Offerings to THE GOD OF SPEED
EVERYBODY WHO’S EVER OWNED A BIKE HAS wanted to know how fast it goes. It’s human nature. The only problem is that once you’ve ridden your bike flat out, you just know you’re going to want to go even faster. That’s human nature too. But while most of us are content to buy a few aftermarket parts to slightly increase the bhp of our bikes, some people feel the need to take things further. And in Burt Munro’s case, it was much, much further.
In 1920, Munro bought an Indian Scout, capable of doing 50mph. After spending the next 46 years modifying it in his shed, the 67-year-old grandfather took the vintage machine to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, US and clocked an unofficial speed of 212mph – more than four times the bike’s original top speed. The equivalent today would be taking a stock Suzuki GSX-R1000 or Yamaha R1 and modifying it – designing and building all the parts yourself, on a shoestring budget, and without using ‘cheats’ like turbos or nitrous. – until it was capable of speeds exceeding 680mph!
“At 15 years old, Munro bought his first bike – a Douglas – and his lifelong love affair with motorcycles began”
Most people know of Munro through the 2005 film The World’s Fastest Indian. For many cinema-goers, Sir Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of the New Zealander was so convincing that, in their minds at least, he is Munro. But what was the real Munro like? And why did he devote his life to the pursuit of speed? What possessed
