Motorcyclist says he was going fast, but not 205 mph

MPLS Star & Sickle ^ | 10-25-04 | Matt Mckinney

[Nov3]

Here is the pic of the above bike. Not a stock item however

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

I'm sure the charge was "Speeding -- doing 205 in a -- zone." He pleaded not guilty because he was not doing 205.
The amount of the fine is commensurate with the speed. I'd plead not guilty too. He'll have to take out a loan to pay the fine. Though I wouldn't be going half that speed in a car let alone on a bike. He's Darwin material.

Plus there's no way he was doing 205 on the bike he was on. To do that kind of speed, you need a specially paved track or a bike with the steering so dampened you wouldn't be able to turn the front wheel. An ordinary road would give you such a case of the "high-speed wobbles" you'd end up doing a face-plant all the way up to your heels. There are just too many grooves and bumps in ordinary pavement to keep control at that speed.

[Boiler Plate]

The motorcyclists can walk away if they want to, and often do.

Well said and I suppose that's true. However my my biker friend will never walk or wipe his own butt again. Unless of course we elect John Kerry! Cause then the blind shall see the lame shall walk and the puppy dogs will stop chasing the pussy cats!

Just the same, be careful, which I am sure you are.

[Lx]

You're 100% correct. The only way to win is if the officer fails to show up. I've had that happen twice and everything was dropped. Of course if we didn't show up there'd be a warrant issued.

[G Larry]

28 yrs. ago I tried telling the judge that I wasn't going the ticketed "in excess of 100 mph", but less than 85 mph.

Not much symphathy....

[G Larry]

or sympathy either...

[Boiler Plate]

The Tomahawk is one the wildest things ever to come out of Detroit and unfortunately it will never be produced for the simple reason that there would be a lot dead bodies lying around. Worse than the Tomahawk or any of the others is Jay Leno's Y2K. Still it one thing to have the numbers to go that fast and quite a different thing to actually do it.

http://www.dlra.org.au/worldrecordcycle.htm

No that I want to encourage you, but what is the fastest you have gone?

[Nov3]

On a bike about a hundred on a GS-1100 in the early 80's. I then had an experience similar to yours. I rode my @$$ and elbows down the road at about 40 mph after an old lady in an AMC Ambassador station wagon pulled out and blocked the road. I had an epiphany also and have been on a motorcycle once since then.

In a car over 160. I do know several people who have ridden these bikes flat out. They are crazy but they are out there. And yes they have made 160 on them numerous times.

Was this kid going 205? I doubt it. But there are bikes you can buy that will get you to 190 right out of the factory. With a little tweaking nitrous and exhaust . . . .

[Boiler Plate]

But there are bikes you can buy that will get you to 190 right out of the factory. With a little tweaking nitrous and exhaust . . . .

I know the numbers say you can do it, but you look at the land speed records and it becomes pretty clear that the number of people who can go 150+ and live to tell the tale is a small elite group. I never spilled either of my bikes and while I enjoyed riding them immensely I know my number was going to coming up very soon.

Personally I think the only safe way to ride is in a pack. You give yourself a lot more presence. The sad truth is most folks in cars simply do not respect or most times even know you are there. That makes commuting (which was I was doing) problematic as it is hard to find other riders going to work.

[Nov3]

I know the numbers say you can do it, but you look at the land speed records and it becomes pretty clear that the number of people who can go 150+ and live to tell the tale is a small elite group.

170+ may be elite but 150 is not. There are too many fast bikes and too many dumbass bulletproof kids. As far as the land speed records I have to do more research on those. I don't know what all the acronyms mean. I do know that the interstate loop around this city sees people going 140+ on a weekly basis. My officer friends don't even chase them

[Boiler Plate]

Well one thing I point out to my kids is that there are lots of new "Crotch Rockets" and lots of old Mack Trucks.

[Nov3]

Well put. I dread the day one of my daughters is old enough for some kid to show up on his shiny new motorcycle. You only get one real chance to learn that lesson and I don't want my daughter to be around when it happens. Some kid wiped one out racing last year and the bike was in three pieces. The kid needless to say was dead. The guy that lives across the street from me is an EMT. He made one where a kid went off the road and hit a highway sign. I forget the technical term for it but the skin was peeled down the front of his body and a large portion was still attached to the leg which was not attached to everything else. It was very impressive evidentily because he is NOT impressed by much.

I am sure he thought he was a great motorcycle driver a few milliseconds before things went wrong.

[Freedom4US]

Well, I can expect him to plead "not guilty" of going 205 if that was indeed impossible. But the fact remains he was in considerable excess of the posted speed limit - well over double - and should lose his license for that alone. I'm underwhelmed by a legal system that is that nit-picky.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

I totally agree with you. Take his license away for a few years. I hate speeders. They are tantamount to someone walking down the sidewalk of a city and firing a gun off into the air.