Burt Munro

Munros Indian, with whom he set the record in 1967 (without disguise)

Replica with one half of the shell

Herbert James Munro (born March 25, 1899 in Edendale , New Zealand ; † January 6, 1978 in Invercargill , New Zealand) set several world speed records for motorcycles with his self-converted Indian Scout , one of which is still valid today. This record and the background to it was the basis for the 2005 film The World's Fastest Indian (German title: Mit Herz und Hand ) by Roger Donaldson with Anthony Hopkins in the leading role.

Life

Munro used the Indian motorcycle for his record rides that he had bought new in 1920 and developed further from 1926 onwards. For 22 years he drove hill climbs , trials and what later became motocross , later also on a 1936 Velocette . The first notable success was the New Zealand “Open Road” record in 1940 with 120.8  mph (194.4 km / h ). In 1948 he decided to quit his job in order to be able to concentrate fully on racing. He shipped his motorcycle eight times to the USA , in 1969 he made fourteen runs in four and a half days. The engine he had for a long time with self-developed cylinder heads of standing on hanging rebuilt valves (OHV) and what he called "Munro Special" with a fairing made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic provided. He had hammered an initial streamlined panel out of sheet aluminum in five years of work, but it was too tight, he could barely shift gear. So he changed it so that he could use it as a negative mold for a plastic laminate .

In 1927 he married Florence Beryl Martyn. Together they had four children, John, June, Margaret and Gwen.

In 2006 he was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame .

Records

• In 1962 he set a world record for 850 cc motorcycles at 288 km / h .
• In 1967 he upgraded the engine to 950 cc and at the age of 68 set a record in the class under 1000 cc. In the Great Salt Desert , he officially reached 296.26 km / h with his vehicle . That record still exists today. In an unofficial attempt on the same day, it was even faster than 321 km / h. All of Munro's records on the Bonneville Flats relate exclusively to Indian-branded motorcycles.

literature

• Tim Hanna: One Good Run: The Legend of Burt Munro Penguin Global, January 25, 2006, ISBN 978-0-14-301974-9 .
• JK Verlag Lübeck: Oldtimer Motorrad Markt , June / July 2011 issue, Die Legende Herbert James Munro , Tel .: [phone]

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Letters from Burt Munro, a New Zealand Motorcycling Legend  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   , in: Beaded Wheels No. 189, April-May 1991
2. ↑ Michael Fallow: World speed records set , The Southland Times, February 13, 2013 (accessed December 16, 2013)

Further information

• Burt Munro AMA Hall of Fame (English)
• Burt Munro Challenge (Engl.)