Motion Pictures The Worlds Fastest Indian

Best ever movie on growing lemons......lol.........andyd

 

I too saw him run a couple of times. I think it was early 1972 he came up to Christchurch for a flying quarter mile event on South Eyre Road. I think this was not long after his last trip to Bonneville where he had to run unstreamlined - his bike had no firewall between rider and engine. There was a small plaque on the frame which said he had run 148mph on the salt that year. The bike had a new Joe Hunt magneto which Joe himself had given Burt. The sound of the Indian with the long megaphones he used when it was unstreamlined is something I will never forget. That day Burt ran only 125mph - he found on the narrow road he was weaving from side to side into the gravel on each side. He was wearing the same outfit he wore in that DVD Offerings to the God of Speed;- a white T shirt with 'Dirty Old Men Need Love Too' on it, a grubby brown leather jacket, two pairs of corduroy pants, rugby boots and an open face helmet. I also remember him being pround of his latest modification - small tunnels through the little cigar-shaped gas tank so that he could adjust the valves without taking the tank off. In the movie his car in NZ was a brown Vauxhall. That year in Christchurch he had one of the same model but it was black. That year the quickest bike at the meet was a TR500 Suzuki which did about 150mph. I remember a couple of Mach IV Kawasakis did around 125mph - quick for a street bike at the time.

I think it was the following year he brought his Velocette along. He reckoned he had just rebuilt it after its 84th (?) blowup, where the rod had exited the engine at the back, whacked the gearbox and then proceeded to slice round the base of the cylinder barrel. Oddly enough it still sported the correct engine number.

 

This movies is one of the greats car movies that I ever saw. The dialogs are great, even in german. Could you beleave that the title in here in Germany was "Mit Herz und Hand" which means "With Heart and Hand"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't know which idot stands behind this title.

 

For those that missed some of the cars in the movie, they can be seen here - http://www.imcdb.org/movie_412080-The-World-s-Fastest-Indian.html - and if any have been mis captioned please fell free to comment. Look in the background of the pic of the 1962 Rambler wagon where you can see 'moderns'. Incidentally I used to own a Rambler just like that in the mid '70s - same colour and all. It was right hand drive but maybe because they did so few right hand drive versions, the manual gear shifter was still on the right hand side of the column and the overdrive button was left of centre under the dash where it was more easily reached by the passenger. It was a very early production car - number 246 off the line - and supposedly had been shown at the Earls Court Show in London (late 1961 maybe??) where it was sold to a New Zealander who shipped it home.

 

I'm reading this thread & smiling....reach for my camera-phone, point it at the living room wall and....note the time on the clock....5 mins ago...



Thats an actual double sided poster printed on plastic & made for the movie theater so it could be lit up from behind.

 

you may know a well known Nazzaro owner in ChCh who had a lot of Burts gear and props from the film in his lockup it was also interesting that that a bike reported to have been built by Burt turned up at the ChCh swap meet it sold for a good price but I would have expected it would go for about 3 times that price now on the international market

 

It is interesting the comment about him being proud of his small modification he would dance around like a kid with a new toy when he did something like that if you saw the bike sometime later and it was gone and questioned him he would say aw that not such a good idea the bike was never finished and he never lost interest in it

 

RussTee, your nom-de-plume gives me a clue who you are. I might see you on the weekend at Rangiora if it is not too wet. Mark.

 

One thing is for sure:

The film has done more to spread spirit of Bonneville racing over the world that anything else.

Please don't forget 'Heart like a wheel' either

 

and dont forget to pee on the lemon tree

 

I like when the cop says" ya know how fast you were going" & Burt says "about 160-165" & the cops says" thats about right" LOL
JimV

 

great movie. I always wondered what Burt would have built if he had some major backing from a major motorcycle company.

 

The movie was great and I watch it often.

The Documentary however is truly inspiring. That I could watch on loop for days and not get tired of it.

I first saw the movie with some of my buddies at a little Film Festival in Dallas. Roger Donaldson was there and answered questions.
We arrived and pulled into the parking garage in my 53 Studebaker with uncorked cutouts setting off all the car alarms in the parking garage, I think it was Roger getting into the elevator and he watched us drive around looking for a spot.

We were the odd bunch in a room full of artsie people. He did mention how he enjoyed finally making the movie and that he was a bit of a "Petrol Head" himself.

 

Great movie. Some of us old timers can relate to, be it a motor cycle, hot rod or just a car that we struggled over.

 

Fantastic movie. I mentioned to my wife a few years ago when it came out on DVD and was surprised when it appeared one evening. Talk about an inspiring film. Did get a little misty eyed when he finished the big run. Bonneville has been on my bucket list for years and this film pushed it closer to the top.

 

I'm sure you've seen them, but I love these pics.

 

any signifigance to the number '35' on the bike?

 

Me too. I know mine's a bit later, but I think I got close!

 

When I was at the WFs 04 they were finishing up the filming and I wandered over to their "set" and took some pics.

 

Only on the HAMB do you get first hand accounts from people who were there - amazing. Thanks to all who shared here.

When I chanced upon my first Burt story in Hot Rod years ago ('63?), I knew I'd never be the same. I was right. Many years later, I sat in the theatre and fought tears through this film. I'm still so happy it was made and now Burt's still inspiring people to try harder, gracefully.

Although we all have our personal connection with this guy's story, one thing remains universal: Be nice to the tech guys.

 

This has been up on netflix watch instantly. I'm going to have to check it out.

 

Thanks to those that posted the picture I asked to see of Burt by his Bike. Was I ever surprised when I saw my brothers "Flat-top" head (# 6 from right) in the picture. He was about 18 at the time and off to "find himself" to CA. and stopped by the Flats. Ended up in jail in CA. for "Vagrancy" (I don't think they do that anymore).
Anyway, again...LOVED the movie but the title brought up images of some "Jim Thorpe" or "IRA HAYES" type movie and I bet even 1/2 the HAMBers didn't even see it the first time around before DVDs.

 

i watch it when i am feeling low and lazy.i see something new to me every time.it inspired me to go to the salt last summer and plan to return for as long as i can. great film and a great message.

 

One thing that comes out of all this is Burt did his own work built what he did not have with very little gear many of the early produces of speed gear did the same starting by producing stuff at home in the back shed. Nowdays with all our modern tech cnc mills ect it does not seem to happen as often why is this or are we so stuck on being trad that we are too scared to try?

 

Kind of a big difference to todays check book hot rod building eh?

 

saw the movie a while back, great movie!

 

Great flick. I haven't seen it in awhile. I think I'm going to Netflix in a minute. Thanks dude!

 

Played at a limited run theater in Allentown PA.

 

So the real bike is in California?

 

Loved the movie