Motorcycle Man

hosted by the bmF, with support from bikesure – a 30-minute film on legendary uS racer dave roper

“Why does the dog chase the car?” says Dave Roper, reflecting on his 50 years of racing all over the world. “I like to chase things, you know? I figure I’m lucky to have discovered what I like to do so early, and I still like to do it.”

Dave is the central figure in this short film about his life as a racer, but it’s not a list of circuits and podium placings. Dave Roper is a quiet, thoughtful type who clearly has insight into just why he goes racing, and for so long. He’s articulate, but in a straightforward sort of way, and in talking about his motivation he probably voices what drives countless club and professional racers all over the world.

He started racing in 1972, concentrating on classics and vintage bikes from 1983 and since the ‘70s has competed at 150 tracks, still packing in about 50 races a year. Not surprisingly, everybody in US club racing seems to know him, though he has competed on the Isle of Man, and the film includes quite a bit of TT footage. In fact, the Island became a regular fixture in the Roper calendar, after he first raced there in 1982 – he won one of the historic rounds in ‘84 on a Matchless G50 at 91.11mph, becoming the first American to do so. “That,” he says, “was the highlight of my career.” The charm of Motorcycle Man is that, like its subject, it’s low key. Apart from talking head snippets by Team Obsolete boss Rob Iannucci and journalist/racer Kevin Cameron, much of the film consists of Dave going about his business on track, in the paddock or building bikes in a workshop, with a voiceover from the man himself. “I like racing for its combination of the physical and the cerebral,” he says. “I like situations in flux where you’ve got to make a lot of instantaneous decisions.” And after many crashes and broken bones he’s philsophical about danger. “If you approach the edge, at times you’re going to step over the edge, because sometimes you only find out where the edge is by exceeding it...I have no regrets – bones heal.”

Filmed by Daniel Lovering, Motorcycle Man is a superb 32 minutes which gets to the heart not just of Dave Roper, or even racers in general, but why human beings choose to pursue apparently risky activities.

https://www.motorcyclemanfilm.com/