Posted on 09/21/2004 9:43:55 AM PDT by Lijahsbubbe
WABASHA (AP) - With a State Patrol airplane overhead, a Stillwater motorcyclist hit the throttle and possibly set the informal record for the fastest speeding ticket in Minnesota history: 205 mph.
On Saturday afternoon, State Patrol pilot Al Loney was flying near Wabasha, in southeastern Minnesota on the Wisconsin border, watching two motorcyclists racing along U.S. Highway 61.
When one of the riders shot forward, Loney was ready with his stopwatch. He clicked it once when the motorcycle reached a white marker on the road and again a quarter-mile later. The watch read 4.39 seconds, which Loney calculated to be 205 mph.
"I was in total disbelief," Loney told the St. Paul Pioneer Press for Tuesday's editions. "I had to double-check my watch because in 27 years I'd never seen anything move that fast."
Several law enforcement sources told the newspaper that, although no official records are kept, it was probably the fastest ticket ever written in the state.
After about three-quarters of a mile, the biker slowed to about 100 mph and let the other cycle catch up. By then Loney had radioed ahead to another state trooper, who pulled the two over soon afterward.
The State Patrol officer arrested the faster rider, 20-year-old Stillwater resident Samuel Armstrong Tilley, for reckless driving, driving without a motorcycle license - and driving 140 miles per hour over the posted speed limit of 65 mph.
A search of speeding tickets written by state troopers, who patrol most of the state's highways, between 1990 and February 2004 shows the next fastest ticket was for 150 mph in 1994 in Lake of the Woods County.
Tilley did not return calls from the newspaper to his home Monday. A working number for him could not immediately be found by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Only a handful of exotic sports cars can reach 200 mph, but many high-performance motorcycles can top 175 mph. With minor modifications, they can hit 200 mph. Tilley was riding a Honda 1000, Loney said.
Kathy Swanson of the state Office of Traffic Safety said unless Tilley was wearing the kind of protective gear professional motorcycle racers wear, he was courting death at 200 mph.
"I'm not entirely sure what would happen if you crashed at 200 miles per hour," Swanson said. "But it wouldn't be pretty, that's for sure."
_
Agree 100%. Its 100s of parts vibrating in loose formation and that is an experience.
I'll take my Gold Wing any day. 12 years and nothing but tires, 2 batteries and one set of front brake pads.
I can make it look just like a Harley: Just pour a quart of oil on the ground under it.
In all fairness, Harley has made major improvements but there is a reason they don't run races with the rest of the manufactures.
You're so lucky. I might fly out to see it with a couple of friends, should be a lot of fun. We were planing on hitting Catalunya or Mugello for next year but Laguna Seca is much more practical.
Two-Wheel Tuesday in 7 min.
Somebody finally got it right!
Mark
Tom
The K1200S is the new model. The K1200RS is the older model. It tops out at about 155mph. Well, at least mine does. :)
What a gruesome story! That would be a terrible thing to live with.
No sir, I don't. Did I have a light out? I think the guy should argue that he definitely wasn't going more than 195mph.
It wasn't me ;-)
The worse motorcycle wreck I ever saw was where the guy slid across the road and his feet hit the curb. He lost several inches of his height due to that. It was quite a while before I was able to ride my motorcycle again. Those images kept coming back.
I am not sure if he lived or died in that wreck.
http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mccompare/topspeed/99topspeed.html
Yes. Dave Estok reported that the GSX-1300R was so aerodynamic that while top-speed testing for Bridgestone they had trouble getting a radar reading from the front, they could only read times from the rear as the rider passed by. Estok reported that with a moderate tail wind he was timed at 197 miles per hour. Without any wind Estok was officially timed at 189 mph one way and 187 the other. Michael Barnes, about three inches shorter and 25 pounds lighter than Estok, was timed at 191 mph one way and 190 mph the other. In short, the unique fairing design isn't there just to look radical. It actually works.
Crikey!
A coworker of mine races a Yamaha. I'll have to ask him about the likelyhood of this.
I'm entirely sure.
They stole the bikes and headed down What is now I-40 between Ridgecrest and Old Fort, North Carolina. The kids outran him down the steep grade then when they had the chance, abandoned the bikes.
Of course he got a lot of kidding.
Then you do understand the alias;
mine was 73, last right shifter.
Now planning resto of '68 Trumpet hard tail & a Matchless;
third childhood.
I can't resist.... The oil slick the Harley left sped it up?
194 MPH, rounded.
194 MPH, rounded.
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