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Hi Peter,
Hopefully I can bring you up to speed. The bike was restored over 25 years ago. Long before the "Worlds Fastest Indian" came out. So the bike was restored to be shown as a part of a larger Indian collection. I think this is what drove the extent of the restoration. When Steve Huntzinger received the bike it was so rotted from all of the salt that the lower part of the front forks had to be replaced just so it would set on two wheels. We have all of the sheet metal as it was on the bike. The fenders are pretty much gone. All of these parts will be displayed with the bike. When I received the bike it had a blown engine. The cylinders were from a Porsche 912 and damaged from the engine blowing up. I welded up the cases and re-established the decks and stud holes. I made new rods and cylinders copying pictures of the engine in the bike at Bonneville. I had pistons made exactly like the one that was left in the engine. It now runs and barks like the day it went down the salt at 190 plus. You are correct that this engine is a product of some old parts. The cylinder heads are probably Burt’s first. They have been brazed up in typical Burt fashion and the spark plug hole has been moved from the side to the top as described in Hanna’s book. The engine you have in New Zealand is the last iteration of Burt’s work. Be very proud of it. My guess is that there is not one bolt left in that engine that was in the record setting engine. Story has it that Burt burned a hole in a piston on his return run for the record. So when that was replaced it was no longer the record setting engine in it’s original form. I am not sure when Burt decided to split the cams but this engine has them and the offset pushrod bushings in the case half. So I am not sure when this set of cases was run. They had been blown up prior to the restoration as the crankshaft bushing holes have been welded up. I suspect the cases broke and the crank shaft moved off of center. These cases also have the Burt Munro oil sump gas welded to the lower rear portion of the case halves. I don’t believe we have ripped the heart and soul from Burt’s bike. If anything we restored it, mostly with parts that he made. If it were not for the work and money spent by select group of people the Munro Special would be rotting in some warehouse. Burt earned the “World’s Land Speed Record”. Not the USA land speed record. He won it for himself and for New Zealand. You should be very proud of that. Burt Munro was a genius. The concept of building over 20 sets of rods on a Myford lathe with a milling attachment is incredible. I have a full machine shop and it is still tricky. His determination and humility is second to none. Maybe the lot of you can get off of your high horse long enough to emulate your countryman that made you look so good. Burt’s legacy and motorcycle is being very well taken care of. There is no money or glory in showing or maintaining the bike. Tom Hensley (owner) sells t-shirts at the shows. It maybe pays for gas to get there. I work on it for nothing. We do it because we admire Burt and his accomplishments. Nothing will replace the look of appreciation on the faces of the people at the shows who can see and touch the bike and hear it run. It is very satisfying and makes the countless hours of work worth while.
Best regards,
Phil
Hopefully I can bring you up to speed. The bike was restored over 25 years ago. Long before the "Worlds Fastest Indian" came out. So the bike was restored to be shown as a part of a larger Indian collection. I think this is what drove the extent of the restoration. When Steve Huntzinger received the bike it was so rotted from all of the salt that the lower part of the front forks had to be replaced just so it would set on two wheels. We have all of the sheet metal as it was on the bike. The fenders are pretty much gone. All of these parts will be displayed with the bike. When I received the bike it had a blown engine. The cylinders were from a Porsche 912 and damaged from the engine blowing up. I welded up the cases and re-established the decks and stud holes. I made new rods and cylinders copying pictures of the engine in the bike at Bonneville. I had pistons made exactly like the one that was left in the engine. It now runs and barks like the day it went down the salt at 190 plus. You are correct that this engine is a product of some old parts. The cylinder heads are probably Burt’s first. They have been brazed up in typical Burt fashion and the spark plug hole has been moved from the side to the top as described in Hanna’s book. The engine you have in New Zealand is the last iteration of Burt’s work. Be very proud of it. My guess is that there is not one bolt left in that engine that was in the record setting engine. Story has it that Burt burned a hole in a piston on his return run for the record. So when that was replaced it was no longer the record setting engine in it’s original form. I am not sure when Burt decided to split the cams but this engine has them and the offset pushrod bushings in the case half. So I am not sure when this set of cases was run. They had been blown up prior to the restoration as the crankshaft bushing holes have been welded up. I suspect the cases broke and the crank shaft moved off of center. These cases also have the Burt Munro oil sump gas welded to the lower rear portion of the case halves. I don’t believe we have ripped the heart and soul from Burt’s bike. If anything we restored it, mostly with parts that he made. If it were not for the work and money spent by select group of people the Munro Special would be rotting in some warehouse. Burt earned the “World’s Land Speed Record”. Not the USA land speed record. He won it for himself and for New Zealand. You should be very proud of that. Burt Munro was a genius. The concept of building over 20 sets of rods on a Myford lathe with a milling attachment is incredible. I have a full machine shop and it is still tricky. His determination and humility is second to none. Maybe the lot of you can get off of your high horse long enough to emulate your countryman that made you look so good. Burt’s legacy and motorcycle is being very well taken care of. There is no money or glory in showing or maintaining the bike. Tom Hensley (owner) sells t-shirts at the shows. It maybe pays for gas to get there. I work on it for nothing. We do it because we admire Burt and his accomplishments. Nothing will replace the look of appreciation on the faces of the people at the shows who can see and touch the bike and hear it run. It is very satisfying and makes the countless hours of work worth while.
Best regards,
Phil
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