Indian Motorcycle hit the salt at the 69th annual Bonneville Speed“ by paying tribute to its iconic heritage and the 50th anniversary of Burt Munro’ s historic land speed record in grand fashion.” The tribute was highlighted by commemorative land speed runs by Munro’ s great nephew Lee Munro on a modified 2017 Indian Scout- appropriately named“ Spirit of Munro” – finishing off the weekend with a moonlit screening of“ The World’ s Fastest Indian” under the desert sky for Speed Week campers. Indian Motorcycle teamed up with Kiwi road racer Lee Munro, Burt Munro’ s great nephew, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Munro’ s famous exploits and record setting runs, and to recreate the historic run during the 69th annual Speed Week with Lee’ s“ Spirit of Munro”, a modified and partially streamlined 2017 Scout. The team’ s goal was to match Burt’ s land speed record of 184 mph. To qualify for Bonneville, Lee achieved his speed licenses through runs at El Mirage Dry Lakebed in California, while even securing a land speed record of 186.681 mph in the MPS-G( Modified Partial Streamliner) 1350cc class during his rookie run and surpassing the team’ s original goal. Entering Bonneville, the team’ s new |
goal was to eclipse the 200 mph mark. However, Lee’ s runs proved to be a battle against the elements. Lee attempted his first two runs on the five-mile short course, resulting in his top performance of the weekend at 191.28 mph and an unofficial run due to timer technical error. |
The following day, Lee and team made gearing changes and took the modified 2017 Indian Scout out on Bonneville’ s nine-mile long course. |
Unfortunately, high winds and rough overall conditions hindered the motorcycle, resulting in 186.415 mph in his lone run of the day. On Monday, the team took another attempt on a newly routed long course, yet rough surface conditions forced Munro to exit his run before completing the timed section.“ It was my greatest honor to represent Indian Motorcycle in such an incredible tribute to my great uncle on this historic 50th anniversary,” said Lee Munro.“ We may not have had the results we were after, but piloting a modified Indian Scout on the same salt as my Great Uncle Burt will forever be one of my most cherished experiences. I’ m looking forward to future runs and more success with my teammates and friends at Indian Motorcycle.” |