Busted Speeding 205mph in a 65 Zone

I very much enjoyed my stay at the Stations Inn over the weekend.  As a motorcyclist’s resort, it has quite a bit of memorabilia on its walls, along with ubiquitous photos of bikes, beer, boobs and patrons of the establishment.  Below is a photo of a speeding ticket they had tacked up to a bulletin board.

This ticket is from Minnesota, showing that motorcyclist Samuel Tilley was hauling ass at 205 miles per hour in a 65 zone.  He was tracked by a helicopter and it may be the nation’s highest recorded speed on a ticket.

The guy was going as fast as an Indy car.

From the USA today here in 2004:

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.

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.

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.

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.

I found tilley’s old Myspace Page here.  Its very stale, but I took this picture below from his site, showing him and his motorcycle.