Motorcycling legend's message for riders clocked at speeds of over 300kmh

Motorcycling legend Graeme Crosby has a message for the motorcyclists spotted travelling at speeds over 300km/h over the weekend. Photo / Supplied

Motorcycling legend Graeme Crosby, a man familiar with ludicrously fast speeds on bikes, has a message for the two motorcyclists clocked at speeds in excess of 300km/h.

"Do it on the track."

Police are hunting for two motorcyclists seen travelling at speeds of over 300km/h near Upper Hutt over the Queen's Birthday weekend.

Wellington road policing Senior Sergeant Thomas McIntyre said the actions of the riders were "beyond dangerous" and the risks they had posed to themselves and other road users was unimaginable.

Crosby said he had travelled at speeds in excess of 300km/h many times during his time racing in the 1970s and 1980s.

Now in his 60s, Crosby famously claimed first at the Isle of Man Senior Tourist Trophy race in 1980, eventually claiming three wins in the series between 1979 and 1981.

Once you began travelling at speeds in excess of 100km/h the margin for error grew smaller at an exponential rate, he said.

At speeds over 200km/h everything happened a lot quicker.

Peripheral vision was closed and tunnel vision took over, making it more difficult to identify and react to potential hazards.

"You work in a narrow performance band, the road is narrow and anytime you change the set-up of the bike it takes time and distance before it can happen."

The bike often arrived at the location before the brain could even compute it.

"You have to be ahead of the bike mentally."

The location where the renegade riders were spotted, the Remutaka Range, had been a haven for motorcyclists for decades, he said.

"It goes back to the 60s; the style of the road is a perfect road to have a play on."

However, Crosby said the open the road was no place for such excessive speed.

"If you get caught you should have your bike taken off you it is a simple as that."

The difference between racing on the track and on the road was that the circuits, excluding the Isle of Man, were built for such speeds.

On the track obstacles and barriers were not positioned close to the road, but "passive" safety systems were in place.

"The road is for moving people. There is a fundamental difference there.

"If you want to go over the speed limit, go to the race track.

"There are plenty of race days, do it in a controlled environment."

Crosby was also credited with winning the prestigious Daytona 200 and Imola 200 races, and is a board member of the Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council.

At about midday on Saturday, two Japanese 1000cc sports bikes were spotted by police travelling on State Highway 2, just south of the Remutaka Range, at 247km/h.

At 247km/h, the riders would have been travelling at just under 70 metres per second — had they crashed they would have killed themselves and possibly other road users, McIntyre said.

Anyone with information about this incident or the riders involved is urged to contact their local station or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 55 111.