10/11/2025
Burt Munro and “The World’s Fastest Indian”
No article on Charles B. Franklin’s Indian Scout would be complete without a mention of the fastest Indian Scout ever taken to the Bonneville Salt Flats.
A gentleman named Burt Munro from “The Land of the Long White Cloud” (i.e New Zealand) purchased an original 1920 Indian Scout and rode it until 1926 before deciding he’d like to make it go a bit faster.
Burt Munro fastest Indian Scout motorcycle
Burt’s bike had been the 627th to leave the Hendee Manufacturing Company factory and had been fitted with the original 37 cu. in./606 cc engine. By the time he took his heavily modified Indian to Bonneville in 1963 the engine displaced 850 cc and he set an 883 cc class speed record of 178.95 mph/288 km/h. When he went back in 1966 the bike’s engine was now 920 cc and he set a 1,000 cc Class record of 168.07 mph/270.476 km/h
