Will The Real Burt Munro Please Stand Up
As far as motorcycle movies go The World’s Fastest Indian is one of the best you can watch. Largely because of its depiction of a real two-wheel gearhead from New Zealand, Burt Munro, whose accomplishments pale only in comparison to the legend of the man himself.
Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of Munro in the movie seems spot-on from the point of viewing of never having met the actual person. However, I stumbled across this three-part series from 1971 which features the real Burt Munro, the actual bike he rode at Bonneville, and the people who knew him. Everything in these videos seems to confirm the eccentricities of Hopkins’ character. Note the “Dirty Old Men Need Love Too” t-shirt Burt’s wearing in the screenshot above taken from the 1:36 mark in Part 2.
There are 100k folks who’ve already seen these videos, but I figured if I hadn’t seen them yet, many of you may not have either. So, sit back and enjoy Burt Munro: Offerings to the God of Speed Parts 1, 2, 3.
A former Motorcycle.com staffer who has gone on to greener pastures, Tom Roderick still can't get the motorcycle bug out of his system. And honestly, we still miss having him around. Tom is now a regular freelance writer and tester for Motorcycle.com when his schedule allows, and his experience, riding ability, writing talent, and quick wit are still a joy to have – even if we don't get to experience it as much as we used to.
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good find
"Offerings to the God of Speed" was a bonus CD with my copy of "The World's Fastest Indian" when it first came out. As I remember, Hopkins studied "Offerings" as preparation for his role.