Roberta Seaman isn’t your ordinary motorcycle rider — she races at speeds of 120 miles per hour and plans to race even faster this season with alterations she plans on making to her bike.
Seaman, who lives in rural Emporia, completed her first season last year in the All Harley Drag Racing Association circuit. The new season will start in March. She got involved in racing because her husband, Julian, had been drag racing for years. He started in cars and then decided to race motorcycles.
“He’s the one that got me into this. I would go to drag races when my husband was racing and watch him on his bike,” Seaman said. “I had a lot of down time. I realized there’s no speed limit. You can go as fast as you can go.”
Seaman likes to race for the thrill of it, especially at the start of the race.
“I mostly like the launch,” she said. “When you are at the starting line you rev the bike up, dump the clutch and you just shoot out there like a rocket.”
Seaman said there are a lot of other things she likes about the sport of motorcycle drag racing.
“The people that we race with are a lot of fun,” she said. “I look forward to seeing them next year. I’ve become pretty passionate about this sport. A lot of people don’t get it.”
Although most of the drag race competitors are men, the sport isn’t exclusive. When Seaman raced in Las Vegas and won every round, she raced against men, she said, and a woman won a national event.
“The guys look out for us, I think,” Seaman said.
Seaman described how the events work. The qualifying rounds are the first day. The riders are paired up and those who qualify go into the next day’s competition.
“On Saturday morning you have to qualify in order to get in on Sunday,” she said.
This past season, Seaman was named the 2006 AHDRA Lady of the Year. Her peers in the racing circuit voted for her, she said.
“I had a lot of firsts last year and it’s a pretty high honor,” Seaman said. “I didn’t know I was going to get the award until a banquet.”
Seaman also won the 2006 Western Division Champion in the super eliminator competition. She raced in an index class, and the racer who crossed the finish line closest to the index number wins. She also placed fifth overall in the nation this past season.
“That’s pretty good for your first year,” she said.
Seaman is looking forward to the new season, which starts on March 3 and ends on November 18.
“We just keep counting down the days until March 3,” Seaman said.
Seaman would like to make at least one big change.
“I could really use a sponsor,” she said.
Anyone interested in sponsorship should call Hog Heaven at 343-2021.