To believe what I’m going to tell you, you have to see the movie of Burt and his motorbike to really appreciate how he obtained the highest speed record.
Our introduction to Burt Munro:
Long before going down to New Zealand’s south island, our son looked up the movie on the internet and put it on their large TV screen for us to see and enjoy.
Let me tell you, it’s an amazing movie, something you’ll never forget!
Sir Anthony Hopkins plays the part of Burt Munro. It’s a must see, so check it out at: http://hd.watchsite.win/play.php?movie=0t4t1t2080
Basically this is what happened:
He film is all about how this guy Herbert James Munro, who was born 25th March 1899 in Edendale, 30km north of Invercargill.
He was well- known as Burt, and made history by breaking land speed records on his Indian motorbike. That was the manufacturer’s model name.
- He bought his first Indian motorbike in 1920 for 120 pounds, with a top speed of 60mph.
- By 1940 he had powered up his bike to gain the NZ Motorcycle speed record to 120.8mph!
- He tested his bike and practiced on Oreti beach, close to Invercargill. See a map and photo of Oreti beach below. Take note of its flatness and incredible vastness.
- Then in 1962 he courageously entered a cycle race in United States. And there people thought his bike wasn’t able to enter. He pleaded for and did a pre-run, to prove his mike was capable to run in the race the next day.
- Everyone was utterly amazed... his flimsy little bike had done 179mph!! On that evidence the race organizers conceded to allow him to enter the race the next day.
- And next day at the World Record Class S-A 1000cc race, Burt was able to make an average speed of 183.586mph, and one way 190.07mph. Making it 305.89km/h overall. And this record still stands today!
The beach is on the far left side (seaboard side) of the map. And you can see the town of Invercargill on the right side, of the map.
In Invercargill there is a hardware store called Hayes (www.ehayes.co.nz,) And, in that store you will find Burt’s old motorbike, and the one that was used in the film.
And then when you see his bike!
It will blow you clean away. It looks so flimsy, that it would be impossible that it could have done any race.
If you consider the speed that bike really went at that Bonneville Salts Flats in Utah, USA, the relic looks so light and fragile, almost like a peddle bike!! It looks impossible that it would even get around the next corner! My photos don’t do it any justice… you can’t feel the impression of flimsiness!
The top photo in the collage shows the outer skin or sleeve that was put on in the film. In the lower photos, you can see Burt's relic in the front and the bike they used in the film behind it.
You can check out Burt Munro’s full story and history at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Munro
Please note:
I’ll show you more photos of Qreti beach that Burt Munro practiced on, in a later blog. Because we didn’t go there the same day as we went to the hardware store. I’m trying to blog according to the sequence of events.
The store was like a museum:
There were other very old types and relics of bikes and cars there too in eHayes store. So you will spend a long time there checking them all out.
Besides that, you can get spare parts and the most unusual things. Like the hammers seen in one of the collages.
Each hammer is differently shaped, according to the angle you may need in difficult situations. Some with more than one handle or hammer head!
And after been in the Hayes store, we drove over to see… Invercargill’s enormous central park …. And that you will see in my next blog.