Motorcycle Forum / General / Sportbikes / September 2004

Posted on Tue, Sep. 21, 2004   

205 mph earns biker citation

Speeding ticket may be Minnesota record

BY HANK SHAW

Pioneer Press

Al Loney couldn't believe his stopwatch.

The Minnesota State Patrol pilot had been flying near Wabasha on
Saturday afternoon, watching a pair of motorcycles racing each
other along U.S. 61. When one of the bikes accelerated
dramatically, Loney was ready — clicking his stopwatch when the
cycle reached a white marker painted on the roadside.

A quarter-mile later, he clicked it again. It read 4.39 seconds,
which Loney calculated to be an astonishing 205 mph.

"I was in total disbelief," Loney said. "I had to double-check my
watch because in 27 years I'd never seen anything move that fast."

The bike was moving nearly twice as fast as Loney's airplane.
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.

Several law enforcement sources said Tilley might have set the
record for the fastest speeding ticket in Minnesota history.

No comprehensive records are kept, but 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, the son of a Washington County sheriff's deputy, did not
return calls to his home Monday.

Few vehicles can reach speeds in excess of 200 mph. Only a handful
of cars, such as the Dodge Viper, the Porsche Carrera and several
Lamborghinis, can hit the 200 mark. But many of the so-called
"crotch rocket" motorcycles popular with young men can top 175
mph. With minor modifications, they can top 200 mph. Tilley was
riding a Honda 1000, Loney said.

State trooper Steve Stromback, one of the officers who arrested
Tilley, said the biker was taking part in the semi-annual Flood
Run, a motorcycle rally that started in Hudson, Wis. The ride, in
which thousands of bikers participate, raised money for the
Gillette Children's hospital this year.

Stromback said most of the participants obey the law, but added
that police cited another eight bikers for driving more than 100
mph last weekend. Speed demons show up every year, Stromback said,
which is why the State Patrol had aircraft and extra troopers in
the area.

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 riding at such a
velocity.

"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."

Staff writer Rick Linsk contributed to this report. Hank Shaw can
be reached at hshaw@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5257.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4992111.html

Jesse