Indian Motorcycle has said that Lee Munro, the great nephew of the legendary land-speed racer Burt Munro, will attempt to break 200 mph at the 70th annual Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats this August (11-17).
Equipped with the Indian Motorcycle engineering team and the newly modified Indian Scout dubbed “Spirit of Munro”, Munro will seek to eclipse his previous official speed of 186.415 mph. In preparation for this year, Indian Motorcycle’s engineering team has worked on refining the Indian Scout Streamliner, which will run in the MPS-G (Modified Partial Streamliner) 1350 cc class. Lee Munro’s existing best of 186.681 mph was set at El Mirage and subsequently scored an unofficial run of 191.286 mph at last year’s Speed Week – “the exclusive 200 mph club beckons.”
Gary Gray, Vice President Racing, Technology & Service for Indian Motorcycle, said: “Indian Motorcycle was honored to partner with the Munro family last year and pay tribute to Burt’s incredible accomplishments and the land-speed record he set in 1967. We’re eager to be back on the salt flats with Lee and the “Spirit of Munro”.
“Our engineering team, led by Wayne Kolden and Dan Gervais, have put long hours into developing a bike capable of hitting the 200 mph mark and we’re excited to watch Lee pursue this goal. I would also like to thank our sponsors Garry Robertson of Ocean Ridge and Jerry Stinchfield of Roofing Systems for helping us get to the salt.”
Lee Munro attributes his love for speed to the bloodline he shares with his great uncle, Burt Munro, who famously set a land-speed record in 1976 aboard a 1920 Indian Scout. In 2005, Burt Munro’s legacy was immortalized with the making of the popular film “The World’s Fastest Indian,” starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, and in 2017 Lee Munro celebrated the 50th anniversary of his great uncle’s record with a commemorative run at Bonneville Speed Week.
“My great uncle Burt is a significant inspiration for my own motorcycle racing career, and his appetite for speed is clearly a part of my DNA,” said Lee Munro. “Partnered with the exceptional team at Indian Motorcycle, I know we can make our dreams of hitting 200 mph a reality.”