Burt Munro died 36 years ago but amazingly, he’s just recently been awarded a speed record. How? There was a math mistake made during one of his runs on a 1967 trip to Bonneville. The AMA, who was timing the meet had what New Zealanders like to call a “stuff up” and the speed on the time slip (which was manually calculated back then using the amount of time it took a vehicle to cover the speed trap) was miscalculated. Munro’s son John who is in his 80s was looking back over certain things and somehow came upon this slip and did the math, only to discover that he pop had been robbed a record!
After contacting the AMA and presenting the evidence, the organization recognized the error and more importantly it recognized Munro’s performance and awarded him the record in the class SA 1,000cc category. We’re not sure what the SA stands for but we’re guessing “Streamlined something”. Munro is obviously a legend both in his home country and around the world. A guy that stands of everything right and BangShifty because he refused to let obstacles stop him from achieving his dream of racing on the salt flats and setting records on his beloved “World’s Fastest Indian”. He made his own parts, crashed, recovered, fought through the financial hardships of even getting to Bonneville and was ultimately successful perhaps even beyond his own expectations. This additional record is another chapter in an already legendary existence…and apparently post existence, too! It should be noted that Munro bumped the record from 183mph and change to 184mph and change…on a bike that started out with a top speed of about 60mph.
Burt Munro was one of the great hot rodders of all time and to see that his family still cares so much in seeing that he is properly recognized is pretty awesome. Congrats Burt…wherever you are. Like everything else, you earned this one!
Thanks for the tip Regan Thomas!
CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK TO THE STORY IN THE SOUTHLAND TIMES
Bert Munro
A recommend for all . The video ;
” The Worlds Fastest Indian ”
Buy – Beg – Borrow or rent it . But make damn sure you don’t miss it . It is a story worth telling a 100 times [ I bought it ] and one of the few docudramas well done
The newspaper in New Zealand spells it Burt…I am sticking with that.
Yup ! B-U-R-T it is . My mistake completely ! Might of helped if I’d had another cup of coffee before posting …. or at least looked at the header to make sure I’d spelled it correctly .
Hey … what can I say ? I’s human . Mea culpa !
I read somewhere that he originally spelled it Bert, but later changed it to Burt due to so many people spelling it incorrectly. I saw it on the internet, it must be true. Regardless of the spelling, he truly has an awesome story, and even the movie was fantastic.
So I emailed a Kiwi gearhead friend/journalist about this . He said yes … Burt … was a Bert … but everybody’s known him as Burt since the earliest days of his speed demon exploits …
… so I’ll stick with Burt .. unless of course I have another brain f*rt like this morning
one of the best movies ive seen, bought it and watch it every so often…..a must see…….
Is it Streamlined Antique 1000 ?
Perhaps streamlined alcohol ?
S-F B. Munro Indian 08/67 183.586
From the SCTA web site
I would hazard a guess S.A. Stands for Streamlined Altered.
Or Streamlined Alcohol.
I remember hearing about him when I was little, then years and years later our daughter brought us this movie, I’m so glad she did, and I have watched it 15 times within the past couple of years, it’s a must see movie. Congratulations again Burt Munroe, you truly deserve it.
Read the book its way better than the film