Who is Maurice Turgeau?
I’d like to introduce myself and give you a little of my motorcycling background. I’m the biking equivalent of Ralphy in the Christmas Story. Instead of "You’ll shoot your eye out!" it was always "Those are too dangerous, you’ll kill yourself". And you know what happens whenever a kid is denied something like that? We go overboard! I secretly rode all my friend’s bikes and was even able to park a Sears mini bike in the garage during my youth. But it wasn’t until I was in my twenties that I experienced the joys of bike ownership. My first bike? The perfect starter, a Honda CBR900rr. Forgiving handling, easy power delivery? Well not so much! Luckily, I had a very quick learning curve and survived that introduction. Much to the dismay of my sport bike riding buddies, I sold it and bought a Superbike from a different era. My good friend Danny Weemes had shown me the light. A well worn ’75 Z1 Kawasaki took its place and a CB350four soon followed. Both of which I still have to this day. Some of you might remember me from the bike shop I ran in the late 90's,
Port City Custom Cycle.
The rest of the family is in on the fun too. The wife has a CB1 Honda, a Yamaha RT100, Aprilia RS50 and a Bonneville 50cc semi-streamliner. The daughter rides a Yamaha Zuma and TTR125L. My stepson rides a Yamaha R6, Aprilia RS50 and an RS125.
He’s also gearing up to run the 250 WERA class this year on an '09 Ninja 250. We can’t forget the father in law, who just treated himself to a Kawasaki 250 Supermotard for his 50th wedding anniversary. And my mother in law? A Suzuki Savage. It’s a sickness and very contagious it seems.
We’ve been very fortunate to do a lot of fun, bike related stuff. Of course, the MBVMC events and the Whataburger Bike Night are always great. We volunteer at Barber’s Motorsports Park and with Ducati North America. I Made a trip to the Isle of Man for the TT Centenary a few years back. We Raced at Bonneville this past year with my wife competing on a bike graciously provided by Wiltz and Belen Wagner. And our most fun annual event? That would have to be the True Grits 50cc Rally in Suches, Georgia each October.
Over the years quite a few bikes have come through the old shed doors. The current stable is pretty diverse, though most of these are projects. It starts with a ‘64 Norton Atlas, (anyone have a nice featherbed frame going cheap?), several more Z1’s and KZ’s and an H1 triple I am currently restoring. There’s a QA50,YSR50 a Chappy 50,
Derbi GPR50, RZ350, RD400, and an XS400 Cafe Racer, Yamaha TT500 and a Suzuki DRZ400s Supermotard.
My modern rides are a couple of Honda Hawk Gt’s (my favorite), a Ducati 916 and a 2005 Honda Superhawk. We're not prejudice, I love all kinds. Don’t have a Harley ,BMW or Triumph yet. I am going to have to work on that!
My first project will be to research the history of motorcycling in Mobile. So come along for the ride as I trace some of Mobile's
unique biking history. I've already uncovered a few great stories and pictures. If you have something you would like to share, or just a comment, please email me at
mauricescorner@aol.com. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
Cheers!
I’d like to introduce myself and give you a little of my motorcycling background. I’m the biking equivalent of Ralphy in the Christmas Story. Instead of "You’ll shoot your eye out!" it was always "Those are too dangerous, you’ll kill yourself". And you know what happens whenever a kid is denied something like that? We go overboard! I secretly rode all my friend’s bikes and was even able to park a Sears mini bike in the garage during my youth. But it wasn’t until I was in my twenties that I experienced the joys of bike ownership. My first bike? The perfect starter, a Honda CBR900rr. Forgiving handling, easy power delivery? Well not so much! Luckily, I had a very quick learning curve and survived that introduction. Much to the dismay of my sport bike riding buddies, I sold it and bought a Superbike from a different era. My good friend Danny Weemes had shown me the light. A well worn ’75 Z1 Kawasaki took its place and a CB350four soon followed. Both of which I still have to this day. Some of you might remember me from the bike shop I ran in the late 90's,
Port City Custom Cycle. 
