George Morin, Canada's first national Superbike champ.

George Morin shares something in common with riders like Steve Crevier, Rueben McMurter, Michel Mercier, Jordan Szoke and Pascal Picotte, but Morin has at least one thing on all these other big-name riders. All the above are former Canadian Superbike Champions, but Morin has the distinction of being the country’s first Superbike title winner.

Similar to Reg Pridmore (the first AMA Superbike champ) in America, Morin perhaps doesn’t completely get the recognition he deserves for his pioneering accomplishment of winning the Canadian title in 1980. As George jokes, “They drag me out to put me on display every once in awhile.” Nevertheless, Morin was on the leading edge of the Superbike revolution that hit Canadian racing just a few seasons after it was born and took off in America.

Morin got support from Kawasaki in Canada and in 1979 won the informal Canadian Superbike title. Even though not formally recognized as a national championship until 1980, Canadian Superbike racing was attracting the country’s best talent. Riders like Morin, Lange Hindle, Rueben McMurter and Frank Mrazek. All of those guys also came down to race AMA Superbike. Morin scored a top-10 finish at Road America in 1980.

George Morin on a factory Suzuki Katana in Canadian Superbike action in the early 1980s.

“American Superbike racing at that time was the best in the world,” Morin said. “It made us better riders to go down and compete against the best.”

Morin retired from competition and in 1984 started managing the fledgling Suzuki road race effort of Michel Mercier. Morin also went on to work as a manager for Steve Crevier and Miguel Duhamel in the late ‘80’s, and more recently guided Frank Trombino’s Yamaha Motor Canada R1 Superbike effort.