A Vancouver Island man accused of burning down a busy highway at speeds of almost 300 kilometres per hour has turned himself in to police.

Randy George Scott walked into the Kelowna RCMP detachment and surrendered on Tuesday night, two weeks after authorities charged him with dangerous driving in connection with the highly-publicized motorcycle joyride.

The 25-year-old has a lengthy history of driving infractions and licence suspensions and may not have had a valid licence at the time of his alleged offence, police say.

Shocking footage of the reckless ride, believed to have taken place on the TransCanada Highway outside Victoria on April 6, went viral after being posted on YouTube earlier this year.

The video, entitled “victoria [sic] highway run 299km,” shows someone riding a 2006 blue Yamaha R1 motorcycle, weaving in and out of traffic somewhere between McKenzie Avenue and the Millstream Road exit.

Scott previously bragged about driving at breakneck speeds on social media, but has denied starring in the video.

Sgt. Dean Jantzen of the Saanich Police Department, the force probing the joyride, said investigators received a flood of tips about the motorcyclist’s identity and have three witnesses who claim they can positively identify Scott.

“We were at a loss to be able to charge the driver when we were first public about this,” Jantzen said. “We’re in a much better place today, solely based on tips that have come to us from the public.”

But criminal lawyer Jim McNeney, who specializes in motorcycle cases, says the circumstances of the case are rare, and convicting Scott could prove problematic.

“It’s difficult for some person in the population to come forward and say ‘this almost got me,’ or ‘this happened,’” McNeney said, adding that police were never at the scene of the infraction.

Police earlier identified what they believed to be the suspect bike, but were unable to recommend charges because it was registered in Scott’s mother’s name.

The uninsured Yamaha was seized from a home in Esquimalt in April, and Scott’s mother was served with $1,449 in traffic violation tickets.

Scot appeared in court Wednesday and was released on $500 bail under the condition that he not drive a bike or any other vehicle.

With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Scott Roberts