic/fibreglass... Don't use it. Do a search and see all the problems associated with the stuff!
Its also a nonsense to be using crops to make fuel, much in the same way that "bio" diesel is. Its just politics.
There aint enough arable land in the world to support 1% of the vehicles in the world using it.
as you may expect, there is a big discussion in Germany mad car country about E10 fuel.. so who wonders there is a fuel-mad fraction compiling the most accurate list published by ADAC and DAT of vehicles who are capable of using E10-fuel. The actual list can be downloaded here: http://www.dat.de/e10liste/e10vertraeglichkeit.pdf
it contains mainly cars, but BMW, Honda, Kawasaki, Triumph and Yamaha from 1990 upwards as well... has a good and long list sorted by VIN-no. and models. To put your mind as rest most bikes above 500cc have no problems using E10 fuel.. regarding the list... well the list is published in German, but it's easy to read out your bike.
hope that helps..
anyway my 2-pennies...
regarding E10 production consumes crops in figures, in form of 1.8 million bread per year for Germany alone, I would not use it anyway... but by 2013 we may all get forced by our "beloved" governments to use it anyway.... or may even before regarding the oil industries wanting to stop selling our "standard Super 95 octane" for greed, to be able make space for the new E10.... well keep in mind the today's 98 octane contains E5 already... so I will call it E5-95...
to make it clear E10 fuel cost more than E5-95 to produce, the ecology effect is in doubt, E10 will be forced to the market, to be a successful competitor for E5-95 and to make folks to buy the shit, the price will rice for E5-95... in the end E5-95 will vanish like 92 did already....
the alternative would be to use "Super+ 98 octane" fuel, which is so much more expensive... the greedy factor is included so what ever you pore in to your bike it will cost you and makes any journey a even bigger pain.
Have YOU ever wondered who has ridden around the world? We did too - and now here's thelist of Circumnavigators!
Check it out now, and add your information if we didn't find you.
Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...
2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)
Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance™ combines into a single integrated program the best evacuation and rescue with the premier travel insurance coverages designed for adventurers.
Led by special operations veterans, Stanford Medicine affiliated physicians, paramedics and other travel experts, Ripcord is perfect for adventure seekers, climbers, skiers, sports enthusiasts, hunters, international travelers, humanitarian efforts, expeditions and more.
Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!
What others say about HU...
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"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia
"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA
"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada
"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa
"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia
"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany
Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.
You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.