BRET TKACS
Georgia Adventure Motorcycle Training
The Southern Appalachians offer some of the most technically demanding off-pavement terrain in the eastern United States. This is where Bret teaches you to read it — not memorize it.
LOCATION
Young Harris, GA
INSTRUCTOR(S)
BRET TKACS
PAUL SOLOMONSON
LAND USED
Rock Crusher Farm
GEORGIA COURSE PRICING
$1,395
Tuition includes 2.5 days of on-motorcycle training. Optional third day is available.
Duration
2 Days (+ Optional 3rd)
Skill Level
All Levels
Cost
Starts at $1,395
Georgia dates typically sell out a few months in advance and is generally full by February.
WHY GEORGIA
Terrain That Teaches You
Something New Every Time
The trail systems and forest roads of the North Georgia mountains are not a controlled training range. They are real ADV terrain with unpredictable muddy surfaces, elevation change, varying traction conditions, and off-camber approaches. It’s the same kind of terrain you will encounter on any serious adventure ride.
Bret does not design training environments to be easy. He designs them to expose exactly where your current technique breaks down, so you can fix it before those same conditions catch you somewhere less forgiving. On RockCrusher Farm, you will have access to a 500+ acre private motorcycle OHV park that straddles the Georgia-North Carolina border. You will have the opportunity to play on 28 miles of dedicated trails through dense forests, rolling pastures, and challenges such as three motocross tracks, 8 miles of diamond-level singletrack (used during Challenge Training), 11 hill climbs from beginner to advanced, and experience enough mud to last for a lifetime.
Students who train in Georgia consistently report that the skills they build here transfer directly to every other riding environment they encounter afterward, including pavement. Traction management, balance, and throttle precision learned in these conditions do not unlearn themselves when conditions improve.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
Skills Built Here Can Be Applied Everywhere
Every technique taught in Georgia is grounded in the physics of what your motorcycle is actually doing underneath you. Riders who understand why a technique works can adapt it to conditions no instructor has ever described. Riders who have memorized a checklist cannot.
TRACTION MANAGEMENT
Discover how traction is distributed between front and rear contact patches, what changes it, and how to feel the threshold before you reach it, rather than discovering it after you’ve already passed its limits.
WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION & BODY POSITION
Where your weight is on an adventure motorcycle determines what the bike can do. You will understand the variables well enough to adjust them intentionally rather than reactively.
VISION & EARLY DECISION-MAKING
Off-pavement riding rewards decisions made early and punishes decisions made in the moment. The strategies behind using your vision strategy is the foundation for everything else.
CLUTCH & THROTTLE PRECISION
The difference between maintaining momentum and losing it on a loose climb is measured in fractions of a second. These skills are practiced until they stop requiring your conscious attention.
BRAKE MANAGEMENT
Adventure motorcycles brake differently, especially when loaded. You will learn the differences on varying surfaces and with varying amounts of traction control.
ENERGY CONSERVATION
Riding a 500-pound motorcycle efficiently means the bikes does the work, not your body. Students who understand this ride longer days faster, with significantly less fatigue.
WHO ATTENDS
The Question Everyone Asks
Before every course, at least one person contacts Bret with a version of the same message: “I want to come but I’m not sure I’m at the right level for your course.”
The short answer is: this training is structured specifically to prevent that from being a real concern.
Georgia attracts a wide range of riders. Some have tens of thousands of off-pavement miles and come because they have hit a ceiling in their self-taught technique. Others have no dirt experience and come because they want to build the foundation correctly from the start. Both groups train simultaneously on the same principles: clutch management, brake management, traction, balance, throttle precision – all of it is applied to terrain difficulty matched to each rider’s current ability.
In Bret’s courses, there are very few lines. Nobody is waiting for someone else to catch up. Nobody is held back from attempting a challenge they are ready for. What everyone shares is that they leave with a deeper understanding of how their motorcycle works than they arrived with.
Bret has trained riders with physical limitations, riders returning to motorcycles after decades away, and professional riders who wanted a framework for what they already knew intuitively. The common thread is not experience level. It is a willingness to ride thoughtfully.
ALL SKILL LEVELS - WHAT THAT ACTUALLY MEANS
Bret’s courses do not separate riders into beginner and advanced categories because the underlying principles are the same at every level. What changes is the terrain difficulty and the precision with which those principles are applied.
Bret starts every class with the very basics of ADV riding, including how to get on and off the bike. Students who arrive with a background in mountain biking, dirt bikes, or other technical outdoor pursuits tend to thrive here because they are accustomed to reading terrain and accepting the discomfort that comes with learning physical skills. The riders who get the most out of Bret’s courses tend to share a particular mindset more than a particular skill level. They approach new challenges with curiosity rather than anxiety. They are comfortable not being good at something yet.
Off-road riding is physically demanding in ways that surprise many people. Concentration for this level of skill development is genuinely tiring. The terrain is unstable, the inputs are unfamiliar, and the learning curve is real. That is not a reason to avoid the training; it is a reason to arrive with an accurate picture of what the full two days will ask of you.
Skill self-assessment is genuinely difficult, and it is worth acknowledging that honestly. Riders sometimes arrive with a picture of their abilities that does not quite match where they are. Many riders have an incomplete sense of their actual baseline.
If you are concerned that your experience level might be a barrier but you do have a baseline comfort riding a motorcycle on pavement, reach out to Bret before booking, describe where you are, and let him tell you honestly whether this course is the right fit for you. He has been doing this for thirty years. He has seen your skill level before, and he has a plan for it.
COURSE DETAILS
Everything You Need to Know Before You Book
COURSE DETAILS
North Georgia Mountains, straddling the border between Georgia and North Carolina. Specific staging area location is provided upon enrollment. Accessible from Atlanta and most major southeastern cities in a day’s drive.
FORMAT
Two full riding days with structured instruction, terrain progressions, and individual technique feedback. An optional third day is available. Most students attend and find this to be the most valuable day of the course.
INSTRUCTORS
Bret Tkacs and Paul Solomonson. Bret authored three Washington State DOL-authorized motorcycle training curricula, designed the U.S. Army Special Forces Motorcycle Mentor Training program, and has ridden and trained across 49 countries. Paul brings more than twenty years of instructional experience. Learn more here.
YOUR BIKE
Ride what you own. The instruction is designed around adventure motorcycles. Any motorcycle you want to take off-road is likely fine, as long as you understand there may be suspension limitations.
GEAR
Full protective gear is required: Helmet, jacket, pants, gloves, boots with ankle protection. Please look at this page to ensure your gear meets the minimim requirements.
Choose the Georgia Adventure Training if:
You want an immersive experience that emphasizes skill development, repetition, and progressive terrain exposure. This course allows time for technique refinement, skill reinforcement, and structured progression, making it ideal for riders building confidence, consistency, and real-world adventure competence.
Choose the Georgia Challenge Training if:
You already possess some off-pavement fundamentals (more than just graded gravel roads) and want to apply them in sustained, high-consequence terrain with long days, continuous movement, and minimal margin for error. This course emphasizes endurance, adaptability, and real-time decision-making, requiring riders to perform consistently across changing terrain, weather, and fatigue.
FAQs
BEFORE YOU REGISTER
This training adapts to your experience level. By using continuous movement rather than static drills or waiting in line, we create an environment that supports riders ranging from dirt beginners to experienced off-road riders.
Coaching and training challenges are tailored to each rider, allowing individuals to progress toward their personal goals. This adaptive format ensures that every participant, regardless of age or physical ability, is challenged appropriately and able to achieve meaningful growth in their off-road skills.
Prior off-road or off-pavement experience is not required for ADV training, however it is helpful for Challenge Training because the course moves very quickly. Both the ADV training and Challenge training are structured to build skills progressively and focuses on techniques that work specifically on adventure motorcycles (large and small).
No, however you must bring a motorcycle that is capable of accessing the terrain and obstacles encountered during training.
For our adventure training, motorcycle capability requirements are relatively moderate, as terrain and conditions are intentionally progressive and manageable for most motorcycles. This means you can bring any bike you want to take off-pavement.
For the Georgia Challenge Training, motorcycle capability becomes more critical. The bike must have adequate ground clearance for riding in technical terrain, specifically the on-site obstacle course.
Not at most locations. However, we do have tire recommendations and requirements:
Off-road-oriented tires may help improve your traction and reduce your potential for falls but they are not required.
WHAT IS CLASS LIKE?
Class sizes are intentionally kept small to ensure individualized coaching and a safe learning environment. Most courses operate at approximately 8 students per instructor, which allows for meaningful feedback and personalized instruction. Some locations may run slightly smaller or larger groups depending on terrain, staffing, and logistical considerations.
Our Idaho courses are typically smaller, averaging around 5 students per instructor, due to the hybrid nature of the training that combines traditional range-based instruction with real-world trail riding.
Training continues unless conditions are truly unsafe (ie. lightning). Learning to adapt to changing and less-ideal conditions is a key part of adventure riding. We have run classes in snowstorms, pouring rain, and over 100 degree temperatures.
Bret serves as the lead instructor and attends every class. Most sessions (not all) also include instruction from Paul Solomonson and/or in-person support from Christina Tkacs. Read more about our instructors here.
Absolutely. Many experienced off-road riders discover habits or misunderstandings that limit their confidence or speed. This training focuses on why techniques work, allowing riders to adapt to new situations more effectively.
WHAT SHOULD I BRING?
Bring your motorcycle, your protective riding gear (helmet, boots, gloves, jacket, and pants), a camp chair, a coffee mug, and any other comfort items you like.
Off-road boots are the most important piece of safety gear in this training environment. While high-speed crashes are rare, slow-speed tip-overs and footing errors are common while learning, and these are where foot and ankle injuries occur. Here are our adventure training requirements
Street boots and many “adventure touring” boots lack the structure needed to protect against crushing and twisting forces from a 500–600lb motorcycle. You do not need the most expensive boots available, but you do need a boot designed for off-road impacts. Riders wearing boots that offer little or no off-road crash protection will not be permitted to ride.
We supply morning coffee and a large variety of snacks throughout the day that should accommodate most dietary preferences. Meals are not provided other than an optional graduation dinner. Drinking water is provided throughout the course.
All training locations offer dry camping as part of the tuition, and riders are welcome to bring tents, hammocks, camper vans, trailers, or RVs. We intentionally select training areas that also have nearby hotels and other lodging options.
Every location also provides ample parking, including space for trailers. Some locations may also offer nearby plug-in options for an additional fee.
Detailed lodging and camping information specific to your training location will be provided in the pre-event information sheet sent after registration.
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
Yes. The techniques and decision-making strategies taught directly apply to backcountry routes, forest roads, sand, gravel, and unpredictable terrain. You will learn how to make decisions in real-world situations, including situations you’ve never encountered before.
Dirt bike schools often teach techniques that work well on lightweight bikes but can be unsafe on large ADV motorcycles. This course focuses on strategies specifically developed for heavier, road-legal adventure bikes.
No. Training is tailored to help you progress at your own pace. This course emphasizes understanding, control, and decision-making, not bravado or peer pressure. Riders are not forced into situations they don’t feel ready for.
The course is technique-focused, not entirely strength-based. Riders of all ages, including those in their seventies, routinely complete the training successfully. We strongly encourage you to come in the best physical condition you can manage. We teach low-energy riding techniques, however learning, by its very nature, is not low-energy.
Included in your cost: Instruction and personal coaching, snacks (fruit and snack bars), beverages (including coffee), on-site camping for tents and small trailers, graduation dinner, dedicated support vehicle for emergencies.
Not included in your cost: Optional training day (must be purchased separately), breakfasts, lunches and dinners aside from the graduation dinner, gasoline, alcohol, travel or medical insurance, hotel rooms, gratuities or your motorcycle – we do not provide motorcycles.