Biker gets ticket to fame

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A speeding ticket for 205 mph has made Samuel Armstrong Tilley a motorcycle legend.

Ever since a State Patrol pilot clocked Mr. Tilley's 2002 Honda RC51 going a quarter-mile in 4.39 seconds on Sept. 18, people in chat rooms, garages and biker bars from Sturgis, S.D., to Los Angeles have been buzzing about the feat on Highway 61 near Wabasha.

"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.

Mr. Edwards doubts Mr. Tilley's bike could have gone so fast.

"More likely, the cop with the stopwatch had an itchy trigger finger," he told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. "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."

State Patrol pilot Al Loney, a 27-year veteran, and his superiors stand by their report.