If you haven’t watched the movie “The World’s Fastest Indian”, go and get a copy, available on DVD. It is the story of the singleness of purpose shown by New Zealander Burt Munro with his 1920 Indian motorcycle and his attack on the World Land Speed Record in 1967.
To the amazement of the organizers, Burt set the AMA Land Speed Record in Class S.A. 1000, at 184.087 miles per hour, aboard his custom 953 cc 1920 Indian streamliner motorcycle. If you were to look at last year’s list of records, you’d also see Burt Munro, except that the speed listed would say 183.586 mph.
The explanation boils down to the use of a calculator. It seems the AMA made an error when it originally calculated the average speed of Munro’s two timed runs. John Munro, Burt’s son, noticed the discrepancy, pointed it out to the AMA and they admitted the error and corrected it in the record books, adding another interesting chapter in Burt Munro’s amazing feat almost 50 years ago.
