Burt Munro inducted into Sturgis Hall of Fame
Following this year’s annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the Sturgis Museum announced the latest list of inductees into the museum’s Hall of Fame. Inductees for 2023 included motorcycle racing icon and land speed record holder, Burt Munro.
Born in Invercargill, New Zealand, in 1899, Herbert James ‘Burt’ Munro described his passion for speed thus: “You live more in five minutes on a bike going flat out than some people live in a lifetime.”
This passion to “live” at speed and go ever faster saw Munro set multiple speed records, first in his native New Zealand, then on the Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA. The latter was fictionalised in the 2005 movie, The World’s Fastest Indian, which brought mainstream attention to Munro and his achievements.
Munro’s trusty steed for all his record-setting attempts was a 1920 Indian Scout, dubbed the ‘Munro Special,’ that the talented Kiwi started modifying in 1926. Often using parts he fabricated himself, Munro incrementally increased the Scout engine’s 600cc capacity to a peak of 950cc, added a steamlined body and made many other changes.
By the end of the 1950s, Munro had achieved all he could in New Zealand speed events, so set his sights on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Taking the Munro Special to Bonneville on nine occasions, Munro set three new speed records there. During his final trip to the salt flats in 1967, Munro set an under-1,000cc record of 184.087mph (296.259km/h) that still stands today. In the same year, Munro also recorded unofficial one-way runs of more than 300km/h.
“Burt’s a legend. His accomplishments, through trials and tribulations, inspire our racing efforts today,” said Gary Gray, Vice President – Racing, Technology and Service for Indian Motorcycle. “While it may be overdue, it’s quite an achievement for Burt to be enshrined into the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame.”
Induction into the Sturgis Museum Hall of Fame is the latest in a string of honours for Munro (who passed away in 1978) that include induction into the AMA Hall of Fame in 2006 and Motorcycling New Zealand’s Hall of Fame, in 2016.
The other Sturgis Musuem Hall of Fame inductees this year were fellow land speed record rider and bar owner Jay Allen, renowned custom motorcycle designer and builder Roland Sands, rider advocate Russell Radke, publisher and custom bike builder Chris Callen, artist Scott Jacobs and the victorious Team USA from the 1981 Motocross des Nations.
