Notiers Frontiers | Adventure Motorcycle | Books & Photography

Notiers Frontiers | Adventure Motorcycle | Books & Photography

Two people going around the world on a motorcycle… Tim Notier, and his wife Marisa are journeying across the planet on a KTM 1190 motorcycle. They left their home in Chicago in the summer of 2017 and have been on the road ever since. They also have a YouTube Channel. Their goal with this channel is to honestly show what it’s like for two ordinary people to travel on one motorcycle, and they hope to inspire others.

Tell us a little bit about your website and yourself ? What type of Motorcycle did you use and why?

Marisa and I bought a KTM 1190 back in 2013 in preparation for what was only at the time a dream. After just over 4 years of saving, that dream was set into motion through rough planning, inspiration, and then committed to the day I handed in my 2 week notice. At the time, it was either the best decision, or the worst decision that we had ever made. Sacrificing everything for the unknown…

The KTM 1190 checked all of the boxes that I had on my ‘dream adventure bike‘. For an adv bike to carry 2 passengers around the world, it needed some additional horse power and a beefy suspension (that we still managed to snap, twice). I have never regretted the purchase of the 1190, we have had some mechanical issues, but that would be expected from any motorcycle out there.

Our website, Notiersfrontiers.com, lists our journey so far. It documents all of the countries we have visited, and there is a page that lists our gear as well. It provides a grading scale to every item we chose to bring. We are not sponsored, so it is an unbiased opinion of what has worked, along with what hasn’t.

How many countries have you visited and your favorites countries until now ?

Since August 21st of 2017, we have ridden through the States, Mexico, all of Central America. The western side of South America via Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. We are now in Africa, having ridden on the Eastern Coast and have now landed in Uganda for the foreseeable future.

My favorite continent so far has been South America. It is just an adventure motorcyclist’s dream come true. Each country provide an amazing, unforgettable experience, but Peru tops the list in my opinion. There was just so much natural beauty, mountain passes, llamas, ruins, and roads that may have led to nowhere, but felt like I arrived at an untouched treasure that I had only discovered.

Tell us some of the dangerous routes with motorbike that you already done

Google Maps is a blessing and a curse. Some of the “roads” it suggests are nothing more than single track dirt trails that lead up and over the mountains. We found ourselves on a couple that we actually quit enjoyed, until it started raining.

Flash forward 4 hours, we were then trying our best to crawl through muddy, washed our sections of a donkey trail at just under 14k feet (4,200 meters). It was cold, it was raining, we dropped the bike at least ten times, and we were almost to the point of giving up, renting a plot of land, and raising llamas in our tent alongside the locals in their huts. After taking the front fender off, and another 2 hours of difficult riding, we finally made it to the next town where unloaded our gear, and immediately passed out for the next 18 hours.

What are some of your favorite locations you have explored ?

Africa has provided us with a different landscape, and something that we had zero interaction with in the Americas: large predators. We have passed elephants while riding down sandy trails in Botswana. Giraffe and wildebeest line the roads in Northern Tanzania. What South America offered in wilderness and stunning vistas, Africa has provided in its wildlife.

We will never get tired of seeing monkeys, or the different types of antelope that gallop in the flat landscapes that surround us.

There is so much in this world to explore, and we have barely scratched the surface. We can’t wait to get to Europe, and the Stans, and eventually (and slowly) make our way to Mongolia. I can’t urge people enough to explore this world and all it has to offer. If not some far away country, your own country, state/providence. Quitting our jobs and setting off into the world on two wheels has turned out to be the best decision we have ever made.