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.
When you decide to become a Member, it helps directly support the site. You get additional privileges on the HUBB, access to the Members Private Store, and more. Of course, you get our sincere thanks, good karma and knowing you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. :-)
All contributions are gratefully appreciated and acknowledged.
T-shirts, Calendars, Stickers
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!
Travel BooksMotorcycle and travel books to inspire and inform you!
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."
Advertisers- Horizons Unlimited is well-established as the first source of reliable, unbiased information on all aspects of adventure 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!
The HUBB PUBChat forum - no useful content required!
BUT the basic rules of polite and civil conduct which everyone agreed to when signing up for the HUBB, will still apply, though moderation will be a LITTLE looser than elsewhere on the HUBB.
Search Forums ONLY searches the HUBB, and not well. Use Site Search to search everywhere.
I just noticed that Ta-Rider, an active veteran Hubber for years, shows up with "banned" below his profile name. As I've never really noticed this on any other profile before, curiosity got the better of me as to what kind of behavior could lead to banishment, and hence started sifting through his latest posts. I really couldn't find any serious misconduct, if any... I didn't dig very deep though as I assume it would most likely be related to one of his latest posts.
So, why did he get banned, and are there many others? What is the most typical reason? I like a free and liberal Internet where all opinions can be voiced, even those we don't like... illicit marketing or trolling is a different matter.
I must admit that I have sailed pretty close to the wind at times with some of my comments and have had warnings, I find the HUBB to be pretty tolerant unlike ABR where if you disagree with anyone and you are not part of the 'clique' you are banned for virtually nothing. Hope Ta-rider is not on a permanent ban.
I don't think Taa rider is banned ... he may have just inserted that below his HUBB name? Not sure.
I think you can put anything there? Go to "USER OPTIONS" .. and look at one of the first things you can do.
Compared to other forums ... HUBB is free and easy.
Thousands ... have been permanently banned on ADV Rider. They have some moderators there who take themselves very seriously ... the owner of ADV Rider not involved much any more. (can't blame him)
i've received a few warnings here and here on various fora, including one here, mostly for fairly innocuous stuff. some mods are a bit too taken with their duties and some fora a bit too controlling.
i'm a firm believer in the need for thick skin. when someone says something stupid, the masses should blast him and they should be allowed to do so. hate speech is a different story
i'm a firm believer in the need for thick skin. when someone says something stupid, the masses should blast him and they should be allowed to do so. hate speech is a different story
There's thick skin and there's I really can't be bothered. Most of us come on forums like this either to contribute what we can, to learn, or even, occasionally, to be amused and pass the time of day. Either way it's done voluntarily.
If I find I'm being subjected to a torrent of abuse or even if there's the fear of abuse because of the general tone of the forum why would I bother? I don't need this or any other forum and managed to get through most of my pre internet life quite successfully without them.
I have no problem with strongly argued points and where there's some rational basis to it I'm quite happy to fight my corner but many of the spats come from nothing with people just being offensive for the sake of it, a personality defect more than anything. How else would you explain this exchange from another bike forum -
"You sick bastard xxxxx
You need help
And banning from here forever
Now piss off "
Mild compared to some I agree but it came out of nowhere and was pretty much unjustified. Just someone playing mindgames. And, within half an hour some kind of feeding frenzy had developed with insults flying in all directions and a baying mob wanting to lynch xxxx. Even if it all calms down I'm never going to contribute as aggression is too close to the surface. That forum, btw, wasn't full of teens /20's hyped up on a surfeit of testosterone but is populated mostly by OAPs who really ought to know better.
If that's the way this forum goes then it'll be without me. I'm not going to spend much time in a pub where people are getting glasses shoved in their faces or visit a cinema where fights break out in the ticket queue. I. and I'm sure many others, come here because we want to, not because we have to.
I now await the "well why don't you piss off then" responses but only those with argued valid reasons why I should will get any sort of reply, and even then only if I feel like it. And here's the spirit in which this post was made -
I just noticed that Ta-Rider, an active veteran Hubber for years, shows up with "banned" below his profile name. As I've never really noticed this on any other profile before, curiosity got the better of me as to what kind of behavior could lead to banishment, and hence started sifting through his latest posts. I really couldn't find any serious misconduct, if any... I didn't dig very deep though as I assume it would most likely be related to one of his latest posts.
So, why did he get banned, and are there many others? What is the most typical reason? I like a free and liberal Internet where all opinions can be voiced, even those we don't like... illicit marketing or trolling is a different matter.
It's not appropriate to discuss in public why any particular user of this site has been banned. TA rider was given the reasons. The fact that the original "offending" content has been deleted hopefully won't come as a surprise. Hence all remaining contributions look innocuous.
The only thing I will say is that (following the original short term ban) creating multiple accounts under different aliases did not endear him to the moderators and lengthened the ban. When the aliases are discovered, all the content is deleted and this alias banned too. This task takes about 30 seconds.
For me the most onerous task of a mod on the hubb is deleting/banning commercial spammers. Having to warn somebody happens very rarely and a ban is virtually never issued.
Genuine bikers/travellers who wish to engage in troll-like behaviour usually quickly give up trying to wind the hu-public up and go off elsewhere to more fertile ground. Genuine trolls look at this site and go elsewhere straight away.
It's not appropriate to discuss in public why any particular user of this site has been banned. TA rider was given the reasons. The fact that the original "offending" content has been deleted hopefully won't come as a surprise.
I was going to suggest that myself but you beat me to it Chris.
If someone is banned from any forum for saying something offensive or breaking the rules in some way, then its a pretty good bet that the thing that was offensive or that broke the rules will be removed. If there is something strong enough to earn someone a ban, then of course the forum administrators can not just leave it online.
So looking for offensive comments / behaviour in what remains on the board is kinda not getting how the process works on this or on any other board.
I'm not a Mod here, but I have been a Mod for France's biggest expat ( U.K.) bike club web site for some years, and would like to support the onerous and sometimes thankless task moderators face.
In the face of subjective matter, mod's must remain entirely objective in any decisions made, and that can be very tricky. What members don't see is the iceberg, - more goes on under the water in hidden places than is apparent on the surface, and decisions are usually collective rather than individual, excepting in blatant cases where immediate action is obvious.
One persons joke can be another's insult, and I agree a certain amount of thick skin and tolerance must be exercised, both by members and by mod's.
The only critieria a Mod can use for decisions are the site rules, and every judgement must be made against them. If rules have been compromised or broken then action must be taken. Not an easy task, and mods IMHO must have thicker skin than most because they are always in the firing line from somewhere.
I agree that individual cases must never be discussed in open forum as this can be divisive, and members really must accept that a good mod's decisions are not made lightly, but in line with responsibility and for the good /benefit of the site.
__________________
-''It is better to walk alone than with a crowd going in the wrong direction''. ( Herman Siu)
-'' Live life then give life '' (www.lltgl.org.uk)
So, why did he get banned, and are there many others? What is the most typical reason? I like a free and liberal Internet where all opinions can be voiced, even those we don't like... illicit marketing or trolling is a different matter.
As a survivor of many bans in many places, I can tell you it's easy!! Just be non Politically Correct and sooner or later someone takes offence! Generally not the group you refer to, but usually some PC liberal who gets upset that someone may get upset.
Free and liberal is generally a contradiction. The most intolerant are usually PC liberals, who get upset at anything they think may upset someone, and take offence at any non PC utterance that doesn't fit with how they think people should think. PC is the modern day tyranny to suppress free thought and opinions, and banning, censorship, deletion, shaming etc are its enforcers. These days you don't get burnt at the stake for heresy against the PC dogma; you get banned! Now conform or else.
Posting porn, spam or threats, bah that is for amateurs in the banning game! You make it too easy for them!
As a survivor of many bans in many places, I can tell you it's easy!! Just be non Politically Correct and sooner or later someone takes offence! Generally not the group you refer to, but usually some PC liberal who gets upset that someone may get upset.
Free and liberal is generally a contradiction. The most intolerant are usually PC liberals, who get upset at anything they think may upset someone, and take offence at any non PC utterance that doesn't fit with how they think people should think. PC is the modern day tyranny to suppress free thought and opinions, and banning, censorship, deletion, shaming etc are its enforcers. These days you don't get burnt at the stake for heresy against the PC dogma; you get banned! Now conform or else.
Posting porn, spam or threats, bah that is for amateurs in the banning game! You make it too easy for them!
Just as well then, that one of the hubb forum rules is to avoid discussing politics/religion
Sounds like Yorkshire supremacy to me. Definitely fits under politics and promoting one group above another so racist as well
Also states that God favours Yorkshire, so religion as well.
What say everyone? should Chris be
It is also a false belief. Everyone knows the place called God's Window is in the Lowveld of SA, near Graskop. So God certainly lives here, not Yorkshire. That is why you have all that rain and grey sky. He is trying to wash the place away!
Sounds like Yorkshire supremacy to me. Definitely fits under politics and promoting one group above another so racist as well
Also states that God favours Yorkshire, so religion as well.
What say everyone? should Chris be
It is also a false belief. Everyone knows the place called God's Window is in the Lowveld of SA, near Graskop. So God certainly lives here, not Yorkshire. That is why you have all that rain and grey sky. He is trying to wash the place away!
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.
Virginia: April 24-27 Queensland is back! May 2-5 Ecuador June 13-15 Germany Summer: May 29-June 1 CanWest: July 10-13 Switzerland: Date TBC Ecuador: Date TBC Romania: Date TBC Austria: Sept. 11-14 California: September 18-21 France: September 19-21 Germany Autumn: Oct 30-Nov 2
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...
"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia
"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK
"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.