Rennie Scaysbrook | September 14, 2021
There are very few people who have lived a life like John Hopkins and are still here to tell the tale.
Most, even if they are here, certainly wouldn’t want to write a book for the world to read about the ups, downs, good and very bad parts of their lives, but then, John Hopkins isn’t most people.
Leathered is Hopkins’s ode to a life lived precariously on the edge. From growing up just out of L.A. and riding the fire trails in the High Desert, ripping through the AMA ranks and joining MotoGP as a 17-year-old, to signing multi-million-dollar contracts in one of the most lucrative times in MotoGP history, Leathered gives the reader a glimpse into a world very, very few will ever experience.
However, the motorcycle racing portion of Leathered is secondary to the real story, that of Hopkins’ struggle with everything from alcohol to prescription drugs, his battles with the law and his quest to find an inner peace that seemingly goes at odds with his tattooed, wild as f**k persona.
Crashes, injuries, pain and the medication that often followed put an incredible strain on Hopkins, and his addictive character seemed to always find the worst side effects in things that were supposed to make him better.
The book is about as honest as you’ll ever read, certainly from a professional sportsman’s point of view, where one life was lived in front of your TV screen every second Sunday and another very different one when the checkered flag fell.
Lowdown | John Hopkins: Leathered
Standout Feature: The best MotoGP autobiography I’ve ever read
List Price: $26.99
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Pure honesty from Hopkins |
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Doesn’t throw too many people under the bus |
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No complaints. It’s a great story and told well |
Reader Analysis | John Hopkins: Leathered
Having worked as a writer for the past 16 years, I am a slow reader at best. I read every word on the page, mentally scanning for errors as though I’m proofreading. This means I take forever to read a book. I read Leathered in four days flat.
Penned with famed MotoGP journalist Matt Roberts, this is a book I simply could not put down.
I’ve always been a fan of John. I only met him twice—once when I bashed on his motorhome door at Mugello in 2006 and the other when he was in his new role with the American Racing Team at Apex Raceway in Perris, California—which coincided with the two sides of his bike career.
But the racing side, at least for me, is not what makes Leathered such a good read. It’s the crazy behind-the-scenes stories that enthrall you. There’s one particular story about John and Roland Sands ripping the top off a motorhome in Brainerd, Minnesota, 21 years ago. When I mentioned this to Roland recently, he said incredulously, “he wrote about that?!”
There’re probably a few people who will get their noses out of joint with this book, which is normal when the story is far from puppies and roses. But that’s what honesty does, and it’s John’s story to tell.
There’s some gut-wrenching tales in there, including plummeting to the depths of alcoholism and smuggling oxy over from Tijuana after riding that crap box of a Kawasaki in MotoGP. But there’s a bright, human tale to tell, one where the greatest MotoGP stand-up wheelier of all time (in my opinion) admits he’s hit rock bottom, checks himself into rehab, and gets his act together.
It’s a story that ends well, and I cannot recommend it highly enough if you loved MotoGP during John’s time, or if you just want to read a rock ‘n’ roll story about a gifted kid from So Cal.
The book is available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Leathered-Life-Taken-Extremes-Bike/dp/1788403266
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