For the next five or six years I had some of the worst out of control rides on record. The worst was five miles late in 1962 when in an effort to stop wheel-spin at 160 I built a 60lb lead brick and bolted it in front of rear wheel. By the time I got to three mile marker the top of the shell was swerving five feet and wheel marks were five inches wide and snaking thirty inches every 200 yards, measured and lined-up later. Well when you figure you can only die next skid you try anything, so I wound it all on for another one and a half miles and when I found out it would go on that way forever I rolled it back and got it stopped. When the gang arrived and found me laughing and asked me the joke, I said I was happy to still be alive. The cure is to sit-up and let the body strike the air. This shifts center of pressure back behind center of gravity. I learned this the hard way. Lead brick should have been in front of the front wheel and shell higher off the ground. At rear, air packed under tail and lifted weight off rear wheel and thus caused wheel-spin.

  More specs. I have mods in clutch, the standard Raybestos plates are long gone and I have 17 standard steel plates, hardened and ground. I fit 24 standard clutch springs giving a pressure of 1360lbs on the pressure plate, and the standard thrust race and withdrawal screw haul this free for freeing and gear changing. I have a left hand lever and wire to operating arm and a small foot assist lever on the clutch worm shaft. I only use this for long gear engagement during test runs without shell. Over the years I made four chain drives having finally ground helical teeth off clutch body and filed out 46 half inch pitch teeth by hand and now run a three-row chain on a 22 engine sprocket and still the 46 clutch sprocket. This Reynolds in London told me 15 years ago would be impossible and would never work but it has run in there for the last 35 years or so in 10 SAE oil.

 The gearbox is original, but I was unable to get new sliding dog and was visiting an old acquaintance in Sydney in 1948, he had bought out Mr Bidens stock of Indian parts. I bought a set of 1916 Power Plus Indian gears, lay shaft cluster and sliding dog. The cluster I shortened 3/8” and have run on them this past 22 years.

 Cylinders I usually make from very old city gasworks pipe, cast-iron condemned, because of very large pits. I manage to get short lengths without too deep marks and because of the thickness, about ½-5/8”, I can have enough thickness for a base. The barrels are old pistons melted in a small pot on the two gallon can furnace I use for melting-down for making pistons. The muff casting I turn-down in the Myford, bore undersize then heat-up with blow-lamp and drop onto liners. Pistons I redesign every year and make about half a dozen or so and take with me to USA for spares. Some years I have used every one and even welded-up burned-out ones there. When Jim Enz and his wife wanted to help me with fuel, I said I would like to try alcohol and they bought me five gallons of best brand Mickey Thompson alcohol. Boy it sure was the best piston burner! I guess it had Nitro or TNT in it. Every run the pistons vaporized. No alloy heads on my heap.

 Carburetor is 1924 Indian Chief. I have sawn a cut full length on top of it, bent it out and welded piece of brass in gap and run it in normal position with a T shape manifold made from one and three eights steel tubing. I have tuned five carbs for my bike since 1927 when I swapped the Schebler H for a Schebler deluxe, and all others I have tuned and modified have been deluxe Scheblers  fitted to the Indians made later than mine.

 This year since arriving home from USA five months ago, have put in 560 hours on the Munro Special. The main jobs were two new alloy rods- two weeks, two new cylinders and barrels- one week, eight new pistons and much work on old dies for same- three weeks. I am making two new sets of cams for this year. Making a 180 degree Bosch mag into a 42 degree by making new brass cam ring. From old ball race the two cams were made, filed and timed accurately then quenched in oil. As this 0 year old magneto rotated backwards I had to make up a drive different from standard. This I finally got working by taking out the two idler pinions, and fitting a big cam wheel from a late model Indian. This has four teeth more than my engine and by cutting 1/8” off base of mag and cutting into cases a little and jamming it back and boring new holes and tapping-out in same, I finally got the drive fixed. I also made a movable shaft to run the large pinion on and thus get a close tooth adjustment.

 Since finishing the above I have been testing at the beach and have been out 17 times and had 11 blow-ups. This consisted of mostly broken pistons of older designs. I was testing out a steel rod and a new carb I had made these last two or three years. I ran it on 20 to 1 to test the rod, then built better pistons and ran three in it, one after the other, until I had one that should stand-up to 13 to 1. As soon as I lowered the compression to 13, the rod which had stood-up to all the broken pistons finally shattered top end when I was accelerating hard in top at 5,500. I took it down, the new piston was in many pieces, pin broken ib half, cylinder scored and split at skirt and hammered out wedge shape and locked in cases. One rocker arm broken, one twisted, one push rod broken, one buckled. Other breaks were cam follower I had made from magnesium four or five years ago, another rocker and pushrods bent and both valves bent.

 Development goes on all the time and has been full-time these last 22 years. I would like to make another DOHC set up. I still have the one I made and ran in quarter-mile grass track races about 1951. This fitted out front cylinder and rear was blanked-off. It was just an exercise as everyone was talking double knockers at the time. It is only lately I have had ideas to try to fit-up one for the rear as well but have so far failed to get time. Pulled the head off this morning and am starting two new rods from DC6 B propeller. I hope to find it strong enough. It was sent to me from Auckland as I cannot get the 70-70 or 20-24 alloy in NZ. I like to improve design every year in cams, carbs (just finished a new one yesterday), conrods, pistons and sometimes valves and guides when they wear a little, and cylinders.

 It is almost impossible for me to give you a true picture of the time I have spent on my cycles. The last 22 years has been full time and for one stretch of 10 years put in 16 hours every day, but on Christmas Day only took the afternoon off.

 I have booked berth on SS P&O Oriana for USA June 15^th but will not go if cannot pass the doctor.

Footnote:
As originally Published in New Zealand's Veteran and Vintage Motoring Magazine 'Beaded Wheels' #189 April - May 1991

In the Open Record on the Munro Special Burt did 120.8 m.p.h. (flying ½ mile) Main West Road, Canterbury 27/1/1940. Burt never again competed at Bonneville, due to declining health. But to this day he enjoys the distinction that his Indian is the fastest the world has seen, 190.07 mph at Utah in 1967.