INTERNATIONAL MOTORCYCLE TOURS

You would be hard-pressed to find an adventure motorcycle instructor who has logged the kind of miles, or crossed the kind of borders, that Bret Tkacs has. Over the past three decades, he has ridden through 49 countries on journeys that most ADV riders dream about – and many who wouldn’t dare attempt. Bret’s credentials are built from two epic continental expeditions that tested everything he teaches.

The Pan-American Odyssey:
Five months on the road from Seattle, Washington to Ushuaia, Argentina – the southernmost city in the world. Bret rode the entire length of the Americas, through the rainforests of Central America, across the Andes (multiple times) and into Patagonia’s notoriously unforgivable winds. He slept in remote villages during blackouts, camped in fields, negotiated borders where the rules change by the hour, and fixed bikes with improvised tools where the nearest dealer is a thousand miles away. Worse yet, Bret made this entire journey with a girlfriend who was brand new to motorcycling, and who created many events that Bret would not have experienced otherwise, to include crossing a border at midnight during a monsoon, and turned a sudden high-speed front-tire blowout into making lifelong friends with a local mechanic and his family. Bret is truly an adventurer who learned a long time ago that the best stories come from moments when things don’t go according to plan.

The African Expedition:
Not content with conquering the Americas, Bret set his sights on an even more ambitious route: Ponferrada, Spain to South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, riding the entire west coast of Africa from north to south. Five months of navigating Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, Mauritania’s endless desert crossings, the chaotic border bureaucracy of West Africa, and the remote wilderness of Angola and Namibia. He crossed regions where political instability made every day unpredictable, roads that were little more than sand tracks with land mines, disappearing into the Sahara, and checkpoints where negotiation skills mattered as much as riding ability. He and his travel partner dealt with corrupt officials, impassable “roads”, fuel shortages in countries with virtually no infrastructure, and the novelty of being the first American some border officials have ever met. He has experienced (unintentionally) camping in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and sleeping at an abandoned gas station in South Africa during a downpour.

These journeys aren’t just impressive statistics; they are proof of mastery. Bret didn’t just survive these routes; he thrived on them, learning from his (very experienced) travel partner to develop a deep understanding of international motorcycle travel logistics, the importance of cross-cultural communication that always ends with a smile and a handshake no matter what, emergency problem-solving, and the kind of situational awareness that only comes from months of high-stakes decision-making on remote roads.

Teaching and Leading Across Continents:
Beyond his personal expeditions, Bret has shared his expertise as an instructor and guide in some of the world’s most legendary riding destinations. He taught ADV motorcyclists in India, coached students in Colombia, and toured around New Zealand with BikeFest. As a tour leader, he’s navigated two groups through Morocco’s High Atlas passes, seven groups across Nepal’s Himalayan routes where altitude tests everyone differently, and one special group along the Tibetan Plateau where the combination of extreme elevation, unpredictable weather, and government regulations separate those who know what they’re doing from those who don’t (read the review below for more):