Couldn't find out what he did for a living but this was a good article highlighting his life...
Ed
Part 1
Burt Munro
New Zealander Burt Munro was a motorcycle land-speed record-holder of the 1960s. One of his dreams was to run his homebuilt 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle, dubbed the Munro Special, on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. He saved for years in spite of limited means to make the trip to America. He finally came over on a shoestring budget in 1962. Munro was 63 at the time with a bad heart, yet he still managed to overcome numerous obstacles to set world records, even as a muffler was burning the flesh on his leg. In 1967, Munro coaxed his beloved streamlined Indian to 183.58 mph. That set a record in the category of "streamlined motorcycles under 1,000cc." To qualify, he made a one-way run of 190.07 mph, the fastest ever officially recorded speed on an Indian.
"The World’s Fastest Indian"
Munro's inspirational story was made into the movie "The World’s Fastest Indian" in 2005. The movie, starring Anthony Hopkins and directed by Roger Donaldson, was met with favorable reviews. Many in the motorcycling community called "The World’s Fastest Indian" the best motorcycle movie since the legendary documentary "On Any Sunday" made in the early 1970s.
The early years
Munro was born in Invercargill, New Zealand in 1899. He began riding motorcycles at the age of 15. His first bike was a British-built Clyno. He sold the Clyno to a blacksmith in 1920 and bought the Indian Scout, which he would continuously modify for the rest of his life. He later bought a 1936 Velocette, which he also modified and raced.
In his mid-20s, Munro began competing in various forms of motorcycle racing in Australia. He rode in hillclimbs, trials, road racing, drag racing, flat track and early scrambles events. In other words, if there was a competition on two wheels, Munro probably tried it. He also participated in economy runs and once recorded 116 miles per gallon in one of the runs.
In the mid-1940s, Munro and his wife divorced. He wanted to build a house with low ceilings to combat the New Zealand summer heat, but it was against local building codes. Instead, he got around the codes by building a low garage. It served as both his workshop and living quarters.
Dedication to motorcycles
Munro quit working in the late 1940s so he could devote his time fully to improving his Indian and Velocette racing bikes. During this period, he honed his skills at designing his own parts for the bike. Munro found unique sources for raw materials. As an example, he once carved out rods for his Indian using a Ford truck axle. It took him five months, but the rods lasted over 20 years, through countless high-speed runs. He experimented with a variety of metals by trial and error, once melting down old gas pipeline and combining it with other melted metals to cast pistons for his bike. He converted his Indian to overhead valves from sidevalve. He made his own cams, often filing them by hand. From wheels, to engine parts, to the streamliner's shell, Munro custom made just about every part of his bikes. It didn't take long for the Munro Special to have very little of the original Indian Scout left.
Munro's dedication to his motorcycles was enormous. For years, he worked 16 hours per day in the shed. In later life he backed off a bit and was working just 70-hour weeks. While many of his neighbors viewed him as somewhat eccentric, he did not live the life of a hermit. Munro was a member of a motorcycle club and attended many club events and had a lot of friends whom he helped and who in turn helped him in his racing endeavors.
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Topic: Worlds Fastest Indian (Read 2480 times)