Simultaneous data collection by IMP 8 in the near-Earth solar wind and Geotail in the distant tail make possible the correlation of solar wind disturbances with their effects in the distant tail. This paper discusses some of the possible propagation times between the two spacecrafts and compares them with observed times for a particular disturbance when Geotail was near the magnetopause. The best fit matches very closely with the solar wind velocity. Several other propagation mechanisms also match the observed delay times within the observational error. The conversion processes operating across the bow shock, through the magnetosheath, and through the tail tend to maintain the net propagation speed constant, which accounts for the empirical finding that the direct solar wind transit time between IMP 8 and Geotail works pretty well. There is little if any effect of a significant delay resulting from the flow slowing down in the subsonic dayside magnetosheath. The event cannot discriminate between a windsock response of the tail to the solar wind disturbance and a standing wave response without further quantitative modeling. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1995