Steve “Doc” Hopkins, owner of Doc’s Harley-Davidson of Shawano County, is already well-known for his burgeoning business and special bikes. His reputation will grow worldwide when a documentary by Discovery Channel Canada hits the air.
A Discovery Channel crew was filming at Doc’s, on state Highway 29 east of Bonduel, on Wednesday.
“I just love listening to Doc,” said documentary producer Ben Schaub, who is from Toronto. “He’s a great storyteller.”
Schaub saw a news story about Hopkins’ Timeline motorcycle, a 10-person, seven-engine bike, and was attracted to his ability to do things out of the ordinary.
“We like people who like to build and be creative about it,” Schaub said.
Schaub contacted Hopkins a couple of years ago and told him he would like to film him when he had a new project. Schaub told Hopkins he wanted to film the project as it developed rather than do a story after it was completed.
This summer Hopkins purchased the Roadog, a bike built by Wild Bill Gelbke, of Green Bay, in 1972. It weighs 3,280 pounds and is over 17 feet long.
Gelbke graduated from a college in Wisconsin as an electronic engineer. He worked in California, then Chicago, where he started building the bikes.
“His dream was to put Harley-Davidson out of business,” Hopkins said. “I saw him out riding. This was his own personal bike.”
Gelbke died in 1978. The bike sat in his mother’s garage for many years before it was sold to a couple who knew his mother. They contacted Hopkins two years ago and offered to sell Gelbke’s bike and equipment to him for his museum. This summer they finally agreed on a price.
On Wednesday, Schaub and cameraman Jay Kemp were at the dealership to film a special occasion.
“He will ride it today for the first time,” Schaub said.
They started filming early in the day, showing Hopkins working on the bike, testing it and making sure it was safe to ride. It took all day before Doc finally took it on the road.
“It was absolutely the hardest thing I tried to ride in my life,“ said Hopkins, who has ridden all sorts of motorcycles, including racing bikes.
The bike twice started shaking while Hopkins was riding it on the road. Although that wasn’t unusual for a bike that hadn’t been started in 34 years, “I nearly lost control,“ Hopkins said.
Schaub wasn’t worried that the ride might not happen. Documentaries need to real, he said, and show what actually happens. However, he was confident in Hopkins’ abilities to get the bike on the road.
“This is why I came here,” Schaub said.
The Roadog will be in Hopkins’ museum after he does a little more work on it. His first ride will anchor an hourlong episode of Daily Planet, a daily science magazine show that shows a mix of documentaries and features, with hosts Ziya Tong and Dan Riskin.
The episode will include four other documentaries the crew is filming while it is in Wisconsin. The air date has not yet been scheduled.
The show will be seen not only in Canada, but also other countries around the world. After it airs, people in the U.S. can watch it online the day after by going to discover.ca/dailyplanet.
Categories
