Motorcyclist Arrested For Driving 205 MPH
Wabasha, Minn. (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.
lol. i didn't know radar guns had a "mach 6" readout. seems like a funny story or a photoshop kind of thing.
anyway, the handheld radar guns aren't accurate at 200mph, but the airplanes are. they can clock a persons's speed easily by recording how long it takes to get from one marker to another, which has been set up in advance in areas where people frequently speed.
i don't have a lot of respect for this kind of rider (a squid, basically). anyone can get on a GSX-R 1000 or hayabusa and get up to 200 mph with a nice stretch of open road. but at those speeds, if something goes wrong, there just isn't time to react. i do have my motorcycle endorsement and would never go that fast on a public road, even though i'm sure it would be fun going over 3 miles per minute. but yeah, he was probably going 180-210 on his bike. a lot of people do, because it is literally so easy to get going really fast on those things. you don't realize how fast you are going, and at those speeds, the speedometer isn't accurate anyway. there is like a 6-10% tolerance, so he could think he was going 185 but he was really going around 205.
I can't say too much. I had a GSX-R 1100, ended up getting stolen. I was late for work one day, doing 135 mph on hwy 101. I saw the CHP cruiser turn around so i just pulled over. He let me off because i knew i was wrong and didn't try to run.......do the right thing and sometimes it pays off, could have been a reckless driving charge, not a good thing.
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Actually the orginal story, was the guy was clocked by airplane, the speed was so high that the cop didn't have it on his chart (they use those white v marks at the side of the highway, which are a quarter mile apart) so he whip out his calculator (had to do it a couple times, cause he couldn't believe it, thought he used the wrong formula)
most rader guns have a factory setting, if the speed is more than say 150, it shows an error code, Of course now they'll have to set that limit higher.
BTW motorcycles become extremely stable at high speeds, the wheels act as big gyroscopes making it very difficult to turn
But the big danger would be hitting a large insect or a small bird at that speed (say a 4 ounce bird is the same force as hitting a 1 pounder at 50mph) it's enough to knock you off (and the best helmet and leathers wouldn't help you)
I will have to agree with T Shirt. I have ridden one or two 1000cc sportbikes, and it seems the faster you go, the more upright and stable the bike is. If you have clear road ahead of you, you are almost assured to be ok, but if there is a log in the road, or a big piece of tire, or a car cuts you off (which could easily happen going 1 mile every 20 seconds), you're dead. there is no way you would survive except by some amazing act of God if you were to collide at that speed.
The problem is, you are having so much fun at the time you are going that speed, the adrenaline kicks in and it's kind of a high. And to be honest, you don't care if you die at tha tmoment because you feel like you are in heaven already. In retrospect, I think even that guy realizes what he did was not safe, but i'm sure he had a heck of a good time (not that it was his first time going that fast)!
