Customer Reviews

One Good Run: The Legend of Burt Munro

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Just brilliant. A great true storey of perseverance persistence and dedication to his one love his trusty Indian Scout.
Having bought it brand new in 1920 as a 21 year old, then selling and eventually buying it back. Burt was self taught as a mechanic engineer and manufacturer.
As parts were modified he made them, and made them using the most rudimentary tools and any second hand materials he could find.
From a small rural town in New Zealand he took his, by now, much modified bike to Bonneville Salt Flats and 200 miles an hour, when the bike was more than forty years old.
This book is called The Worlds Fastest Indian in other markets, the same name as the equally brilliant movie which hi-lights some of Burt's adventures. He loved to travel to America and the people he met there. He most certainly loved riding and modifying his Indian Scout.

I saw the movie first and absolutely loved it. Got the book from Europe after two failed attempts to order in the US.
It is an inspiring story with a good mix of technical detail and personal info about Burt Munro. It's well written all in all, not high literature, but a good bio style. Captivating and easy to read. Has some nice photographs also.
I loved the movie but thought that some scenes must have been exaggerated for dramatic purposes. Reading the book made me rethink: attaching a tree to the trailer to fix a lost wheel, old men need love too, mowing grass by burning it with gas,... It all appears in the book also, maybe slightly rearranged in the timeline though. Some things the man has done make you shake your head in disbelief.
If you like bikes, liked the movie, and like to read, you more than likely will enjoy this book also.

If you've seen, and loved, The World's Fastest Indian, you might want to think twice about reading this book. Despite a good deal of romantization on the part of author Tim Hanna, the Burt Munroe depicted here is not exactly the kindly old coot seen in the movie. The real Munroe was a single-minded, often difficult, man who, in truth, abandoned his family, and ignored a good many social graces in order to pursue his one interest single mindedly.

But then, history is rarely made by gentle, accomodating people, and in this regard, the real Burt Munroe does not disappoint. While the movie is charming in its depiction of the kindly innocent abroad, the real story is much more complex, and in the end, much more interesting. Munroe was anything but the naiive innocent abroad on his first (of many) trips to America. He'd lived in Australia, travelled to England and much of the continent, and was quite the sophisticated traveller when he arrived at Bonneville. His knowledge of engineering was indeed largely self taught, but he also took advantage of the wisdom and experience (and good graces) of many others who advised him along his way.

Hanna does a very good job of telling Munroe's story- although he is perhaps a bit too eager to recreate conversations and internal monologues for my tastes. Still, it does help to move the narration along. And he does treat Munroe's relationship with his family rather perfunctorily, although I suppose it could be argued that it's not really the aspect of his life that people are most interested in.

Fans of motor racing and motorcycles will find much to enjoy here, particularly as George Begg's biography of Munroe (which Hanna acknowledges was a major source) is no longer in print.

I patiently waited out many Amazon "order delays" figuring the book had a high order rate after the movie was released. Finally arrived about a week ago. The book is very well written and gives a great amount of detail on this slightly "odd" but determined fellow. I have not seen the movie yet as it came and went in our town in about one week. The one character flaw that shows up for Mr. Munro is that in the pursuit of his goal he seemed to forget he had a family. Worth the read. Could use some more pictures......

The book is great. I ordered it here back in early February, and eventually cancelled my Amazon order.

The book is published in the UK or New Zealand by Penguin, and there are probably copyright issues getting it over here in the US that have delayed publishing (it used to be the same way with Che Guevara's "Motorcycle Diaries" - also published in the UK but rather hard to find in the US for a long time...)

If you must use Amazon, try Amazon.co.uk

Cheers, and Happy Reading / Riding!!

An awesome insight into the life of this brilliant man, warts & all. The detail of machines, races & records as well as his personal nuances makes very easy reading. Anybody who had heard of Bert or the film based on his record run will find this book gives life to the details!

Burt Munro (1899 - 1978) was a man with a single-minded passion. Burt had an Indian Scout motorcycle bought in 1920 which he rebuilt and modified into a unique speed machine he called the `Munro Special'. Burt's ambition was to see how fast it would really go and his pursuit of that aim took him from Invercargill in New Zealand to the Bonneville salt flats in Utah.

Burt Munro was 68 years old and was riding a 47 year old machine when he set his last record (183.586mph (295.453km/h) at Bonneville on 26 August 1967). I read this book after watching `The World's Fastest Indian', starring Anthony Hopkins.

This book is both interesting and frustrating. It provides a good sense of Burt's achievements, his sense of adventure, his inventiveness and his dogged persistence in pursuit of his objective. Why then did I find the book frustrating? In short, because while I found the `how', the `what' and the `where' fascinating I would have liked to have known more about the `why'. I would have liked, as well, to have had some greater insight into the intuitive processes that enabled Burt to see possibilities where others saw junk and have the courage and self-assurance to follow through. I suspect that Burt Munro himself would have little time for such introspection: his interests were primarily in how to extract maximum horsepower from a particular motorcycle, not in what motivated men like him to do so.

I admire the spirit of Burt Munro, and of those people like him who set goals (albeit generally in different fields) for others to aspire to. If you are interested in one of the original speed freaks and have not yet read this book, I recommend it. My own knowledge and interest in this area is limited and generally relates to car racing. If you are not interested in speed at all, you may still find this book worth reading: I found it, in its own way, inspirational.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I have seen The worlds fastest indian eleven times now and read both books.If you are really into bikes you must do both the film and the books.Burt was a genius and a real character and I wish I had met him.Watch the film and read the book.If you love bikes and a good laugh,you will enjoy both.

Tim Hanna, the author, has nailed the essence of both Burt Munro and late '60s hot rodding. This book is delightful in its exposition of what it's like to follow a dream, even into old age. It's a treatise on just being yourself, without pandering to society. It's about learning to talk to people to win them over. It's about doing with your own hands what "the experts" say can't be done.

If ever there was an opposite to "chick lit" this is truly it.

If you've seen the movie or are into motorcycles read this book. The book gives a background of Burt's life & how & why he ended up on the Bonneville salt flats. The hurdles he overcame to get to that point makes a great read & is an inspiring story. The movie was a greatly condensed version of his life whereas the book is more detailed. Also included in the book are photos of Burt & his famous Indian. If you liked the movie you'll love the book....