The “spirit of Munro”
The “Spirit of Munro”
At Daytona Bike Week in March, Indian revealed a new streamliner paying homage to the “Munro Special,” the 1920 Scout-based creation that set speed records at Bonneville in the 1960s and was later immortalized in 2005’s “The World’s Fastest Indian.” But this new Indian, christened the “Spirit of Munro,” is more than a tribute to the persistent Burt Munro; it’s also a rolling technology demonstrator, the first official motorcycle fitted with the all-new Thunder Stroke 111 V-Twin that will power a new Indian (likely called the Chief) arriving in late 2013. “We wanted to bring the engine to life in a compelling way,” explained Indian’s Robert Pandya, who called the “Spirit of Munro” an “emotional piece that celebrates the new engine while honoring all at Indian who came before us.”
Entrusted with the build was Jeb Scolman, the 32-year-old proprietor of Jeb’s Metal and Speed, a Long Beach, California, shop that specializes in metal shaping and building hot rods. Scolman—a Bonneville veteran perhaps best known for his re-creation of Frank Lockhart’s 1928 Stutz Black Hawk land-speed record car (Google it; it’s
cool)—is an old-school builder who relies on his eyes and hands more than computers and schematics. Although the new bike has the same overall length as Munro’s original (13 feet, 7 inches), Scolman says it’s a bigger machine, largely because the crankcase of the new engine spans 20 inches from side-to-side. The result, even with the hand-formed aluminum body’s tight tolerances, is an overall shape that looks “more like a tuna than a salmon,” said Scolman, who also made sure the rider can be seen straddling the machine to emphasize it’s a motorcycle and not just a streamliner that happens to have two wheels.
Scolman said the bike, with a custom mild-steel frame, inverted, heavily raked fork, conventional twin-shock swingarm and large Brembo brakes (with proportioning valve), has not been built for a specific class at Bonneville, but he feels it could safely hit 200 mph, provided the engine has enough power. But that won’t happen this year, as the bike will be on a publicity tour, which will prevent it from getting the testing it clearly will need. But mark our words: The “Spirit of Munro” is no empty shell. It will see the salt in 2014. —Andrew Bornhop
