Half a century ago, one man from a small town in New Zealand dreamt of setting a land speed record on a 1920 Indian Scout. In 1962 at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Burt Munro’s dream finally came true at the age of 68 and 184.71 mph. This number was finally crossed by Indian on July 16 at the El Mirage 2017 by none other than Burt’s nephew who drove the 2017 Spirit of Munro Scout at 186.41 mph in the MPS-G (Modified Partial Streamliner) 1350 cc class. (Since Burt's record was on an SA 1000cc class, his record still stands unbeaten in that class.)

Driving the Indian “Spirit of Munro 50th anniversary 2017 Indian Scout” again, Lee Munro and the team is attempting to crack 200mph next week at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The Spirit of Munro Scout bike will undergo small modifications to the intake and fueling while the streamlined body will have minor body adjustments.

The record run will be a part of the “70th annual Speed Week” that is happening from August 11th to the 18th, 2018, the same time where speed junkies from all over the world will land on this 10 mile stretch in the pursuit of holding the title for the fastest man and machine.

The motorcycle Lee will be attempting to hit the 200 mph barrier is the “Spirit of Munro 50th anniversary 2017 Indian Scout” - a motorcycle that is celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Burt Munro’s SA 1000cc class record of 183.59mph on his Indian Scout Streamliner at the Bonneville Salt Flats. That class is now called S-AF (Streamliner special construction fuel) 1000cc.

The chaps at the Indian factory volunteered to be a part of this historic attempt, working on the project “after hours.” Lee gets a modern Indian Scout with the powertrain modified by the Indian Motorcycle engineering team. Last year, Lee recorded a speed of 191.286 mph at 2017 Speed Week that has officially now become the new record for the 1350cc class on the Spirit of Munro 50th anniversary 2017 Indian Scout.

The 2017 Indian Scout was heavily modified having a stock frame and bottom end of the mill and a whole new top end. The need for major airflow needed the whole gas tank to be completely modified with a huge airbox. Narrower handlebar and streamlined body without any suspension are how they went by to hit the salt and reach 200 mph.

The fairing had to have the rider visible from the sides and the top for which Indian picked up an aftermarket unit and made use of narrower triple clamps from another project to fit the narrow handlebars inside the fairings. The 15” modified exhaust unit jets right outside the bodywork making it clean and simple. The rear suspension strut was replaced with a solid aluminum strut with links to adjust rider height.

There is another motorcycle manufacturer who is full burst into setting a new land-speed record - Triumph. Triumph is attempting to break the land speed record in a 1000 bhp rascal. A feat of engineering and guts that will see the machine break the 376.3 mph record in an attempt to set a new outright motorcycle Land Speed World Record in 2018, which will also happen on the Bonneville Salt Flats.