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this article can be found at:
http://startribune.com/stories/462/5041608.html
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A motorcyclist who set jaws dropping across the nation last month when he was stopped for going 205 miles per hour south of the Twin Cities tells a reporter for Midwest Quick Throttle Magazine in an upcoming issue that he was going closer to half that speed, said magazine editor Pat Andrews.
The interview was apparently the first for media-shy Samuel Tilley, 20, of Stillwater, who has not spoken publicly about his record-setting ticket since he was stopped near Wabasha on Sept. 18.
"He's beside himself about the whole thing," Andrews said Tuesday evening.
Tilley said in the interview that he's not sure exactly how fast he was going because he was watching the road and another rider who was nearby, said Scottie Ard, who wrote the story for Quick Throttle. The other rider was ticketed for going 111 mph.
Samuel Tilley"He doesn't know how he could have been going 205 miles per hour, especially when the guy he was with was going 111," Andrews said.
A Minnesota State Patrol pilot saw Tilley from the air and used a stopwatch to time him as he passed quarter-mile markers along Hwy. 61. The pilot's reading of 4.39 seconds translated into Tilley's 205 mph speed.
Tilley's ticket, posted on the Internet at http://www.thesmokinggun.com, has fueled heated conversations among motorcycle enthusiasts, with many doubting that Tilley's Honda RC51 could reach such high speeds.
Tilley told the Quick Throttle that tests conducted recently at Hitman Motor Sports in White Bear Lake revealed his bike's top speed to be 159 mph. "You strap the bike down and power it up," Andrews said. "You check horse power, power curve and max speed on it. It doesn't lie."
Tilley has turned down repeated requests for interviews. Andrews said Tilley finally spoke to Quick Throttle reporter Brett Dahl after the two saw each other at Treasure Island Casino, where Dahl works. Dahl, an "extreme motorcycle enthusiast," found Tilley inside the casino after someone told him he was there with friends. Dahl then promised to portray him kindly, said Andrews.
Andrews said Tilley has been embarrassed by the notoriety of his ticket. "He doesn't want to be known as the person who was giving motorcyclists a bad name, or causing insurance rates to go up or even being a reckless individual," he said.
Tilley showed up at Yarusso Bros. Italian Restaurant in St. Paul on the restaurant's "bike night" on Oct. 6 to sign T-shirts, Andrews said. The money raised was sent to Gillette Children's Hospital.
"He was the belle of the ball," Ard said. "Every rider there wanted to speak with Sam Tilley."
Tilley is scheduled to appear in Wabasha County Court on Oct. 25.
this could open a whole can of worms for MN police, as all vascar tickets will not be questioned... both from planes and cars
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Yea - it was over in the motorcycle forum on VWvortex. A bunch of whiners crying about how an RC51 couldn't do 205, you know the usual crap. I only hit over 100 once, I can't imagine 205 -eek!
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the funny thing is that they only hit 159 on a dyno, that doesnt take into effect wind slowing you down, and in real life your tires will expand at high speeds throwing off your speedo as well from centrificial force
ive personally had my 2003 r6 to 140 - in reality it was prob closer to 128-132 - and several friends of mine have hit 180 on their liter bikes, again could be as much as 15-20 mph off from tire expansion though
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Assuming the posted limit is 55mph... Is the guy going to be any less screwed for going only 104mph over the posted limit rather than 150mph over the limit?
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ya i think i read someone say an RC51 couldn't do 205 with a rocket strapped to the back of it.. hehe :laugh:
edit: ive determined the highest speed im even manly enough to sit on the bike is approx. 160. The ONE time i saw the speedo read 160 i got scared (cause it wasn't stopping) and let off.
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Since the fine may be based on a formula like
fine = overlimit * factor
It's possible the fine could be less.
The real problem here is that the cop likely fucked up the VASCAR reading if the dyno data is correct.
The timing marks are 1/4 mile apart.
The officer timed him over one quarter mile. (4.39 sec)
One problem is reaction time. Did the officer click his timer *exactly* at the start & stop markers? Or did he miss due to ordinary human reaction time.
VASCAR must by its nature have an upper limit above which is it not to be considered accurate.
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here in pa the only officers allowed to use radar are state troopers... everyone else for the most part uses vascar - and several of my friends did get outta their tickets by proving that the officer who was timing them via stop-watch could not do repeated attempts over and over again w/ the same results - they varied every single time
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Beyond tire expansion speedometers tend to be a bit optimistic at higher speeds.
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While that is technically true, there have been many tests that I have read that show engineers have either designed in a bias or have poorly calibrated speedometers to show higher speeds then the vehicle/bike is actually travelling. There were even some guys on the Tex that tested it out. The speedo claimed 135mph while the laser said closer to 115.
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I agree
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I wonder if he has any motorcycle enthusiast lawyers calling him up to defend his case. I'm sure they could have a field day with the overzealous ticket.
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nakona wrote:
Except for a little concept called; "Statement against Interest"
I have always wondered what that meant and only now did I bother to go look it up.
A statement that "was at the time of its making so far contrary to the declarant’s pecuniary or proprietary interest, or so far tended to subject the declarant to civil or criminal liability, or to render invalid a claim by the declarant against another that a reasonable person in the declarant’s position would not have made the statement unless believing it to be true."
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