Motorcyclist leads police on I-70 chase that hits 170 mph

Observer-Reporter ^ | 06/06/2005 | KATHIE O. WARCO

[Responsibility1st]

Rico Lamar Porter doesn't have a license to drive, but apparently he thought he had a license to fly Wednesday afternoon.

Porter, 27, of 25 Dyer Drive, Hickory, was arrested after leading state police on an eight-mile, 170-mph chase on traffic-congested Interstate 70.

That's no misprint. Commonly referred to as a sport bike or "crotch rocket," an aerodynamic motorcycle like the one Porter was operating is capable of speeds of around 200 mph.

Trooper Martin Gonglik was running radar about 4:20 p.m. near the Dunningsville exit of the highway when he clocked Porter going 120 mph.

Gonglik activated the lights and siren on his police car and attempted to stop Porter, but the motorcylist instead took off. With the trooper in his marked police cruiser in pursuit, Porter weaved in and out of eastbound traffic.

At times, he drove on the berm to get around vehicles. And not surprisingly, Porter didn't use his turn signal during lane changes.

Porter got off the highway at the Centerville exit and momentarily lost control of his slick speedster. Gonglik swerved to avoid a collision, hitting a guard rail. Porter again tried to flee, going south on Route 481, but ended up hitting the side of the police cruiser. Porter, who was wearing a helmet, was slightly injured and taken to Washington Hospital for treatment.

District Judge Jay Weller initially thought police had made a mistake when he read the criminal complaint filed against Porter.

"When I asked about going 170 mph, he just nodded his head," Weller said of Porter. "He was very forthright about everything. He said he just got the bike two weeks ago and hadn't even made the first payment."

Porter told Weller that his bike-riding days were over.

"He said it was a good thing that the trooper caught him because he probably would have killed himself," Weller said. "He was trying to catch up with some friends. He wondered why he caught up with them so quickly, but they had seen the trooper and slowed down."

Porter was arraigned before Weller on charges of reckless endangerment, fleeing and eluding police, driving with a suspended license, having no registration, having no insurance, driving off the road, not using his turn signal, failing to drive at a safe speed, speeding, careless driving, reckless driving and not having the vehicle inspected. He was placed in Washington County Jail on $2,500 bond.

A preliminary hearing is set for Tuesday before District Judge Curtis Thompson.

[zipper]

Oops! Must've Oh well, it amounts to probably another 67 horsepower (45 percent of 150). Not likely without a turbo or nitrous.

Yeah 77 percent more would've been 226 MPH.

square root of ((170x170)x 1.77)= 226

I looked at the video-- he appeared to be in sixth gear at about 11,100 rpm. I think we could figure out his real speed based on gear ratios, provided of course his sprockets and gearing are stock.

[Responsibility1st]

dynamometer

TYVM for the clarification

[MarkL]

One of my co-workers brags that he hits 120 on the highways when he needs to let some steam out, don't think I believe him but he does seem like he'd be the type.

I've got a Ducati 900SS, and I was clocked at 125MPH on the front straight a Heartland Park raceway in Topeka KS. That was as fast as I wanted to go, because it's the 1/4 mile track used for drag racing, and then there was a sharp right, then an immediate sharp left turn at the end! You'll see it in this photo at the left, about 2/3 of the way down the straight.

The worst part of the track (the first time I rode it) can be seen on the right side... Notice that it seems to be straight, then there's a litle "chicane" (a jog, to help keep the speed down), then another short straight... What you can't see in this photo is that both strights are going slightly uphill, while the chicane is flat and level. That means you can't see the chicane until your're practicly on top of it... My first time there, I managed to do a bit of "dirt tracking," going straight, missing the chicane altogether! It was a serious "pucker factor" moment!

the last time I was there, Heartland Park didn't seem like a terribly safe track for motorcycles... The track surface was pretty bad (there were different surfaces at some of the points where the bike was leaned over, and traction would change), and there was limited "run-off" space, especially at the top of the photo, where the road course merges back with the 1/4 mile drag course, where if you ran wide, you would wind up hitting concrete barriers! It's been a while since any major races or riding schools have run there because of those conditions.

Mark

[BraveMan]

Porter was arraigned before Weller on charges of reckless endangerment, fleeing and eluding police, driving with a suspended license, having no registration, having no insurance, driving off the road, not using his turn signal, failing to drive at a safe speed, speeding, careless driving, reckless driving and not having the vehicle inspected.

All of this before he made his first payment no less. Welcome to the world of your average Boy Racer crotch rocket rider. This is why I'd rather ride with the RUBs than the Rocketeers. At least the RUBs know they aren't Superman and won't inadvertantly take you out in their quest to become another grease spot on the pavement.

[archy]

That Busa vid is cool... Now, how fast do you think he was really going..? About 200MPH??? (Do you actually believe the odometer?)...

I don't believe the mechanical speedo on my bike, having calibrated it by stopwatch at both 60 and 120MPH. I DO believe my electronic tach, and the readout from my GPS.

[archy]

I don't believe an unmodified bike will do 170 on a dynometer or even a test track, let alone heavy traffic on the interstate.

It's people like you that killed Tinkerbell. I've seen a new bike that was less than 4 hours out of the crate at the dealer's that turned in an honest 188 mph, as measured with triple stopwatches over a 2-mile stretch.

It then went home where the owner began the upgrades intended to see 200, in hopes of eventually hitting his goal of 222.

[zipper]

energy = 1/2 M x V (squared)

drag = Cd x R x V(squared)/2 x A

Cd = coeff. of drag

R = density

V = velocity

A = area

??? Absolutely it's a matter of power vs. drag, and as you can see from the drag equation (second one), the power required to equal the drag at any given speed is proportional to the square of the velocity.

[BraveMan]

I don't believe an unmodified bike will do 170 on a dynometer or even a test track, let alone heavy traffic on the interstate.

Believe it. Your average Suzuki Hayabusa will do this right off the showroom floor using pump gas. Many more models will do the same with a simple swap of the ECU IC. The dealer will hand you the keys without any skill test, sanity check or even a license check. All you need is enough cash for a down payment. You too can be Superman!

Don't forget your helmet. You'll need at least one body part intact for identification purposes. Dental records work the best . . .

[zipper]

its not a matter of KE but rather power vs drag

Put another way, the kinetic energy is not much of a factor-- if the Hayabusa weighed 2,000 pounds, the horsepower requirement would be the same because the frontal form factor would still be the same, so the top speed would be-- the same! The kinetic energy at the same top speed would be much higher (also a function of the square of the velocity), but that only means the bike would take longer to achieve the speed. (Assuming the tires would take the extra weight, discounting the additional friction, etc.)

[Responsibility1st]

Dental records work the best . .

Yeah, but what if one tooth is at mile marker 185, another at 186, 3 more 1/4 mile east of there, etc.

LOL

[sheik yerbouty]

The bike was probably heavily modified.

[Poser]

"First of all top speed for a Hayabusa right now is 183MPH"

If and only if you haven't replaced the speed limiter chip.

[19th LA Inf]

I went to Bonneville in 1954, in the very early days of Speed Week. There were a number of guys there with stripped Harley bikes, big engines of course. They ran stretched flat on the bike, chin on the handlebars and feet over the rear fenders, no helmets as I recall, hitting around 140-50 across the salt (which was like extremely coarse sandpaper). I wonder how many of them are still with us today.

[monday]

"Also would like to add that I want to know what the trooper was driving that he could keep up with him at 170MPH...."

No kidding. The BS meter is pegging on this article.

[savedbygrace]

Porter was arraigned before Weller on charges of reckless endangerment, fleeing and eluding police, driving with a suspended license, having no registration, having no insurance, driving off the road, not using his turn signal, failing to drive at a safe speed, speeding, careless driving, reckless driving and not having the vehicle inspected.

They forgot littering.

[JoeSixPack1]

If my memory serves me correctly, back in the early 70's following the unveiling of the Kawasaki 900 monster bike of it's time, federal legislation was introduced to limit horsepower-to-weight ratio on all motorcycles. Luckily the AMA & every single manufacturer was all over it and beat the proposed legislation.

Now moving forward to our time of WoT, WoD, no-knock raids, helmet law changes nationwide, motorcycling enthusiam, TV shows, massive weeklong bikefests, etc. etc. etc., are we in for another round of restrictive laws aimed at the 200+ mph crowd?

The only other consideration that is an accepted norm is that cage drivers have little to fear from a 500lb motorcycle and driver. But the hazmat scrape and removal teams are staying busy cleaning flesh, blood and fuel spills after a high speed crotch rocket squish. At triple digit speeds the only thing a helmet does is crack like an egg and retain DNA samples.

[jmq]

http://www.streetracersonline.com/videos/i4.php

R1 doing 180 in traffic at night............

[sparkomatic]

think we could figure out his real speed based on gear ratios, provided of course his sprockets and gearing are stock.

You would also have to account for the increasing tire size due to the additional speed.

[monday]

"One of my co-workers brags that he hits 120 on the highways when he needs to let some steam out, don't think I believe him"

120 is easy. In fact anything up to 130-140 is fairly easy for most sport bikes. Anything over 150 is only possible for top of the line bikes and is pretty scary besides.

[SC DOC]

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