Topic: D'ya Think your 4cyl bike is fast ? (may bum you out)

[754]

  I am watching the Speed week Bonneville reports daily..
 A streamliner (assume) ran a 201mph this week..

 a very old 4 banger.. Model A.. or T...
 The really bad part.. it was a flathead...

[tramp]

love to watch those old one's kick butt

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah, well anythings possible I guess. Burt Munro laid his famous 1921 Indian scout based streamliner down at 206 MPH at Bonneville in 1967, and while much modified from the original 600cc scout, it was "naturally aspirated" (no blower or injection etc) so a testament to Burt's "backyard engineering" skills. Cheers, Terry.

[754]

I dont think Burt ever hit a documented 200, in fact his record is under 190 mph..

[CBGhia]

I dont think Burt ever hit a documented 200, in fact his record is under 190 mph..

I think thats because you have to do it twice to count.

[754]

Speed on a record run, is an average, of 2 runs in opposite directions..

 And if you think its easy to get into the 200mph club now, remember, you have to BEAT an exixting record OVER 200mph to get in.. ..

... or break into 200 on a class not yet in the 200, like Burt,s...

[Terry in Australia]

I dont think Burt ever hit a documented 200, in fact his record is under 190 mph..

"At the Salt in 1967 we were going like a bomb. Then she got the wobbles just over half way through the run. To slow her down I sat up. The wind tore my goggles off and the blast forced my eyeballs back into my head - couldn't see a thing. We were so far off the black line that we missed a steel marker stake by inches. I put her down - a few scratches all round but nothing much else". At the time Burt was traveling at close to 206 mph!"

http://www.indianmotorbikes.com/features/munro/munro.htm 

[754]

Alrighty, I was quite familiar with the Munro Streamliner, before the movie came out.. have a pretty comprehensive article on it from a Vintage mag in the 80s or 90s detailing the machine and its restoration.

 Burt accomplished a lot with his machine, and I have the utmost of respect for that.

 However when the movie came out, they took certain liberties with the facts, and embellished things a bit..IMO..

 So this AM, I posted the question, in a topic  in the Bonneville section, of the landracing website, as to ,if he ran 200mph.

 Within a half hr had a few responses, expect a lot more..

 FREUD answered with, He did not run 200mph. Freud is a well known photographer that has covered Bonneville pretty well every year since 1963, he provided a lot of articles for bike mags back in those days, as well as auto mags..

 I met Freud last year, at Speedweek, he is very sharp , and has thousands of photos of Bonneville, including the Munro Streamliner. If you ever read his posts on landracing, you will see how much he knows about the Salt Flats.

  FWIW.. believe what you will, but by tonite, on www.landracing.com  I think there will be a pretty clear consensus on haw fast Burt did run...

[Terry in Australia]

It doesn't worry me at all Frank, like you, I wasn't there, so I'm just quoting what it said on that website. Regardless of whether he ran 190 or 206, I was just agreeing with your original post that and saying that with good engineering, just about anything is possible! Cheers, Terry.

[BobbyR]

Well Burt has my vote for a big pair of balls. I am not sure I would take his contraption on the NY Thruway.

[KeithTurk]

Burt Rocked simply for his tenacity...  now that we're all getting home from Speedweek guys like Glen Barret can answer your question fairly well on how fast he actually ran...  I thought it was a 167mph record... and he could have gone faster in a different measured mile but not have it as a record speed....

Currently you have to make 2 consecutive runs in the same direction with 4hrs to work on your junk prior to a return run the following morning....   they used to go in two directions and that is still the case for FIA or FIM runs.... however for logistical purposes the SCTA and USFRA use the same direction on both runs ...( Southern California Timing Assn. and the Utah Salt Flats Racers Assn. )

To gain entry into the Bonneville 200mph club you have to set a record over 200mph and it must be greater then the established minimum if it's a new class of vehicle....