Proper motorcycle grip, how to use you hands 

If you want text notification for new videos, text "Tkacs" to 888-306-7782 (now say that 5 times fast... "text Tkacs to"

The helmet to hat transition is so smooth.

Ah... the hat transition. The moment we've been all waiting for. Pure magic.

I think that is one of your best videos. Never thought of it before but the explanation is GOLD.

Another excellent lesson from the Moto-Guru that even an experienced rider such as myself can learn much from. Expert control in that first 55 seconds, with some awesome camera shots too!!!

Man, thought the lesson was going to be switching from helmet to hat! That was so smooth!!

Great demo to show its not just about contact points with the machine, it’s finesse to master the machine.

This is an exceptionally good video Bret!

Over the last year, I have watched many Bret Tkacs videos. I have learnt more from these videos than from anything else I have watched or read. And amongst all those videos, this one lifted the fog for me. I watched it yesterday night and put it into practice on an off-road forest ride today (Saturday). Man, oh man what a difference! I felt light on the pegs and my body moved easier, I felt more in control than ever before and yes the elbows do thrust out naturally. Many thanks Bret. Namaste from Nepal.

0:49 ever so slick. thanks for another informative video.

You really are a great teacher. Clear explanations. Others will say "just do this" and never tell us the why. Thanks

Excellent video, Bret! Gary Bailey was teaching this hand position for MX as far back as the 70's. The concept of gripping the bars like you are about to grab a door knob is to my mind the cornerstone of correct riding technique.

What an awesome video. It is true the details matter; be it riding a motorcycle, flying an airplane, or riding a bicycle. The small stuff, is the basis for safe riding, safe flying and other activities. There are many words of wisdom here. Thank you, Bret.

Holy Cow! Are you and Canyon Chasers in cahoots are something? Two awesome hand videos in one week. I love it!!

The helmet to hat transition was phenomenal

I definitely take what I've learned from your videos into consideration on my rides now. We hear a plethora of advice through the years of riding, then one day it just clicks. I've started to intentionally break my bad habits and allow myself to feel more connected to the bike. Thanks again for another tip! Hopefully one of these days I can join one of your international trips, or let me help you setup a training session down here in Baja! :D

The fastest cap in the west! Thanks again for some great training. Cheers

Knew I should have bought Rev’it shares. These videos will do wonders for sales. Appreciate Bret’s attention to detail 👌🏼

Bald is beautiful 😍..Bret was always a good teacher.

This jogs my memory of when I used to ride my mountain bike .

As usual, great tips! Tks for sharing them Bret.

You make such good videos Please do a tutorial on the helmet to hat transition, and vice versa.

I was taught to grip the handlebar like it's the handle of a screwdriver and also twist the throttle in the same manner.

I like the light color shoulders on the jacket, will feel cooler than many white jackets with black shoulders.

Awesome vid, Bret. Ride safe, god bless u.

Nice👍 been riding/teaching that for years! I use the analogy of turning a doorknob or using a screwdriver.

You Master! Greetings from Paraguay!

Rich Oliver calls it the "screwdriver grip."

Loved it! A good reminder of body position.

Good point to reasses my grip

Superb, thank you. One of those vids that really makes you think and analyse your riding technique.

Awesome training video! 😃👍

that transition in the beginning from helmet to hat was the true skill you need to teach us chrome domes here XD

Could you do a video on why some street gear might not be good for adventure.. like how gloves that are good for street slide might be bad for gravel, or why you might want a different kind of boot or jacket if you are only a street rider, etc.

Haha had to rewind that! The “installation” of the hat was incredible smooth 😂

Thank you Bret for the wonderful teaching about adv motocycle. Salute to you from a Chinese rider.

Yes, as many have said. This is a brilliant video. Personally I never new the relationship between the hand grip and elbows. I can't wait to have a good crack at this now. 10/10 Bret and many thank 👏👏👍👌

Thanks alot! This was really helpful, I just wish I had watched this a bit earlier before I fell when sand caught my front wheel. Love From India!

THAT HELMET TO HAT IS JUST SOOO SMOOOOTHHHH

Thanks again for another great video to help myself and fellow riders ride better and safer. I'd love to do your class sometime!

Amazing Helmet Hat shifting skills :-D

This was an important one. Thank you for helping me, help me to keep upright. Over the years I've chucked myself into things where I have what you've said talking me through it in the back of my head. Have to say that the environment you are in for this video tutorial is the coolest, post-apocalyptic one yet! All the best in South Africa.

Great video Bret!...thank you!

Very nice video Bret !!!…. I have thousands of kilometers off roads and consider myself a fairly experienced rider, but always your lessons stating simple details make me make a pause and retune my riding technics. Hopefully we can bring you to Route 7 in Chile to have Adventure Bike Training on one of most amazing places in the world. Cheers from Chile !!!

Bret has mastered the smooth / seem less transition from helmet to wearing his hat! Love your videos.

Bret as usual your videos rock!! Big Thank you.

came back to this one as reminder, its hard to loose 40 years of doing it wrong the younger generation have so much advantage for the learning curve, but perhaps they loose out elsewhere, thanks again.

I am the owner of AT dct, and this lesson is very very important to me. It changed the way I ride from poor (dangerous) throttle control to precise / safe throttle control. It gave me a sense of security and a lot of fun to drive. Many thanks Bret. Maybe you could show more how to work with the rear brake and throttle. Not only off road. I think it would be interesting for AT DCT riders

Great video! Adjusted my clutch lever again and trying to fine tune the ergo! Just placticed in Florida sugar sand that combination of finese', relaxing and flowing with the bike is starting to pay off! Amazing what the bike will do if we can free our mind! "There is no spoon"

night to day for me! Now "my elbows will be ouu", thanks Bret! Regards from Bolivia.

I struggle with breaking and clutch with the diagonal grip, now I am sure that I have to practice more. Thank you Bret.

Bret... just wanted to a huge thank you for all your videos... like you say in this video about the attention to detail...it is this that had taught me SO much in riding adventure bikes..I'm still very new to riding ADV bikes but watching your videos... going away and practicing what you teach has really helped me to improve my riding... improve my ability to ride these big bikes and most off all be more comfortable and controlled... Thanks again Ride and smile 🤙

Very hard issue to discuss on a video. You did it justice. In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu we call it making micro adjustments. You can train the same techniques or ride the same bike for years until the micro adjustments are learned. Videos like this help.

Excellent video, great for new riders. Thank you for posting.

Hell yeah..this is what exactly I have been waiting to learn. Thank youuuuu.

Very good video thank you, I have been riding a lot for 31 years and you have just taught me something I didn't know.

I only ride dirt bikes and don’t have an adventure bike but I enjoy watching your content. Reminds me to reinforce the fundamentals.

thanks bud, hate I was too broke to come train when you were in Georgia.

Great tips....thank you for sharing.

Just rewatched this video again. Thanks Bret for such a clear explanation. I love your videos as you always manage to explain and show the fundamentals of adv. riding in such a clear manner. You have had a positive impact on my riding. J

Nice tips! Great to hear the name of my country 😁🙏🇳🇵

Great video and i agree with the grip postion but there are people that will take this to the extreme so its hard to fully show in a video. To much rear sweep on your bars is going to be bad for your wrists in lots of ways. Height plays a big point in what bars work for you. Not a bmw guy but every Japanese bike seems to be made for around a 5'10" frame which if your tall doesnt work to much backwards sweep because that size has narrower shoulders so your shoulder to grip alignment is going diffrent. Ive been riding on and offroad for 30+ years now and as long as ive been "grown up" at 6'3" ive had to replace bars to something with less sweep. Guess the biggest thing is to realize the stock ergos/setups are likely not going to work for most people and you will need to modifythe bike to correctly fit you, unless your that magic factory setup body type.

Thank you! I grew up mountain biking and all of this makes perfect sense to me and it feels natural, I've never thought about how or why I put my hands or bars the way I do but it's good to see I've been doing it the right way all along. I use 2 fingers on the levers to achieve the best balance of precision and grip on both the bars and the levers and also have the least fatigue riding. I've also found general motorcycle advice weird and dumb on many occasions, glad to hear an expert saying that's wrong too. I still believe I can learn a great deal more with some training. Are you planning on doing any in Europe? P.S. Those moto expeditions look very attractive....I may need to start saving up for next year.

Awesome review, Bret. For Me... index finger resting on the clutch lever, index and middle finger resting on the front brake lever, ... that way if I stand up ...or hit a bump, ... The throttle is locked by my hand position , and I'm not fumbling for the clutch lever if I'm bouncing around,.... same insitu on my cruiser,.... elbows loose, mid plane, gripping the bars with ring and pinky fingers, index and middle fingers on the ready over the clutch and bake levers. Stay Safe ... Ciao.

Fantastic video! Thank you!

Thank you for all your useful information and great experience you are sharing... Really appreciate it 👍🏼

Always .. always .. always good content top notch info.. top notch lads .. Well done Bret .. Stay smily from italy ..

fascinating. the twist also tends to make your elbows rise, perfect position for off road thanks Brett

Using two fingers on my clutch has changed the the way i ride motorcycle... thank you

Good stuff. Opening a door wrist angle rotation 🤔

That transition between helment and hat is pretty smooth .

Thanks a lot from México

Fantastic review!!! Thanks!!

Oh man, the long awaited moment has came 😉

Wow haven’t hear about the hands!! I’ll apply this to my next trip! Thanks a lot

Bret, you got me thinking again. I always try to push my elbows out, helping me manoever and stay in control. Somehow my hand position automatically moves with it. But elbows tend to go down with gravity ;-) You suggest to take care of the hand position first. Seems a lot easier. I will try and report if the snow melts again in Nuremberg. Thanks for your concentration on details, much appreciated, Günter

Bret - great information. I’ve also found that properly covering the levers (1 or 2 fingers max) aids in proper hand positioning and smooths out throttle inputs. Also - great choice in gloves. Those are my personal favorite street oriented adv glove as they aren’t too bulky with good protection and don’t have any plastic sliders or gimmicks that can hinder dexterity. I also keep a pair of motocross gloves under the seat for when the terrain gets gnarly.

Sir, you are one of the reasons I regret I dont live in the US (or South Africa?) so i can get trained by you, but even from YT you have improved my riding tremendously. I have done multiple trainings with BMW and Turatech which I liked but none went into the details that you do, thank you. - A middle aged idiot who started ADv rding on a 1200GS and ended with a KTM 790 R.

Thanks1 Very informative as I always expect, you have assisted me in becoming a better rider; You also make me smile when you do your Helmet to Hat changeover....its your thing......stay safe....thanks

What I hear in this video is written in a song: "hold on loosely, but don't let go" I always thought this was about love, but in fact it was about riding motorcycles 🤯 Yes I ripped this comment, just like this video is a direct copy of one you did before. It's good info so I do mind the reeducation😉

After 41 years of bicycling, dirt biking, road biking as well as track riding I can’t say that hand position on the bars is a secret to riding well. It’s about as natural a thing as possible. No need to complicate it. Smooth control inputs at the bars? 100% agreed - essential to good riding.

I want to ride my motorcycle with the smoothness of Bret switching from helmet to cap. Another great lesson , thanks !

Very well explained content.. thanks Bret looking forward for more videos.

Love how Burt always puts that cap on so quick when removing his helmet.

Thank you, i'll try to practice this as both on my motorcycle and bicycle I get numb hands after a bit, likely due to improper grip!

BretTkacs, with ur method of teaching and how explaining things I can say that i feel a better rider and saved me many times from a stupidity i was planning on doing. Thanks for these videos. Any tours in EU planned? All the way from the island of Malta 🇲🇹. Cheers.

Dude...this is pure enlightenment

best tips i have ever heard! thx so much!

Very good video. I try to work on, bit dang is it hard to focus on the basics when you get into a tough spot. But I know I need to keep doing it until I get in the right spot just from muscle memory.

Great information as always, thanks for sharing 👍

I'm always fascinated by your videos... Greetings from Germany

I love this technique. It completely got rid of my rist of a whiskey throttle.

Thank you so much . Couldn't work this out on my own

Wow, that was a LOT of detailed information to digest so early in the morning while sipping the first cup of coffee. I will have to think about what you said today and replay this later. On a side note, I like what you said about keeping your pinkies always on the grips. Having dupuytren's contractures (The Viking's disease) on both hands I naturally grip with my pinkies. So, while having a cool name for the ailment, AND a genetically created natural grip for ADV riding I was destined to do this type of motorcycle riding. LOL Looking forward to taking a course and possibly a tour with you in the near future, take care and stay safe. Happy anniversary and belated birthday!

0:20 Looks like an Counter-Strike environment.

Yeah ,about attitude. I smile because my riding is terrifying me and it's fun overcome the challenge and the feel of controlling the bike.

Nice outline, one last thing I might have missed you mention is a lot of people end up with a death grip, a relaxed hand works better than white knuckling for many reasons :-)

Great instructions ! Personally I’ve discovered the “small stuff” through the decades. I pursue what comes “naturally” and atuned to the “grip”. As far as gloves goes, quality mechanic gloves work just as well as spendy moto gloves - have similar features.

Another fantastic video Bret. Great, simple tips.

That’s the smoothest helmet to hat transition I’ve ever seen. 0:52 seconds in