The Advanced Street Skills is designed by street riders … for street riders. This first learning session offers a safe environment free from traffic so you can concentrate on the skills used for cornering on public roads. We teach the S-M-A-R-T cornering method offering a uniform and consistent way to approach every corner. Lessons include how to improve throttle control, better select proper entry speeds, read the road and pavement, improve line selection, and introduce body positioning for managing traction and ground clearance. We even offer a drill that will change your perception of how much pavement you have.
Here in the Pacific Northwest and along the west coast recent accident research is showing that half of all single vehicle fatalities are motorcyclist; One of the leading causes being ’lane errors’ (read: running wide in corners and colliding with trees, cars, guardrails) we should all look to improve our cornering skills. This is not a course for aspiring racers but is for riders that prefer to spend their time riding in the mountains, down the coast or are just looking to become safer by improving their cornering skills. There are no special bike requirements or restrictions, no need to tape over lights or remove turn signals; you will ride what you ride every day. Come join us and learn what S-M-A-R-T cornering is all about.
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The Technique session is for those who have taken the first session of the Advanced Street Skills (Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic graduates are ok) and would like to spend more time perfecting the A-R-T portion of the S-M-A-R-T cornering process. This session spends more time on the physical requirements for cornering and offers an environment with more freedom to challenge personal limits. This is not an open track day and is still focused on street riders but offers the ability to ride beyond what you can do safely on public roads.
By finding limits beyond your normal riding it is easier to scale back and know what your reserve actually is. By exploring your abilities in a controlled environment you are more likely to know how and what to do if you find yourself in a situation that is beyond the norm. During this session you will continue to work on improving throttle and traction control, entry speed selection, smoothing out body positioning while setting up or transitioning corners, and improve turn in speed (decreasing time spent leaned over). This session is all about improving technique not speed.
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Puget Sound Safety was established in 1996 by Bret and Chrisie Tkacs. Their dedication to furthering motorcycle safety education and awareness throughout Puget Sound has helped countless people in Western Washington become better riders. Bret has articles published in a variety of magazines including topics on educating riders on how to avoid mishaps on the road, improved riding techniques and expressing the importance of being a life long learner. Over the years Puget Sound Safety has recruited, trained and retained some of the best instructors in the Northwest and now has more than 50 members in the instructor corps.
We listen to our students requests and try to incorporate the suggestions into future programs as much as possible. Students didn’t know where to turn for a course on simple motorcycle maintenance and with enough demand we created a two-level course tailored for the varying levels of knowledge on the subject of motorcycle care and maintenance.
Riders inquired about advanced courses because they wanted more than the entry level Motorcycle Safety Foundation training but didn’t care much for track/racing schools. Puget Sound Safety brought Lee Parks' Total Control Training to the Northwest and shortly after created the Advanced Street Skills curriculum.
Puget Sound Safety is dedicated to providing the training needed for the safe and enjoyable sport of riding motorcycles. Whether you are a rider, want to be one, want to go off road or go across country, we have a course to help you become a better rider.
The Advanced Street Skills program was born from a need for a higher level of education to bridge the gap between the foundation level courses offered by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation and the performance level classes offered by race schools at the track. Bret saw a specific need for street riders to develop better cornering and riding skills at 'real' speeds rather that parking lot speeds or race speeds. The Advanced Street Skills program was developed to meet that need by using his experience of training thousands of riders, studying accident statistics, working as an expert witness for motorcycle accident cases, and comparing that against the skills and training that were unavailable.
Bret Tkacs has been involved in motorcycling since the late 80’s beginning his riding career by attending formal motorcycle education. In 1996, at the age of 24, he co-founded Puget Sound Safety as a safety education school. In 1997 Bret entered the world of motorcycle education as a Washington State certified Motorcycle Safety Instructor and in 2001 Bret and his savvy business partner converted Puget Sound Safety into the premier motorcycle school on the west coast.
With a B.S. degree in Workforce Education and Development from Southern Illinois University and his experience as a professional trainer, Bret works to improve the implementation of existing curricula and developed several programs that are exclusive to Puget Sound Safety, such as the Advanced Street Skills.
His certifications include: Motorcycle Safety Foundation RiderCoach (Basic, Experienced, A-ERC and Military SportBike courses), Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic Lead Instructor, Motorcycle Safety Foundation DirtBike School Instructor, and PSSOR Head Instructor. He has created the following training programs: PSS Motorcycle Care & Maintenance, Advanced Street Skills, and specialty off road training programs for the Department of Natural Resources and law enforcement agencies in the NW. Stay tuned as Bret creates the training programs riders ask for and raises the bar for motorcycle education.