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Show SALT FLAT NEWS, OCTOBER, 1971 s ft by R. Menzies Henry Thoreau once proposed that if a boy learned to make his own pocketknife from the basic elements, the education gained thereby would surpass any Harvard graduate's. One who has achieved approximately that is Burt Munro of Invercargill, New Zealand only instead of a pocketknife Burt has built a motorcycle, and rebuilt it many times over in the course of 51 years. In the process, Munro has come to understand not only the mechanics, but the physics and the aesthetics, too, of one small engine. two-cylinde- It all began in 1920, when a young Munro bought a brand new Indian Scout motorcycle. It was then about the hottest thing on two wheels and made quite a hit with the young ladies. But motorcycles, and usually their riders, are a short-livephenomenon, and within a few years most of the classic machines had gone the way of the buffalo, an animal they resembled in some respects. Yet last month at the Salt Flats it reappeared, in the midst of the most sophisticated racing machines in the world; in all its greasy glory looking like a collaboration between Rube Goldberg and Jules Verne. Pitifully bound and tied with aircraft wire, with balding tires and rusting frame, the Munro Special provoked a few remarks from fellow racers. "I wouldn't drive that thing on the street," said one, "let alone out here." "We make more exceptions for you than anybody," said A.M.A. referee Earl Flanders, as he joted skeptical notes on his clipboard. "When ya gonna wash it?" "Wash it? Why?" "When ya gonna wash it?" "Wash it with water?" d wasn't idle. I had three hours off on Christmas day. In the middle of the day, too, when they eat." Almost every moving part of Munro's engine is made by hand, including the cylinders, which he carved from plumbing pipe. That it runs at all is a wonder; that it has run at speeds in excess of 180 miles per hour is a phenomenon. In fact, no machine of its size has ever exceeded Munro's land speed record. Moving to the pit area, Munro and his Special draw admiring glances from the gallery. Dressed in a leather jacket and asbestos pants borrowed from the Wen-dovfire department and wearing a crash helmet and aviator's goggles, the driver resembles an elderly Red Baron. He stretches prone over the bike as his crew shoves him toward the measured mile. With a flushing sound the engine catches, sputters, then carries bike and rider out of sight. Passing the measured mile, Burt is clocked at 146 miles per hour. With no streamlined faring, it's a respectable speed. What "Yeah." "Oh, I 'aven't time to polish mine; it's been nine months and nine days on that engine last year, and three minutes to three on a Saturday six weeks ago I got it to run right . . . Art new cylinders, new eight of 'em eight new pistons, new valves, all new eccen-tri- c cams tappetts and guides...! - I - r, Burt knows about streamlining he learned from watching an aquarium, a study that resulted in the construction of a piscine faring : that transforms the 1920 Indian into a giant goldfish. Aerodynamic experts, after measuring the weighing Burt's fiberglass creation, agree the New Zealander's intuition was correct. At the end of the measured mile, scarcely a minute from the starting pit, Burt and his faithful Mechanic Mike sat in esoteric contemplation of the engine, exulting in such things as an oil pressure plug and a shiny piston. But something wasn't quite right, and the two had decided not to make another run, rather to pack it up and head for home, 10,400 miles away. "How was the ride, Mr. Munro?" someone asked. Munro paused distractedly over a loosened bolt. "Oh, yes, see that! The oil's working up through the threads . . . I've got a safety valve I built there first time I came here, spent a week making this pump work ..." v VjCjit! pistons, new cam rods, new I- tail 4 NEWS 10,400 miles by bus, boat, train, airplane, and one measured mile by motorbike, veteran racer Burt Munro pauses at the end of his annual pilgrimmage to Utah 's salt flats. o t 'If' j V A "If you can't fix it with this - call I j H Mmwi speedster Burt Munro contemplates his famed motorbike with gesture that expresses a popular opinion of the Munro Special. fcS-'- " ' ii fi'nirr- :- j0m J Fifii i NfcWS iliMinirt photo bv H Merutw y0? LAmbert Jfif jf jlu A I jT A Fullerton, California QlB'"vJ! Business LM Enterprise s hml Computerized Accounting, Taxes and Managment Records Specialized Service for the Man with a small but growing business. From Relics To Real Estate FAMOUS NAME 5-52- 12 1821 W. Commonwealth Generation gap closes n on Munro, who speaks the language of the speed world with New Zealand accent. 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