The World’s Fastest Indian

January 27, 2023: We found The World’s Fastest Indian not in a museum. Rather, the legendary motorcycle was in the most unlikely of places… at E. Hayes and Sons Hardware in Invercargill, far and away on the southern tip of New Zealand. 

The Real Burt Munro

If you’ve not seen the Anthony Hopkins movie about legendary Kiwi motorcyclist Burt Munro, it’s worth an evening. The story sounds like one dreamt in Hollywood, but it is largely true. Born in 1899, Burt had a love of speed, and raced successfully near his hometown in Invercargill, New Zealand. He acquired a 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle with a top speed of about 55 mph. Lacking funds for something faster, he began to tinker, designing and making his own parts. 

He improved the top speed about 3mph… every year for 44 years.

In 1967, Burt scraped together funds to go to Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA. He improbably set the world land speed record for an under 1000cc motorcycle – hitting over 200mph in his practice run. His best speed on his official run was over 184mph. Burt was 68 years old at the time… and his bike was 47. 

That record still stands today today. 

E. Hayes and Sons

I went looking for The World’s Fastest Indian Museum on our New Zealand Road Trip. I wandered the corner of Lee Street and Highway 6 in Invercargill, but saw nothing that looked like a museum. Instead, a hardware store stood in the spot marked on Google maps. So, I went inside to ask… and there it was. The museum was inside the E. Hayes and Sons hardware store!

The Hayes family are also motor enthusiasts, and their hardware store funded Burt’s trip to the USA for that Bonneville record. Burt eventually sold the bike to the family. After years in storage, the Hayes decided to showcase The Fastest Indian and other motoring treasures right in the store. There is no admission. But if you don’t need a box of nails, at least buy a cup of coffee at the cafe.