Forty-five years after his death, Burt Munro continues to burn brightly in the minds of motorcyclists around the globe. The famed Indian-mounted Bonneville Speed Trials racer from New Zealand has been inducted into North Dakota’s Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame.
Munro was immortalized in the 2005 docudrama, The World’s Fastest Indian, where he was portrayed by Anthony Hopkins. Munro continually modified his 1920 Indian Scout, setting eight speed records in New Zealand. Born in 1899, Munro traveled across the Pacific Ocean ten times to the Bonneville Salt Flats, where he set speed records in 1962, 1966, and 1967.
“You live more in five minutes on a bike like this going flat-out than some people live in a lifetime,” the Invercargill native is claimed to have famously observed.
“Burt’s a legend,” Gary Gray, Vice President – Racing, Technology and Service for Indian Motorcycle, noted. “His accomplishments, through trials and tribulations, inspire our racing efforts today. While it may be overdue, it’s quite an achievement for Burt to be enshrined into the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame, and we’re incredibly proud and grateful to celebrate Burt Munro, not just today, but every day.”
Indian Motorcycle Vice President Aaron Jax also paid tribute to Munro, saying, “You cannot tell the history of motorcycles without mentioning Burt Munro. Burt’s stories have literally molded the Indian Motorcycle brand as we continue to live like Burt and push the envelope to drive innovation, break boundaries and blaze new trails.”
Indian paid tribute to Munro in 2013 with its Spirit of Munro streamliner, powered by the then-new Indian Thunderstroke 111 V-twin. Munro’s grand-nephew Lee set three class speed records on an Indian Scout modified by Indian Motorcycle in 2017, the 50th anniversary of his great-uncle’s final record-setting runs, which produced a record that still stands in 2023.
Munro was posthumously inducted with fellow land speed record legend and businessman Jay Allen, publisher/editor/journalist/builder Chris Callen, motor artist Scott Jacobs, pro-motorcyclist activist Russell Radke, designer/builder/racer/businessman/innovator Roland Sands, and the American 1981 Motocross des Nations team—Donnie Hansen, Danny LaPorte, Johnny O’Mara, and Chuck Sun.
