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."
_
nitros?
I've had those trick riding idiots doing high speed wheelies right in front of me on the expressway. Makes me nervous just watching.
A Honda blackbird (1000) with flatslides, an aftermarket exhaust and a change of sprocket will do 205 all day long.
The stock Suzuki GSX-1300R 'Hayabusa' can reach this speed right off the dealer's showroom floor.
I want to be there when he tells the judge he was only doing 190.
Oops, you beat me to it.
SIGN HERE!!!! You hooligan!
http://www.ghostridermovie.net
enjoy =)
Money. It's not likely that a 20yr. old would have the money to put into a Honda 1000 to get it to top out at 205. In any kind of racing, the operative question is not: "How fast do you want to go", but: "How much money do you have". Even so, if the kid had a rich father willing to indulge his son, a Honda 1000 would not be a candidate for power bucks.
Kind of interesting to read.
At one time, I knew an attorney who was from Muncie IN. We were talking about speeding about ten years ago and he mentioned a story of a guy on a crotch rocket who got cited for doing 140 mph by an Indiana State Trooper. The trooper was doing radar when the bike went by in a blur. The trooper didn't catch the biker until later. The biker's neighbor was listening to the police radio traffic on a scanner and saw the biker pull into his driveway in a hurry. The description given by the cop (color of the bike) over the scanner matched the biker. The neighbor and the biker were not on good terms. The neighbor called the IN State Police and the biker was arrested for reckless driving. The biker hired an attorney and got the charge thrown out but it took a while.
Is there a problem, officer?
Harleys are still the baddest, just for sheerly being a Harley.
Go faster all you want, its like a gun vs a well crafted sword. One gets the job done quicker, but the other has a soul.
I got one in Montana doing 142, but it was during the open limit so all i got was a reckless endangerment which is a civil fine verses a motor vehicle fine and did not appear on my record. i actually "had" to drive that fast otherwise i would have missed ship's movement! i had to call the judge when i pulled back into port, luckily he was former navy so he let me off with forfeit of bail and a stern lecture on time management.
ping.
ROFLMBO!!!! No doubt!
Have you seen this story Blackie? This kid's an idiot, but the posts are good!
Whoa Nelly! Were you arrested? What was the penalty?
"I've been stranded in the combat zone
I walked through Bedford Stuy alone
Even rode my motorcycle in the rain
And you told me not to drive
But I made it home alive
So you said that only proves that I'm insane
You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for
Turn out the light
Don't try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right "
--Billy Joel
And maybe no helmet law??
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