by iagins

I went to the Iron Butt 2009 Checkpoint on Wednesday August 26 Scoring opened at 5 pm
at the Pheasant Run Resort in St Charles Illinois. I left home at 8 am on Wed and got caught in rain 50 miles from St charles. (sometimes heavy) and got there kinda wet. Glad I had a waterproof jacket on. My gloves were soaked and upon taking them off my hands were black from the dye or ink. I then hung around the iron butt people and watched them come in and they had some cool stuff. I took a bunch of pictures. I went to bed around 10 pm and was asleep by 1030pm. I then woke up at 420 am and looked out the hotel room door to a steady rain. I looked at the news on tv and saw it was supposed to rain all day so I decided to head for home and left at 5am.It of course was dark then and I couldnt see very well with the rain. I then was following a car along west 90 and he went up a off ramp and followed him because I was following his tail lamps. That excursion took me 15 miles out of the way as there was no west bound on ramp nearby. I then found my way back to 90 and continued home. I then was making good time and decided to take interstate 94 north when I was getting close to Lacrosse. I had always taken 90 west to rochester but thought this would be cool to try. I think it was a little further but it had waaay better scenery. I would recomend this way for anyone who has a little more time to spare. I posted a few on my flicker acount.

by iagins

2009-IBR

http://www.harley-davidson.in/

http://www.examiner.com/x-5822-Seattle-Motorcycle-Examiner~y2009m8d24-HarleyDavidson-goes-Indian

I have some pretty cool stuff from the iron butt to post
Here are a few links


by iagins

Me and my honey, and my honey and some friends at last weekends tye dye ride.(Aug 16 2009)

Lorenzo Lamas told people whoever blew a tire in the burnout contest he would buy them one. Never heard how many he would have to buy.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sturgis year was a lot of fun this year. My plan was to leave home Thurs July 30,spend the night in Sturgis, Fri am travel 400 miles to Denver, Sat am go on a ride in the moutains that the Denver BMW Club was putting on, then at noon head back to Sturgis, stay one night and go home Sunday Am.

I did leave home on Thursday but upon ariving Thursday night a person where I was staying took me around town and I saw so many changes on the North side of town that I decided to stay there till Sat night and investigate.

(That and I was tired from the 600 mile ride)

The town was about 90 percent setup by Fri night with huge crowds of bikers already there.

Check it out at Buell Blast Features | Buell Motorcycles

http://www.lifeatperewitz.com/

Biker Links
Official Website: http://www.motorcyclemonster.com
The Motorcycle Monster is a motorcycle event page designed for Motorcycle enthusiasts. Whether it's motorcycle events, a poker run, Street Bike Gathering, TV, radio, video, or just motorcycle rally information, the Motorcycle Monster will have it all.

Official Website: www.perewitz.com
Dave Perewitz, Da Man - Perewitz has been a major influence in the custom motorcycle industry for 30 years. Dave was hooked on motorcycles in 1967 when he bought his first bike, a 1964 Harley Davidson Sportster.

Official Website: www.raysmcshowworld.comm
Ray’s M/C Show World is the official judging service of Donnie Smith Invitational Bike shows. With over 13 years of experience, Ray Kittel is the premier custom motorcycle show judge in the upper Midwest.

Official Website: www.lichterphoto.com Micheal Lichter Photos, Biker Photos

Official Website: www.dragspecialties.com Drag Specialties, 'nough said!

Official Website: www.bikerschoice.com Biker’s Choice is one of the world’s leading distributors and marketers of name-brand parts, accessories and apparel for the American motorcycle aftermarket.

Official Website: www.kuryakyn.com KuryAkyn Motorcycle Accessories

Official Website: www.houseofkolor.com House of Kolor - Custom Painting

Official Website: www.vipermotorcycle.com New Viper Motorcycle - Top Speed of 150MPH

Official Website: www.salinasboys.com
Salinas Boys - Custom HotRods and HotRod Sleds... Cool stuff

Official Website: www.hotmatchcustomcycles.com
HotMatch Custom Cycles has been around since 1997, but Mat Hotch has been building custom bikes for most of his life. His dream started in a little garage in California where he searches for the Art of Perfection. The best Custom Choppers and parts. Quality isn't cheap... it's priceless.

Official Website: www.DDCustomCycle.com
DD Custom Cycle is where cycle dreams become reality! DD Custom Cycle creates elite custom motorcycles for people who want total riding satisfaction. Dave Dupor - DD Custom Cycle

Official Website: www.paulyaffeoriginals.com
Paul Yaffe Originals (PYO) - This guy really knows his custom bikes and he has some great parts to offer also.

PYO is constantly pushing the envelope when it comes to custom parts for your custom project or Harley-Davidson such as Frames, Sheet Metal, Wheels, Mirrors, License Plate holders and Pipes.


Official Website: www.bourgets.com
Roger Bourget Motorcycles - If ya know Roger ya know he is a speed junkie. If it doesn't burn ass-phalt then it's just not fast enough. Low and long... check out his sleds.

www.choppersinc.com
Choppers Inc. - Billy Lane From the Psycho Billy to the stuff the Chopper’s Inc. hasn’t even started building, we hope that you will see that making top quality machines of signatures style and exceptional skill is what we love, and what we live.
Take a ride on a work of art! It will change your life. They put heart and soul into every bike they build. See what they’re talking about. Check out their site.


Official Website: www.strokersdallas.com
Rick Fairless - Strokers Dallas Rick Fairless and his crew at Strokers Dallas have one of the slickest custom motorcycle shops to be found anywhere. They sell custom Motorcycles, choppers, American Ironhorse, Big Dog Motorcycles, v-twin, big twin, small twin, and provide late model big twin motorcycle service. They are Dallas' largest reseller of factory custom and custom motorcycles.

Official Website: www.youngchoppers.com
Hank Young Choppers - Using our in-house frame jig and our extensive CNC machine shop, we use the latest technology to build the stripped down choppers and hot rods of yesteryear. With quality engineering and attention to detail, you can be assured of a functional and unique piece of automotive artistry."

Official Website: www.mitchbergeroncustoms.com
Mitch Bergeron Customs - Mitch has been building customs for over a decade. He fabricates, chops, and bends metal to his will. He's won many Easyriders shows. Cool stuff from a cool shop.

Official Website: www.kendalljohnsoncustoms.com
Kendall Johnson Customs - Kendall has been pumping H.P. since the early 80s and building one-of-a-kind custom motorcycles for clients all over the United States. As a result, Kendall has become widely known for his reliable big-HP motors."

Official Website: www.exilecycles.com/
Exile Cycles - Russell Mitchell, He's got a clean, lean and tough European styling. He's never built a bike in any color other than black.

Official Website: www.echelonmotorcycles.com
Echelon Motorcycle Company - Fast, cool, low, quality and craftsmanship. It's all there. It's art in performance.

Official Website: www.rookecustoms.com
Jesse Rooke Customs - Jesse started his custom bike business with his first bike, Dina. He has the chops to become world class. Check him out.

Official Website: www.bikerpros.com
Bob Kay, industry motorcycle dude, has started Bikerpros. They market the Roadmax right-side six speed transmissions.

Official Website: Motorcyle Events Website: Click here for MC Events

Official Website: Marketing & Promotions provided by Horsepower Marketing
Providing Internet Promotions, publicity, Website design, multimedia and direct response solutions in the PowerSports, racing, custom manufacturing and Hot Rod industries.

Nov. 30, 2006 — It was the shocking story — and unbelievable surveillance video — that riveted the nation. A young McDonald's employee humiliated, forced to strip and then to perform a sexual act in the back office, during her work day.

This horrifying ordeal changed one woman's life forever, and put one man on trial, accused of masterminding a bizarre and elaborate hoax. If convicted, David Stewart faced 15 years in prison on charges ranging from solicitation of sodomy, to impersonating a police officer.

Watch "20/20" Friday at 10 p.m. ET

Louise Ogborn was always willing to take on extra shifts at McDonald's in Mount Washington, Ky. Ogborn's mother had health problems and had recently lost her job, so the 18-year-old did whatever she could to help make ends meet.


On April 9, 2004, Ogborn offered to work through the restaurant's evening rush, trying to be helpful and make a few extra dollars.


"I was just going to eat and then clock back in and help until somebody else came along that could help," she said.


But Ogborn couldn't have known that her noble gesture would turn into a terrifying ordeal that she says will haunt her for the rest of her life.


A Startling Accusation


Ogborn was called into assistant manager Donna Summers' cramped office and told that Summers was on the telephone with a police officer.


"She said, 'Here she is. This is the girl you described,'" said Ogborn. "She told me to shut the door."


Summers told Ogborn that the officer on the phone had their store manager on the other line and that he had described her and accused her of stealing a purse from a customer.


"I was like, 'Donna, I've never done anything wrong,'" Ogborn said. "I could never steal — I could never do anything like that. I don't have it in me."


But inside the back office, which had now become an "interrogation room," Ogborn's protests fell on deaf ears.


"She said, 'Well, they said it was a little girl that looked like you in a McDonald's uniform, so it had to be you.'"


It was Ogborn's word against the accusation of a man claiming to be a cop, and she was given a choice: submit to a search or be escorted to the police station.


Listening to 'the Voice'


Ogborn was told to empty her pockets and surrender her car keys and cell phone, which she did. Then the caller demanded that Summers have Ogborn remove her clothes — even her underwear — leaving her with just a small, dirty apron to cover her naked body.


Summers says she never second-guessed what she was being asked to do, as she firmly believed the person she was talking to was a police officer. Ogborn says she trusted her manager to do what was right.


Because it was a busy Friday night, Summers had to leave the office to check on the restaurant. The man on the phone demanded that another employee be left to watch Ogborn until the police arrived and Summers chose 27-year-old Jason Bradley.


"He [Bradley] takes the phone and they're telling him to have me do certain things and drop the apron," she said. "He wouldn't have any part of it."


Bradley walked out in disgust, leaving Summers with no one to watch Ogborn. Then the caller made an odd request, asking Summers to call her fiancé to have him watch the girl.


Summers says she did as she was told.


"I honestly thought he was a police officer and what I was doing was the right thing," Summers said. "I thought I was doing what I was supposed to be doing."






Surveillance video shows Ogborn broke down in tears.





Two Hours of Torment




Within 15 minutes, Summers' fiancé, Walter Nix, entered the office where Ogborn tugged at the small apron that barely covered her top and exposed her legs up to her buttocks.




Again, Summers says she didn't question the caller and completely trusted her fiancé to be left alone with the girl.




Ogborn says she wanted to run, but that it would have been too humiliating to run through the restaurant naked.




Nix, a 43-year-old exterminator, began following the caller's commands, ordering Ogborn to drop her apron, bend over and stand on a chair.




Then — as ridiculous as it sounds — he told her to do jumping jacks to shake loose anything she might be hiding. Ogborn says that was just the beginning of two more hours of torment.




The demands became more and more bizarre. When Ogborn says that when she failed to address Nix as "sir," the caller tells him to hit her violently on the buttocks over and over. At one point on the video, Ogborn was "spanked" for almost 10 full minutes.



"He told me I was asking too many questions, so he was told to hit me," she said. "I just said, 'Please don't do this.'"



By the end, red welts could be seen on the woman's body.




During it all, Summers periodically came back to the office, and each time, Nix threw the apron at Ogborn, telling her to stay quiet.




"I begged her every time she came in the room," Ogborn said. "'Get me out of here. Please get me out of here."




Ogborn says she even asked the assistant manager to call the police, but each time, she says, Summers told her, "No, we're still waiting for the cop."




Summers denies Ogborn ever asked her to call the police or that the girl pleaded with her.




Ogborn says that after more than three hours of dehumanizing treatment, Nix — again on the instructions of the caller — forced Ogborn to perform a sexual act.




The caller then told Nix to hand the phone back to Summers and instructed her to bring in someone else.




This time, she had Thomas Simms, a 58-year-old maintenance man who worked at the restaurant, get on the phone with the caller, but Simms refused to comply with the caller's strange demands.




"Tom told me, 'This man is asking … for her to drop her apron so I can see her without the apron,'" she recalled. "And I said, 'Do what?'"




Summers frantically called her manager, Lisa Siddons, who the caller claimed had been on the other line all along. But when Siddons answered her phone, she said she'd been sleeping.




It was then that Summers realized, she'd been had.

Segway

NEW YORK (AP) — Segway Inc. is recalling all 23,500 of the self-balancing scooters it has shipped to date because of a software glitch that can make its wheels unexpectedly reverse direction, causing riders to fall off.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is cooperating with Segway on the voluntary recall announced Thursday, said consumers should stop using the vehicles immediately.

Segway has received six reports of problems with the Personal Transporter, resulting in head and wrist injuries. The vehicles were previously known as the Human Transporter.

Segway is offering a free software upgrade that will fix the problem. The upgrades will be done at Segway's 100 dealerships and service centers around the world, according to Segway spokeswoman Carla Vallone, and the company based in Bedford, N.H., will pay to ship the devices to the appropriate center if need be.

It is the second time the scooters, which sell for about $4,000 to $5,500, have been recalled since they first went on sale in 2002. The 2003 recall involved the first 6,000 of the devices sold, and involved a problem that could cause riders to fall off the device when its battery ran out of juice.

Segway Chief Technology Officer Doug Field, who has been involved with the development of the device since its earliest days, said the problem that sparked the latest recall was found while the company was testing its new model. He said a very unusual and specific set of conditions can cause the problem.

The scooter's speed is determined by how far forward the user leans, and if the rider leans too far forward, a "speed limiter" pushes them back to keep the device at its maximum speed of 12.5 mph. The problem happens after the speed limiter tilts back, the rider steps off the device and then gets back on it quickly.

Field said the actions that would cause the problem are of "very low probability, but possible, which then made us go pull every reported accident in the company's history." After the company found the six incidents believed to be related to the problem, it notified the CPSC and got the ball rolling on the recall, Field said.

Field and Segway Chief Executive Jim Norrod would not comment on whether the problem has sparked any lawsuits, and would not give any details of the injuries sustained.

"Any injury is too much to us," said Norrod.

The most famous tumble from a Segway came in 2003, when President Bush tried one out at his family's estate in Maine. The device went down on his first attempt, but Bush stayed on his feet with an awkward hop over the scooter. He quickly got back onboard and was soon cruising around the driveway on the Segway.

Air Bags

MARYSVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Jeaneen Parsons' husband steered their motorcycle to the ground seven years ago to avoid hitting a passenger whose cycle went down on a twisting mountain road in Kentucky.
The couple emerged from the accident with a few road burns and frazzled nerves. The passenger's leg was shattered.

Marifran Mattson lost part of her left leg when the motorcycle she was on was struck by a semitrailer in 2004 near Crawfordsville, Ind.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was seriously injured June 12 when a car turned into the path of his motorcycle June 12. Roethlisberger, who wasn't wearing a helmet, suffered a concussion, broken nose and jaw and damaged teeth.

As cyclist injuries and deaths increase, motorcycle makers are installing more safety features — making greater use of antilock brakes and adding air bags while stressing safe-rider education and use of helmets.

Some people wonder how effective air bags will be, how much of a market exists, and how much they would save cycle owners on insurance.

Honda Motor Co. added air bags in June to its fully loaded Gold Wing, an 860-pound touring bike designed for distance driving in comfort and made near this central Ohio city.

Yamaha Motor Corp., with U.S. headquarters in Cypress, Calif., is developing an air bag system and is using a scooter with air bags for research in Japan, according to the company's Web site.

"The motorcycle manufacturers are engaging in a lot of R&D in the area of — some would call it safety, some would call it risk management," said Tom Lindsay, spokesman for the Pickerington, Ohio-based American Motorcyclist Association. "It's part of a trend."

The motorcycle industry posted $7.6 billion in sales of 725,000 on-highway bikes in 2004, up from about $4.7 billion and 471,000 bikes sold four years earlier.

Motorcycles accounted for 2 percent of all registered vehicles in 2004 but made up 9.4 percent of all highway deaths, nearly double the 5 percent in 1997, according to government statistics.

Honda's air bag system consists of crash sensors attached to the front fork of the motorcycle. The sensors detect rapid deceleration and send the information to a small on-board computer, which determines whether a crash is occurring.

The computer sends a signal to an inflator, which releases nitrogen gas to deploy the air bag, packed into a dashboard-like module in front of the driver. The process takes a fraction of a second.

The system is designed to keep the driver's body from hitting whatever the motorcycle hit and reduce the chances of the driver being thrown over the handlebars. It is not designed to protect from side or rear impacts or to protect passengers.

Honda began working on its air bag system in 1990 after determining that more than half of the motorcycle accidents that result in deaths or injuries occur when the front of the motorcycle strikes another vehicle or object.

Honda won't say how many air bag-equipped Gold Wings it plans to produce by the time the 2006 model year ends in late September, other than it will be a limited number. Last year, the 600 workers at the plant produced 60,524 motorcycles, including Gold Wings.

Parsons, 45, of Dayton, favors the idea of air bags and doesn't shrink at the added cost — about $1,500 on a $24,000 Gold Wing.

Mattson, associate professor of communications at Purdue University, where she is spearheading a motorcycle-safety campaign, also applauds Honda but said the air bags wouldn't help in many crashes, including the one she was in. And she worries that the air bags might cause riders to dispense with wearing helmets.

"I'm concerned this might send a false sense of security," she said.

Honda officials acknowledge that some people are going to question whether motorcycle air bags will be effective.

"But we've seen so many test videos — you become a believer," said Jan Gansheimer, senior manager of Honda's manufacturing/planning group.

Honda's air bag system has been tested with crash-test dummies and in one case with a human to see what would happen if an air bag deployed accidentally. Honda officials said the air bag didn't knock the driver backward or injure him, affect his field of vision or impact his travel down the highway.

Bob Hartwig, chief economist for the New York City-based Insurance Information Institute, said the insurance benefits of having motorcycle air bags probably would be small because the devices protect only the driver and only in frontal crashes. Air bags in cars protect drivers and passengers in front and side crashes.

Hartwig also said motorcyclists who buy air bag-equipped bikes are probably safer drivers and less likely to be involved in crashes.

Safety has also gone beyond air bags and helmets. Worldwide Riders, a Cheyenne, Wyo.-based motorcycle accessories company, sells vests with protective bladders that inflate as riders are being ejected from their motorcycles.

Harley-Davidson Motor Co., based in Milwaukee, emphasizes training and driver education. The company began opening motorcyling academies in 2000 to train new and experienced riders. About 90,000 riders have taken courses at the schools, which operate in more than 30 states.

Jake Balzer, an analyst with Guzman & Company, an investment banking firm, said there may be somewhat of a market for air bag-equipped motorcycles, but questioned whether Honda will sell that many unless states require motorcycles to have the devices.

"A lot of people riding motorcycles don't even want to wear helmets," he said. "I don't see them going out and spending the extra money to put air bags on their motorcycles."

Tim Buche, president of the Motorcycle Industry Council, said many motorcyclists love new features and will be attracted to air bags.

But he said the market will determine whether the idea will spread.

"If air bags are going to be successful, they are going to be available on other motorcycles," he said. "It remains to be seen."

Viper cools engines

Motorcycle firm calls off IPO, works to retool financing

BY SHERYL JEAN

Pioneer Press


Viper Motorcycle Co. has just about run out of gas, but it plans to refuel and get back on track.

The small company last week withdrew a planned $9 million initial public offering of its stock and has stopped manufacturing its Diablo cruiser just months after starting production at its New Hope headquarters.

Instead, Viper is lining up private financing with new investors that it hopes will kick-start the company by securing production resources and erasing most of its debt, said John Lai, chief financial officer and co-founder of Viper. The details are still being worked out, but he plans to make an announcement within 30 days.

The deal likely will include an outside manufacturing contract for most production, with new protoypes to be made in New Hope, said sources close to the company who did not want to be named.

The company must do something fast to stay in business. Viper's debt level and losses have accelerated, while the IPO and production have screeched to a halt.

Viper ran up net losses of nearly $7 million — about equal to its total assets — from its inception in November 2002 through Sept. 30, 2004, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It shipped 30 Diablo cruisers in late 2004 and sales totaled about $750,000 last year, Lai said.

Viper's struggles show the difficulties facing start-up companies trying to compete against well-known brands such as Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson Inc. for a piece of the growing U.S. market for high-priced, powerful motorcycles. Upstarts need a lot of capital to cover high manufacturing costs and generate the sales volume needed to compete, say analysts who follow the industry.

"It's tough to think of many successful motorcycle manufacturers, with the exception of Harley-Davidson, in the past 50 years," said Ed Aaron, an analyst who follows Harley-Davidson for RBC Capital Markets.

Another local motorcycle maker, Excelsior-Henderson Motorcycle Manufacturing Co. in Belle Plaine, sped through about $100 million before going bankrupt in 1999. California-based Indian Motorcycle Co. went bankrupt in 2003.

Viper's private financing deal is "vital" to the company's future, Lai said. The financing would eliminate about 90 percent of Viper's $4 million of debt, he said.

The company also plans to name a new chief executive within 30 days to replace Clyde Fessler, who left in January.

"The company is going in a positive direction," said Chairman James Kramer, who's also an investor. He declined to detail the company's plans.

Back in June, Viper filed plans to sell 1.8 million shares of its common stock at $5 per share and 1.4 million warrants at 10 cents apiece. Viper planned to use the proceeds to repay more than $1.7 million in debt and to buy new production equipment.

The company scrapped the IPO because a new financial filing with the SEC would have delayed it 90 days, Lai said.

"By the time it approached Wall Street, the bloom was off the IPO," said Robert Van Den Berg, a company director and part owner of a motorcycle shop in Elk River. Trying to meet new financial and accounting disclosure requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley law caused a number of delays, he said.

In addition to Viper, Integris Metals in Coon Rapids and Empi Inc., a St. Paul-based medical company, scuttled IPO plans in the past six months in favor of sweeter private deals.

Viper still faces a rough road.

"They're beautiful bikes," but they're pricey, said analyst Tony Gikas, who follows Harley-Davidson for Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis. Viper expected to put price tags of $20,000 to $30,000 on its motorcycles, compared with $20,000 or less for most Harley-Davidson bikes.

Viper has received about 300 Diablo cruiser orders since mid-2003, Lai said. It began manufacturing the cruiser last fall but stopped in January because of money problems, he said. None of its 16 employees were laid off.

The company continues to look ahead. It hopes to restart production of the Diablo cruiser and start making a chopper-style cruiser later this year, Lai said. Viper plans to introduce the chopper in March at the Donnie Smith Invitational Bike Show at St. Paul's Xcel Center.

PORTLAND, Maine -- Mike Cullinan made a midlife course correction, breaking up with his girlfriend and buying himself a big Harley-Davidson motorcycle: a 620-pound Dyna Low Rider with a 1,450-cc fuel-injected engine.
Lots of Americans like 38-year-old Mr. Cullinan are getting motorcycles, whether to recapture their lost youth or pull through some kind of midlife crisis.
But the trend has its troubling aspects. Now, riders 40 and older are accounting for an alarming number of motorcycling deaths.







Safety experts suspect older riders with a lot of disposable income are buying more machine than their aging, out-of-practice bodies can handle.
Across the country, the annual number of motorcycle fatalities among 40-plus riders tripled over the past decade to 1,674 in 2003, while deaths among riders less than 30 dropped slightly to 1,161, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
According to NHTSA, the average age of motorcyclists killed in accidents rose from 32 in 1994 to 38 in 2003.
"It's really kind of astonishing. The ages of these fatalities are so high. You would think it would be all of the young kids on those fast bikes, but it's not," said Carl Hallman, highway safety coordinator with the Maine Department of Public Safety.
The surge in deaths among older riders helped to push motorcycle fatalities higher overall. They jumped by nearly half during the past five years, from 2,483 in 1999 to 3,661 in 2003.
In Maine, 22 persons were killed on motorcycles in 2004, the highest number in a decade. In New Hampshire, 29 died, versus nine the previous year. In Vermont, there were 11 fatal crashes, more than in the three previous years combined. In all three states, riders in their 30s and older accounted for the most crashes.
"From a career standpoint, they have a little extra time and a little extra disposable income. The kids have grown up, so they're looking for hobbies," said Rae Tyson, a NHTSA spokesman who specializes in motorcycle safety.
As for why so many riders in their 40s, 50s and beyond are dying, big, powerful bikes appear to be part of the explanation. NHTSA data show that both engine size and deaths among riders with the largest class of engines rose during the past decade.
NHTSA figures also show that riders in their 30s and 40s who died were more likely than their younger counterparts to have been drinking.
In addition, safety experts say many older riders either are returning to motorcycling after many years or are trying it for the first time.
"They haven't ridden in 20 or 30 years, so their skills are rusty. Motorcycles have changed, and they're getting bigger motorcycles. And they're getting on without a refresher course," said Cathy Rimm, program director for Motorcycle Rider Education of Maine, a nonprofit organization that offers safety training.
Finally, safety officials point out that older riders' eyesight and reflexes are not what they once were.
"In our experienced-rider courses, we do take into account the way your body changes, that your reaction time will change and that your eyesight will change. There are changes older riders should make," said Mike Mount, spokesman for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation in Irvine, Calif.
Mr. Cullinan, a repair shop manager from Standish, had not ridden for 15 years, and his life underwent a big change when he broke off a relationship. He spent more than $18,000 on his black lowrider with chrome.
"I went for the largest bike I could handle, or that I hope I can handle," he said.
Though Maine and many other states require classes for new riders to get motorcycle licenses, there are no such requirements for a license holder who decides to get on a bike for the first time in decades. No state requires continuing periodic education, said Kathy Van Kleeck of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.
Mr. Cullinan said his eyes were opened by the statistics. He has bought a helmet, which is not legally required in Maine, and is taking a refresher course this winter.
"I'm hoping I will learn something that'll make me safer," he said. "I'll be riding this spring and summer with my eyes open."

Last update: September 26, 2004 at 7:55 AM
Ticket revs up 205-mph questions
Terry Collins and Curt Brown, Star Tribune
September 26, 2004 FASTBIKES0926



To some, he's a folk hero. Others are calling him an idiot.

Everybody, it seems, is talking about Samuel Armstrong Tilley, the 20-year-old Stillwater motorcyclist ticketed last weekend for going 205 miles per hour on Hwy. 61 near Wabasha.

Consider it the ticket heard 'round the world.

In the week since a State Patrol pilot's stopwatch clocked Tilley's Honda RC51 at historic speeds, every gear-head chatroom, mechanic's garage and biker bar from Sturgis, S.D., to Los Angeles has been buzzing about Tilley's alleged exploits.

A photo of the ticket has been posted on the Web (http: //www.thesmokinggun.com/ archive/0922042speed1.html).

Tilley was even the talk of Two-Wheel Tuesday, a national cable TV fix for motorcycle aficionados on the Speed Channel.

SpeculatorsJudy GriesedieckStar TribuneAll of which prompts a couple questions: How could a so-called crotch rocket, with limited gear ratios, go that fast amid thousands of riders on the annual Flood Run along the bluffs north of Winona?

And why has Tilley suddenly become an urban legend?

"Certainly anyone who flouts the law to that extent is seen by some as a latter-day Robin Hood, flying in the face of authority and doing stuff we all want to do but common sense stops us from," said David Edwards, editor-in-chief of Cycle World, a popular magazine out of Newport Beach, Calif.

"Basically, it's like stepping out of a small airplane, if indeed he was going 200 mph," said Edwards, who like many experts, doubts Tilley topped 200 mph.

"It's extremely unlikely that that bike was going that fast," he said. "More likely, the cop with the stopwatch had an itchy trigger finger."

State Patrol pilot Al Loney, a 27-year veteran, and his superiors stand by their stopwatch, which clocked Tilley going a quarter-mile in 4.39 seconds.

Among the doubters is former St. Paul Police Chief Bill Finney, who was riding a Boss Hoss bike with a V-8 car engine during the Flood Run.

"The most common viewpoint is: That Honda could not have done 205 miles per hour," Finney said. "There are Suzukis that can go 180 miles per hour out of the crate, and racing Hondas may get there after spending a million bucks on them. That 200 miles per hour is a tough nut to crack, but those crotch-rocket guys are a whole other breed."

Who is Tilley?

The only one who knows for sure how fast Tilley was going isn't talking. Tilley did not return numerous reporters' calls for his side of the story.

He was born in New Ulm and graduated last spring from Stillwater High School.

"He was a cocky kid, kind of arrogant," said Laurie Hansen, his English teacher.

Records show that his father, Dean Tilley, is a patrol sergeant for the Washington County Sheriff's Office, and his stepmother, who co-owns the motorcycle, is a nurse.

Tilley's mother, Mary, died of a sudden illness a decade ago when Tilley was 10. There's a toddler playground in Oakdale named after her; she helped transform an old dump into the park.

Tilley purchased his 2002 Honda RC51 last summer from Tousley Motorsports in White Bear Lake, where he once worked. Tousley President Larry Koch insists Tilley is a nice guy.

"But I really want to ask him: 'What in the hell were you thinking?' " Koch said.

Meeting the legend

Devin Harrington, 32, of Minneapolis, was among the thousands of riders on the Flood Run along Hwy. 61 on Sept. 18. Stopping for gas near Wabasha, he remembers seeing a clean-cut kid wearing jeans and racing boots and sitting on a curb as riders sped past.

Curious, Harrington asked him what happened. The rider said his bike was towed because he got a speeding ticket.

In a "smart-alecky way," Harrington asked how fast was he going. Nonchalantly, Tilley told him, "Well, they gave me a ticket for 205."

"Bull!" Harrington blurted out, only to have Tilley show him the ticket to prove it. Harrington had a buddy take a picture of the ticket with his cell phone for posterity.

That ticket lists fines of $215 for going 140 mph over the limit, $115 for failing to have his motorcycle endorsement with him and a reckless driving charge. Tilley is scheduled to appear in Wabasha County Court on Oct. 25.

Four days later, Harrington had forgotten the whole matter, when his dentist brought it up while checking his teeth. The kid on the sidewalk, he realized, had become a cause cйlиbre.

"This is hilarious," said Harrington, who has been riding for 17 years. "Now, we'll have some idiot trying to top that mark, whether it is true or not. They will try killing themselves, for what? To see who's the fastest?"

Reaction to Tilley's ticket has motorcycle enthusiasts across the country spinning their wheels. Not only is it the record speeding ticket in Minnesota, but it reportedly tops William Faenza's national record ticket for going 182 mph in a Lamborghini Diablo in Pennsylvania last spring. And Faenza's ride had four wheels.

"He's upset the whole sport bike world," said Erie Presley, 43, of Salt Lake City. "Not so much that he broke the law, but he apparently broke several racing records, and we're wondering if he really did it."

Glenn Conser, president of the Motorcycle Roadracing Association in Denver, has tracked all the chatter on Web sites.

"It's been funny to read the different reactions that go from: 'Wow, how cool is that,' to 'What a moron!' " Conser said.

Tim Carrithers, editor of Motorcyclist magazine in Los Angeles, said his phone rang nonstop as word of Tilley's speed spread nationwide.

"The guy couldn't have gone that fast, no way," said Carrithers, adding that his staff members once clocked an RC51 at a high of 163 mph during a magazine review of the bike in 2000. "There's no street bike in stock that will approach that speed."

Dean of speed

No one in Minnesota knows more about speed than Marv Jorgenson, 63, owner of Chopper City in Fridley. He's been racing motorcycles and boats for 45 years and holds a world snowmobile record of 190 mph.

Jorgenson was among the Flood Run riders. He even saw Loney's plane clocking the bikers and warned his fellow riders to watch out. With countless bikes going about 70 mph, Jorgenson wonders how someone going three times that fast wouldn't run over riders ahead.

"It was like rush hour out there," he said. "I don't know how you can call a trooper a liar, but if the bike's not capable of going that fast ... ."

Jorgenson said the bike's fuel-injection system would cut out unless expensive modifications were made. Nate Northrup, one of Tilley's coworkers at Tousley said he remembers Tilley adding on a set of slip-on exhaust mufflers.

"They're supposed to add a little bit of horsepower, but I don't think they do anything but make a lot of noise," said Northrup.

Edwards, the editor of Cycle World, said a turbo charger would need to be added to get Tilley's bike north of 165 mph.

"There are lots of guys who have been spending a lot of money and a lot of years at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah trying to join the official 200 Club and most still haven't done it," Edwards said. "It's a pretty remarkable feat to go that fast on a motorcycle and I doubt that's what happened here."

Edwards said he once rode a bike at 175 mph.

"Between the wind tearing at you, the engine screaming and the leather flapping, it's not a fun place to be," he said.

And Koch, Tilley's former boss, figures the butt-kicking that the 200-mph man probably received from his patrol-sergeant father wasn't much of a fun place to be either.

"But when this is all over," Koch said, "he can get a jacket that reads: 'I'm the fastest man in Minnesota and I have a ticket to prove it, too.' "

Librarian Linda Sack and staff writer Matt McKinney contributed to this report.

What to do when the light wont change.

Tired of sitting at red light because the sensors didnt detect your motorcycle?

Now, Riders have a defense if they are ticked forviolating an unchanged traffic control signal.

What this means is that if you are ticketed for turning or riding through a red light at an intersection,you have a legal defense.This law was inacted in minnesota aug.2003.

It does not give you the right to blow through Red Lights!

If ticketed you must prove in court,the following 4 items in order to have the case dissmissed.

1. The motorcycle was brought to a complete stop.

2.the traffic control light was showing a red signal for a unreasonable amount of time.

3.The traffic control signal is apparantly malfunctioning or it aparently failed to detect the arival of a motorcycle.

4.No motor vehicle or person was aproaching the on the street or highway to be crossed or entered or was so far away that it does not cause an immediate hazard