"[Five minutes] is a long time, especially at those speeds on the Eastern Link."
Police tried to block off the exit at Domain Rd in Papamoa but the biker was able to manoeuvre around the obstacles and carry on, he said.
Mr Hunter said the speeds reached by the biker on the Eastern Link were "totally dangerous".
"Especially for the rider, the police following and members of the public. It was a big Harley motorbike, if you got hit by that — it's like being hit by a car.
"A fatality would easily occur, of the motorbike rider and anyone in the car. If you were hit by one of those at 100km/h it would total your car and whoever was inside the vehicle."
Mr Hunter said police would follow up a line of inquiry to nab the rider for their reckless riding.
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Once found the motorbike would be impounded for 28 days. The rider would also be charged, he said.
NZ Transport Agency safety director Ernst Zollner said the limit on the expressway was 100km/h and anyone travelling above the speed was risking their lives, and the lives of every other person using the road.
"This type of extreme behaviour is not only criminal, in the event of a crash it would not be survivable."
Mr Zollner said the NZ Transport Agency was working with police and others to reduce deaths and serious injuries on roads by taking a "safe system" approach.
"That approach involves building safer roads and roadsides like the TEL, but it also means encouraging people to drive safe vehicles at safe speeds and to avoid driving while impaired, fatigued or distracted ... It is important to recognise that vehicle speed is a factor in every crash on our roads, no matter what the immediate cause of the crash.
"The speed vehicles are travelling at will ultimately determine whether people walk away from the crash or if they are carried away in an ambulance or a hearse."
Mr Zollner said the TEL was a safe, modern, well-engineered road but even the safest road is only one part of a safe transport system.
"No road can eliminate the risks posed by those who choose to compromise the safety of others by travelling at unsafe speeds. It is up to each one of us to play our part and drive at the appropriate speed to ensure everyone's safety."
Mr Hunter said it was the fourth motorbike pursuit in the last month for Bay of Plenty police.
On Thursday night Waikato police posted a photo on Facebook of a police radar clocking a motorcyclist at 232km/h.
A message with the photo said: "Motorcyclist. In shorts. Suspended learner licence. Trying to outrun police on a very fast machine. He failed. He realises that now."
Senior Sergeant Stephen Ambler, the officer in charge of highway patrol for the Waikato district, said man had been arrested.
He was riding in an 80km/h area when he was clocked doing 232km/h — 152km/h over the speed limit.
By the numbers
• Four drivers were clocked at speeds of between 134km/h and 176km/h on the Tauranga Eastern Link in one week in October last year.
• The road has been used by more than 1.5 million people since it was built.