
Senior Teagan Prince has spent his last academic year taking AP classes in the morning at John Bapst and then attending classes at United Technology Center in Bangor, where he’s been transforming a trunk full of motorcycle parts into a work of motorized art. Walking into school, silver helmet under his arm, it’s clear that the ride to school is sheer joy – as long as it’s on his bike.
Nell Gluckman of the Bangor Daily News came by to learn more about Teagan’s project. Watch the video below and read the whole story here: http://bangordailynews.com/2014/05/27/living/john-bapst-student-commutes-to-school-on-a-motorcycle-he-built-himself/
Teagan had been racing motocross since his sophomore year. In his sport, it’s essential to know how to fix your own bike, since the sport is, to say the least, a little rough on equipment. When he took his street motorcycle class to become a licensed rider, he decided it was time to take on a bigger project and build a bike of his own.
Starting with $200 worth of parts, and a verbal promise to transform the boxes of “mostly all there” bike parts into a cafe racer, Teagan took the challenge. With no instruction manual for the 39-year-old bike, he had to figure out what he was missing first. He guessed that he started with about 7o% of the bike and cheerfully acknowledged that the last 30% was a true puzzle, especially the electrical wiring, which became his nemesis. “Sometimes I’d just sit and stare at it, trying to think of how it would work.” The day he finally got the engine to run was one of his happiest, he claims. He’s been driving his creation to school during his last few weeks as a Bapst senior.
In the fall, he’ll attend UMaine as an engineering student. Between his strong academic work in AP and his UTC experience, he acknowledges that the combination is a great asset in his field of study – letting him see past the theoretical and into the practical.
We wish Teagan the best of luck!