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Some pix of the "Munro Special"

P

PSchack

Parts Maker
Joined
Dec 12, 2014
Location
San Luis Obispo
Moto(s)
1919 Excelsior
Name
Phil
wficrop.jpg


wfifairing.JPG

A good idea of how small the bike is. The fairing is about 14 feet long.

oncarts.jpg

Repairing cracked heads.

rearcylbench.jpg

New rear cylinder. Also made the front one. You can see one of the heads and the cases in the back round.

munrocase.jpg

The cases after the decks were welded up and machined. You can see the marks on the flywheel when the rod let go.

rodpair.JPG

The new rods. I read as much information that I could find about Burt Munro. In one book he mentioned that he wanted to try aluminum rods but never got the chance. So I thought I would grant that wish for him. They are the same weight as the steel ones that I took out. You can imagine how thin they were. He broke lots of them.

timinggears.jpg

Timing gears. You can see how much Burt ground on the cam gears and especially the cam followers.

It was a privilege to work on the bike. I am building a quarter scale running model of the bike. So I needed to measure the real bike. I made a deal that I would get it running again if I could measure it. Turns out making a quarter scale running engine that is absolutely to scale of the original is a bit tricky. Here is a shot of the quarter scale engine sitting on the full scale bike.

fullandquarter.jpg


quarteronfull.jpg


qsfrod.JPG

Quarter scale and full scale rod.

Enjoy. Have a good holiday and keep the rubber side down.

Phil
 
augustiron said:
words cannot....
:shocker :drool :hail :love
Click to expand...

What he said. My eyes are watering a little. Any chance you're allowed to host a drool session before it goes back? I'd promise not to touch anything but I'd be lying to both of us.
 
Freaking awesome. Keep us posted on the build.
 
What you're doing is just as awesome as the bike it's modeled after. :wow :thumbup
 
Maybe I'm just a dumb whippersnapper who should get off all of your lawns, but I don't see what is so great about this bike? Is it just that I am not very impressed with history?

1/4 scale engine is pretty damn neat though. Reminds me of this video I once saw.

[youtube]m3KdpzL3Hkk[/youtube]
 
I can't wait to see the finished product as well as your build progress. Amazing skills there Phil!
 
The bike's remarkability is that its the passionate, long term creation of a man. It wasn't a summer project, some kit build. It was progressive enhancements, over time, a LONG time, hand crafted by a guy in a lonely garage on the wrong end of the planet, and made with stone knives and bear skins.

This bike is not a "bike", it's not a "motorcycle", it's an Artifact. It's History incarnate. It belongs in Warehouse 13, that's how much passion and work and labor and love have been poured in to this singular, mere machine. It's not a representative of a mere event, like, say, the Bell X-1. It's a cumulation of a life long passion, the work toward that passion, the achievement of that passion, and the recognition by others of that passion.

What's that? THAT is the "Munro Special". Without the history, without the story, it doesn't mean anything to you, as with most things. Gettysburg is just some town, some nothing crossroads, in Pennsylvania. Find the story, hear the history, and it will make sense.

If motorcycles, riding, wrenching, racing, or life stories mean anything, you will revere what this machine is.

You can google the rest to catch up.
 
Hi Daniel,
Have you seen the movie "The Worlds Fastest Indian". It is a pretty close depiction of how the odds were stacked against Burt Munro to achieve what he did. While the bike itself is a bit crude by today's standards, Burt set the land speed record when he was 68 years old. He also clocked a one time run of 204 mph. I should also add this bike is based on a 1920 Indian Scout. They came stock with about 8 hp. So while beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I think the bike is a testament to perseverance and ingenuity.
Thanks, Phil
 
berth said:
The bike's remarkability is that its the passionate, long term creation of a man. It wasn't a summer project, some kit build. It was progressive enhancements, over time, a LONG time, hand crafted by a guy in a lonely garage on the wrong end of the planet, and made with stone knives and bear skins.

This bike is not a "bike", it's not a "motorcycle", it's an Artifact. It's History incarnate. It belongs in Warehouse 13, that's how much passion and work and labor and love have been poured in to this singular, mere machine. It's not a representative of a mere event, like, say, the Bell X-1. It's a cumulation of a life long passion, the work toward that passion, the achievement of that passion, and the recognition by others of that passion.

What's that? THAT is the "Munro Special". Without the history, without the story, it doesn't mean anything to you, as with most things. Gettysburg is just some town, some nothing crossroads, in Pennsylvania. Find the story, hear the history, and it will make sense.

If motorcycles, riding, wrenching, racing, or life stories mean anything, you will revere what this machine is.

You can google the rest to catch up.
Click to expand...

PSchack said:
Hi Daniel,
Have you seen the movie "The Worlds Fastest Indian". It is a pretty close depiction of how the odds were stacked against Burt Munro to achieve what he did. While the bike itself is a bit crude by today's standards, Burt set the land speed record when he was 68 years old. He also clocked a one time run of 204 mph. I should also add this bike is based on a 1920 Indian Scout. They came stock with about 8 hp. So while beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I think the bike is a testament to perseverance and ingenuity.
Thanks, Phil
Click to expand...

I just had an interesting thought brought on by your comments. At 27 years old, I have grown up in the technological age. Having been called an "old soul" several times in life, I honestly do cherish the simpler things in life. But with that said, my life has been literally inundated with innovations.

The last 2 or 3 years alone have seen man land a rover on Mars, a probe attached to a comet, and the first private entity (SpaceX) to be in space. I mean we have people living in space at this very moment. The mere fact that no one is even traveling to the moon anymore is testament to the fact the The Moon Landing is old boring news. Does that take away from the gravity or hard work of that endeavor? Not by any stretch. However to a guy like me in this day and age, it's just not that impressive.

I digress back to motorcycles. This Indian went 200mph which is effing' impressive, even by today's standards. However to use my current sport bike ('12 R1) as an example, it does 160+ right out of the box. The engineers who designed it probably did so in one year thanks to modern technologies in design and manufacturing. That impressive feat of building a very fast modern bike so quickly is certainly thanks to some of the things learned by the builder of this Indian in question. However, for my generation, it is very easy for us to be numb to innovations when they happen so dang often. This Indian (to me) is not a whole lot more than an artifact.

No offense intended.
 
The amazing things about the Munro Special is how one man, through his own ingenuity and brilliance, built just about everything on that bike. He cast his own pistons, cylinders, cases, at his HOUSE. Look into his story. Really interesting stuff.
 
Breaking Daniel said:
I digress back to motorcycles. This Indian went 200mph which is effing' impressive, even by today's standards. However to use my current sport bike ('12 R1) as an example, it does 160+ right out of the box. The engineers who designed it probably did so in one year thanks to modern technologies in design and manufacturing. That impressive feat of building a very fast modern bike so quickly is certainly thanks to some of the things learned by the builder of this Indian in question. However, for my generation, it is very easy for us to be numb to innovations when they happen so dang often. This Indian (to me) is not a whole lot more than an artifact.
Click to expand...

It's because you're looking at the machine, not the man. The machine is the shadow of the man.

Without Munro, this machine would not exist. The man made the history of this machine, made this machine what it is.

The folks that made the R1, which is in its own right a pinnacle of engineering, I'm sure are rightfully proud of their creation. But it was the creation of a vast array of people, some who were passionate about the R1, many, likely, who were not.

It also stood on the shoulder of giants of motorcycle engineering from not just Yamaha, but the entire industry. Then there were the contributions by the materials and electronics industries, unrelated to motorcycling, that were used in the R1.

The Munro, on the other hand, was a singular vision, with the vast bulk of the effort from one man. Granted, he didn't go out and mine the ore and smelt the metals and other raw materials. He swapped stories with other engine builders, I'm sure. But he made the Munro Special. 47 years of work on a singular goal that paid off.

A machine is a machine. A place is a place. It's the people that make it special. See the man, see his effort, his vision, just the sheer time that manifests itself as a mere motorcycle.
 
Breaking Daniel said:
I digress back to motorcycles. This Indian went 200mph which is effing' impressive, even by today's standards. However to use my current sport bike ('12 R1) as an example, it does 160+ right out of the box. The engineers who designed it probably did so in one year thanks to modern technologies in design and manufacturing. That impressive feat of building a very fast modern bike so quickly is certainly thanks to some of the things learned by the builder of this Indian in question. However, for my generation, it is very easy for us to be numb to innovations when they happen so dang often. This Indian (to me) is not a whole lot more than an artifact.

No offense intended.
Click to expand...

Won't bother quoting the rest of your post. I'll just say, lot of 1st-person perspective there, without a whole lot of wisdom or life experience to inform it. Maybe someone here appreciates your navel-gazing, but me not so much. You're focused on the technology and not the person, which is dumb. Burt Munro went over 200mph; the bike was his muse. It's an altar to the god of speed. Please let those of us with an appreciation for history worship in peace.
 
What is the back story / history behind the fairing aero design? Was it adapted from an existing airplane part, or a kit from the time period, or Burt's own design?

I gotta say this bike, and the Britten, are both my moto holy grails. Both built by Kiwis. Coincidence? I think not!
 
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