For my 16th birthday, I got my first car, a 73' Cadillac Fleetwood. I loved helping work on the bike, mixing fuel, and towing him back after every pass he made. I had a strong desire to learn all I could from him. I started going with my dad to every race that I could. I learned to ride a mini-bike at the age of 7 and never had much use for a pedal bike after that. In 83' my dad went from running a small Harley repair shop to being a Harley-Davidson dealer. She also taught me to be passionate, caring, & confident, but not to take crap from anyone. Thankfully, my mom, Esther, was always there to show me that I can still be a lady. My Aunt always said I was born with a grease rag in my back pocket. One of my favorite toys was a carburetor that my dad gave me to take apart & put together. Every day after school I'd ride the school bus to the shop. While most little girls were playing with dolls, I was more interested in being in the shop with my dad learning about Harleys. My Dad, Steve "Doc" Hopkins, dragraced nitro Harleys since before I was born. of 7.55 & MPH of 178 in 2009 season.Ī couple of last minute adjustments from Dad.įront tire off the ground & a cool rainbow too. * 1st Place AHDRA Nitro Outlaw Class Sturgis, SD 2008
* 5th Place for the Pro-Dragster AHDRA Eastern Region 2007 season 60' and a 7.83 ET and 4th place at Rockingham, NC at 166 MPH in the 1/4 mile in Bowling Green, KY * Joined the 7 second club with a 7.85 E.T. * 1st place at the Sturgis, SD AHDRA race The new bike features a wider 11" rear slick, a 120" Fast Cat motor, & a Bentec clutch. Kersten upgraded to a new bike for the 2007 season. On the country roads of Northeast Wisconsin. The Doc's Harley-Davidson raceteam continues to build a legacy that is second to none.ĭoc (pictured below in the nearest lane) in hisĮarly days of dragracing one of his first dragbikes With over 30 years of Harley dragracing experience behind him, Doc continues to race his Top Fuel bike at various events across the nation. In 1995, his daughter Kersten made history as the youngest licensed nitro Harley pilot in the world at the age of 16. He also achieved his own personal goal of reaching 200 MPH+ and to be in the 6 second bracket in the 1/4 mile. His world record was only broken after a rule change allowed cubic inch size to be increased.
#DRAG RACING MOTORBIKE FULL#
Over the course of his dragracing career Doc has held more than a few national championships & he even held a world record for 3 full years. One thing he never sacrificed was his reputation to be a fair, talented, innovative, & ambitious competitor. Dragracing Harleys remained Doc's true passion and he sacrificed a lot for it. Over the years he made hundreds of passes on a progression of several different dragbikes. In about 1978 Doc built his very first Nitro bike. To this day, Doc's dragbike still has Big Jack's name on it. Doc was devastated at the loss of his best friend, but vowed to continue his dragracing career. A few years later, "Big Jack" lost his life in a motorcycle accident.
Big Jack believed in Doc's riding abilities and together they raced every chance they got. In about 1971, Doc & his best friend, "Big Jack" pooled their money and purchased his very first gas Harley dragbike & their common goal of "beating the import bikes" became a reality. It didn't take long for his strong desire to lead him to his first Harley, a 1939 ULH Flathead that he purchased in pieces for $2. He was regularly seen "sailing" his bicycle down the streets of Algoma (yes, he put a sail on his bicycle). In high school he built a V-8 360 Hemi-powered, push-button automatic go-cart. Even at a very early age he developed an interest in making things "go fast." As a kid, he was constantly tinkering with building his own minibikes, go-carts, snowmobiles, and even an airboat. Steve "Doc" Hopkins was born in Janesville, Wisconsin on April 21,1951.
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