BY MADELYN PEGG ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Dave Turner got his first motorcycle , a Honda CT70 minibike , in 1971 and began racing shortly after . He joined his high school motocross race team in 1974 and “ never stopped riding motorcycles after that point ,” he says . “ I raced motocross all through high school and then I started hill climbing . I hill climbed professionally from 1980 through 1989 .” He was ranked third in the Southern California Hillclimbers Association in 1984 and 1985 .

He raced in major races in Billings , Montana , Medford , Oregon , and Roseburg , Oregon . He also raced at Saddleback Park and DeAnza Cycle Park in California , and at the Widowmaker in Salt Lake City , Utah . “ I was fourth in the unlimited class on a 1,000cc Triumph at the Widowmaker in 1985 and appeared on ABC Wide World of Sports . I also made the hill that day in the 0−700cc class on a 490 Maico ,” he says . It is estimated that only 13 people ever made the summit of the original Widowmaker hill climb .

He worked for Mazda Motors as the accessory development supervisor , then the offroad racing coordinator . He began racing trucks for Mazda , then other automotive brands . “ My first race was the Baja 1000 in Class 7 in a rotary engine powered Mazda B2000 ,” Turner shares . He finished first in the Gran Carrera de Campeones , third in the Winston Smokin ’ Wheels in Guam , and first in the U . S . Off Road Championships in Tokyo .

“ We switched to Pro Rally in the early ’ 90s and won the 1994 SCCA Pro Rally National Championship in the production class driving a Mitsubishi Eclipse ,” he says . “ In 1995 , we won the Rally Truck class championship in a Mitsubishi Mighty Max .”

He returned to off-road racing in 1999 and in 2000 , he placed second in class 3100 in the Best in the Desert Silver State Series . In 2001 , he placed first in class 3100 . He continued to race for Ford in an Explorer , a Sport Track , and a F150 through 2010 . “ In 2011 , I joined Bob Mamer in an Unlimited Jeep Cherokee , and we won the General Tire Jeep Speed Cup series championship ,” he says .

In 2014 , he began dirt bike racing again and placed second after a tie breaker in the AMA

DEB TURNER

DAVE TURNER

National Hare and Hound Series 50 + B class . He also placed second in the SoCal MX International 60 + Expert Class in 2017 and 2018 .

“ I had knee replacement surgery in 2019 and have managed the U . S . Hard Enduro Team and EnduroCross teams ever since ,” he says . “ I ’ ve been involved in motorsports or some form of the automotive or motorcycle industry my whole life . My dad owns auto parts stores so that ’ s been my life from the very beginning . I ’ m still racing . I raced last Sunday , and I ’ m old , but I can ’ t seem to stop ,” he laughs .

His wife , Deb Turner , doesn ’ t race , but she is a constant supporter . “ She ’ s always at the races ,” Turner says . “ She was there when I was racing trucks , helping manage the team . When we got married , I was hill climbing at that point , and she was okay with motorcycles in the living room . So that ’ s always been good ,” he laughs .

DAVE TURNER ADVENTURE TOURS In 2008 , he started a motorcycle touring business in Morongo Valley , California . Dave Turner Adventure Tours rented out dirt bikes , which led him to become a Beta USA dealer in 2009 . “ Our shop is in a little town called Morongo Valley that is about 1,300 people …

BRAEDEN SUNDELIUS

We still have a tour page on our website and people can go on there and book directly ,” he explains . “ I sold Beta ’ s up until around 2016 . We were the fourth largest Beta dealer in the U . S . at that point .” He named his business Get Dirty Dirt Bikes .

GET DIRTY DIRT BIKES Around 2016 , Turner added TM Motorcycles to the dealership . “ The importer at that time was Ralf Schmidt and I went to his house and introduced myself and talked to him and we struck a deal . I started selling TM Motorcycles ,” he says . “ In 2018 or 2019 we were the largest TM dealer in the U . S . as far as sales .”

During the pandemic , the importer of TM Motorcycles had to leave the U . S . and Get Dirty Dirt Bikes became the brand ’ s distributor until 2023 , when the company left the U . S . market .

“ We ’ re keeping our fingers crossed that we ’ ll be selling TM Motorcycles at some point ,” Turner says . “ I know that they ’ re negotiating to have an importer for the U . S . again … We really liked the bikes . They sell themselves .”

The dealership also manages the TM Motorcycles Extreme Off-Road racing team and EnduroCross team . “ We ’ re still doing that , and we do it under the Get Dirty Dirt Bikes name ,” Turner says . “ And we have a pro rider that ’ s riding for us that ’ s riding Betas this year .”

RACE MANAGERS “ We prep and prepare the bikes , and we supply the bikes to pro riders ,” Turner says . “ We have amateur riders that ride for us as well and they usually buy their bikes at a discount , and we help them maintain the bikes and then we go to the series that we ’ re involved in which is the U . S . Hard Enduro series and EnduroCross series . We transport the bikes , we set up the pits , we keep the bikes running during the races and riders hydrated .”

The Enduro series started at the beginning of October , and Turner and his wife will go to all six of the races in the series . “ It ’ s pretty cool . It ’ s a lot of work , but it ’ s not really work when it ’ s fun ,” he says .

Braeden Sundelius works in the service department at the dealership and when he is unable to attend races with the dealership

Get Dirty Dirt Bikes manages TM Motorcycles Extreme Off-Road racing team and EnduroCross team . Photos courtesy of Get Dirty Dirt Bikes

owners , he is still involved in race prepping the bikes . “ We have our own suspension set up ,” Turner says . “ We do everything on the bikes for the races .”

BEST-IN-CLASS PRACTICES Get Dirty Dirt Bikes posts regularly on Facebook and Instagram , and sometimes on LinkedIn . He says that the dealership receives the most engagement on Facebook .

“ I know Facebook is the old-school thing , but we get a ton [ of interaction ] from that ,” he says . “ We have 13,000 plus followers . We ’ re involved in vintage racing as well , I sponsor a series called The American Retrocross Series , and we also race with them . When we post stuff about vintage bikes , we get so many responses . I posted something last week that got 105,000 impressions .”

Turner also shares his excitement for the dealership ’ s new and updated website . “ It ’ s really nice compared to the one we have now ,” he says . “ The new one has more functions … I ’ m pretty jazzed about the new website .” He had used the same hosting site since 2008 but will now work with a more affordable host that will also enhance his website .

FAMILY AND THE FUTURE “ For us , it ’ s great ,” he says about working with his wife daily . “ She ’ s here every day . She sometimes comes in at like 11:30 or leaves at two o ’ clock ,” he laughs , “ but it ’ s really good . She ’ s been here since the beginning . We ’ ve been married 44 years .”

And now , his granddaughter , Laynie Turner , also works part-time at the dealership . “ It ’ s been great . She helps us keep track of the books and dealer invoicing … It ’ s so easy for us to call and say , ‘ Laynie , we need help ,’ and she ’ s here and it gets done .”

Turner says that the used motorcycle market was slow in September , partly due to the season . “ I have a 300 KTM in here and we used to sell those super easy . I ’ ve had it for a month ,” he says . “ One thing here is , its 100 plus degrees in the summertime . During the summer people just don ’ t ride much . Come October when the weather is really nice here , things pick up . That ’ s what I ’ m basing our inventory on . We need to be ready for the cooler months .”