World’s Fastest Indian to Ride Again
In the 1950s and 1960s, Burt Munro was a motorcycling legend. During this time period, he set numerous land-speed records on the salt flats of Bonneville in Utah. He did so by using Indian motorcycles all of which were less than 1,000ccs. His legend lived on in the movie, The World’s Fastest Indian where he was played by Anthony Hopkins.
Additionally, The Burt Munro Challenge came to life ten years ago and has captured the imagination and spectacle of those early runs on the flats by honoring the late Munro. This year marks the organization’s tenth year, and for that special anniversary, it will bring two movie bikes to run at the event.
The first of the two motorcycles will be an Indian that was ridden on the Beach during the movie, and another a replica built from a Ducati that was ridden on the salt flats of the movie. Both bikes were loaned to the Burt Munro Challenge by the Southland Museum and the Invercargill arcade.
These two motorcycles represent some of the most historic bikes on Earth, even if they’re replicas. Without Burt Munro and his Indians the world of motorcycles would be a very different place. Check out more of the story behind the Indians