L
Lisa R.
Guest
WABASHA, Minn. (Sept. 21) - With a State Patrol airplane overhead, a
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."
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."
