[net.cycle] Tollway speed record

gary@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (gary w buchholz) (07/18/85)

That speed record (138mph in a 55) was set here in Illinois on I 94
going west out to Rockford about a week ago.

The cops probably got them on radar, I can't imagine a copy "pacing"
these bkes at 138mph to get the speed.

I'm curious as to what bikes they had.  138mph means you probably have
at least 1000cc.  My 750 Nighhawk makes it to about 120mph so it had to
be bigger than that.

One of the latest biker magazines has a review of the fastest
production bikes.  The speed record is held by the Honda 1000 R at 
150 mph.

Anyone who has done over about 100mph on a bike knows that wierd
areodynamic things happen at this speed and above esp if you have a
full fairing.  The guy who got the ticket ought to have it framed and 
then, if he still has a license, never do it again.

  Gary

kehoe@reed.UUCP (Dave Kehoe) (07/22/85)

Last summer a Reed College student got ticketed at
143 mph.  He'd already lost his license, I was
surprised that he wasn't thrown in jail.  He was
on his Suzuki GS1000ES.  He used to race his Honda
CB500-four at 130mph.  He rides in town at 120mph and
above.  Surprisingly, he's a very safe driver -- he's
never been in an accident.  Most people that try to do
stuff like that get seriously hurt.  Anyway, an unmarked
cop car clocked him on radar at 143 mph and started chasing him.
My friend was thinking, "I'd better slow down -- I might get
a ticket."  When he slowed down the cop caught him.  If he
hadn't slowed down the cop wouldn't have caught him.
Once before someone had seen my friend being chased by a
cop, and blowing the cop off, and my friend had never even
noticed that he was being followed.

I don't ride above 65 mph when I'm alone, and never above 85 mph,
but the previous owner of my bike (a 1972 Honda CB450) once rode
it at over 100 mph, and I read that CB450's used to be ridden
up to 130 mph.  My neighbor rode his Honda CB550 to 100 mph, which
developed a front-end oscillation and flipped over. He luckily
wasn't hurt, and decided not to try to break anymore speed records
(and to tighten up his headset).
-- 
"Why my thoughts are my own, when they are in, but when they are out
they are another's."  -- Susanna Martin, executed for witchcraft.
Dave Kehoe   tektronix!reed!kehoe   (503) 230-9454

dougs@teklds.UUCP (Doug Schwartz) (07/23/85)

Keywords:speeding and other tales of bravado

eat it, eat it, da-da-da-da...

Okay, so now everyone gets to tell about his fastest ticket.  I hope the person
who posted the 143 on the GS1000 really doesn't believe everything everyone
tells him, especially about a CB-450 going 130.  I doubt if one of those lead
sleds could hit 130 downhill off a cliff.  As for the GS hitting 143, I doubt
it, but it is possible -- if the owner kept it in primo tune (remember two sets
of points?).  It has been my 5+ years experience in bike shops that most riders
tend to exaggerate when bragging about their exploits.

And then there was the time I did 95 in my driveway ...

Doug (you make em I break em) Schwartz
Beaverton Design Center
CAE Systems
Information Display Group
Tektronix, Inc.
Beaverton, OR.

gadfly@ihu1m.UUCP (Gadfly) (07/25/85)

--
> Okay, so now everyone gets to tell about his fastest ticket...
> 
> And then there was the time I did 95 in my driveway ...
> 
> Doug (you make em I break em) Schwartz

And there was the time I was fighting a 30 mph headwind on my
Honda 200 on the way up to Madison Wis from Chicago, and the
cop (in Wis.) pulls me over for--get this--doing 71!  I'd been
watching the speedo very carefully, as the bike had only a
few hundred miles on it and I didn't want to push it to a
premature death, and my true speed was about 52.  I was getting
passed right and left by everything else on the road.  The cop
must have been behind in his quota of out-of-staters for the
day, because I sure surprised him with my Wis. license (the
bike had Ill. plates).  Unable to shake me down on the highway,
his next words were "Just sit tight--I'm only going to give
you a warning."

But my question is about radar.  The cop had it, and had used it
on me (he claimed I slowed right down as he pulled out and followed
me).  Does it not work accurately on bikes?  Anyone else out there
been pulled over for doing impossible velocities?
-- 
                    *** ***
JE MAINTIENDRAI   ***** *****
                 ****** ******  25 Jul 85 [7 Thermidor An CXCIII]
ken perlow       *****   *****
(312)979-7753     ** ** ** **
..ihnp4!iwsl8!ken   *** ***

mikey@trsvax (07/25/85)

My roommate in college had a Norton Interstate that he bought right at
Norton Villiers and had shipped over stateside (he was from Belgium).  One
night he was on his was from Bethlehem PA to Philadelphia and went through
Quakertown at about 85 (a 45 zone) and got seen on radar.  He never saw 
the cop and when he came out of town and hit the 4 lane, he really took 
off (+100).  Anyway, about Chalfont the State Police had a roadblock.  He 
commented to his girlfriend on the back that they must be after a dangerous
criminal.  He was quite surprised when they pulled him off his bike!  
Anyway, they were polite and very professional, after he produced his 
British tourist registration (still Brit tags on the bike), his Belgium
drivers license and international drivers license.  The final result?  
He got a WARNING!!!!!!!!  I couldn't believe it, but he kept that slip
framed for a long time.  This was the fall of '73, before the 55 mph
B*LLSH*T! so attitudes about speeding were quite different.

mikey at trsvax

rls@ihu1g.UUCP (r.l. schieve) (07/26/85)

> --
> > Okay, so now everyone gets to tell about his fastest ticket...
> > 
> > And then there was the time I did 95 in my driveway ...
> > 
> > Doug (you make em I break em) Schwartz
> 
> And there was the time I was fighting a 30 mph headwind on my
> Honda 200 on the way up to Madison Wis from Chicago, and the
> cop (in Wis.) pulls me over for--get this--doing 71!  I'd been
> watching the speedo very carefully, as the bike had only a
> few hundred miles on it and I didn't want to push it to a
> premature death, and my true speed was about 52.  I was getting
> passed right and left by everything else on the road.  The cop
> must have been behind in his quota of out-of-staters for the
> day, because I sure surprised him with my Wis. license (the
> bike had Ill. plates).  Unable to shake me down on the highway,
> his next words were "Just sit tight--I'm only going to give
> you a warning."
> 
> But my question is about radar.  The cop had it, and had used it
> on me (he claimed I slowed right down as he pulled out and followed
> me).  Does it not work accurately on bikes?  Anyone else out there
> been pulled over for doing impossible velocities?
> -- 
>                     *** ***
> JE MAINTIENDRAI   ***** *****
>                  ****** ******  25 Jul 85 [7 Thermidor An CXCIII]
> ken perlow       *****   *****
> (312)979-7753     ** ** ** **
> ..ihnp4!iwsl8!ken   *** ***

The only speeding ticket that I have ever taken to court and won
involved presenting articles that discussed the relative radar
ranges of different vehicles.  I claimed that the Vega I was driving
was less likely to be detected than the large truck behind me, there-
fore the speed recorded was the speed of the truck.

Sounds to me like any car has a greater range than a small bike.

				Rick Schieve

mikey@trsvax (07/28/85)

The key word is actually "indicated" speed.  My CB450 had a speedo that
read 125 when I was going about 110, which was about all it could do.

mikey at trsvax

mikey@trsvax (07/28/85)

Bikes are almost invisible to radar.  Almost.  The problem is that a 
White Freightliner 7000 feet back looks the same to the radar unit as
your bike does at about 150 feet!  Dig up old Car and Driver's from 1980,
they had articles on Radar Jamming and Radar Range.  They will be very
informative.  Dare I say it?  Dig up an old copy of "Hitchhikers guide to
Radar Jamming" which was posted to the net about a year and a half ago, for 
which the author received MUCH mail and comments.

mikey at trsvax
55, it's not just a good idea, it S*CKS!!

thielges@uiucdcsb.Uiuc.ARPA (07/30/85)

is it true that you can jam radar by covering audio speakers with foil
and then mounting them facing forward ?
				Bart Thielges

mikey@trsvax (07/31/85)

I don't know about the A-1 from Kawasaki, but I used to own an A-7R (350cc
50+ hp ringding) It was fast with a binary throttle.  Brakes sucked, handeling
was there for the first turn, maybe for the second, definately nowhere
for the third.  I went through 4 crankshafts in one summer of street
riding.  The Kawi dealer in my hometown found me a smashed up bike that 
my brother and I bought the engine for parts and had one crankshaft at
the rebuilders after the second time.  If it wasn't so much fun to blow
off Honda 750s, it would have been sold after the second rebuild.  It was
one of two Kawasaki's I've ever owned.  Both munched crankshafts (the other
was the first run of the 750 mach IV)  Now, I'm dedicated to Honda.  I've 
beat my latest one since 1978 with only minor problems, one switch, 
alternator brushes, rear master cylinder, and light bulbs.  I don't baby
it, it's on its fifth rear tire and its third front, and the rear needs 
replaced and the front is about half way there.  I don't know how
Honda's quality is today, but back then no-one could touch them.  They 
weren't always the fastest, and they definately were heavy, but they were
SOLID.

mikey at trsvax