This person is known for ...........

[sarasotajenny]

Ah, ole Bert. A fellow New Zealander of Palari's!

He was a motorcycle enthusiast who is known for having "the worlds fastest Indian" (no- feather, not that kind of indian!)
The Indian was a bike capable of going 55mph, but Bert and buddies bolstered the bike to blistering speeds of 190.07mph.
The fastest ever officially recorded.

More info:
However- His visits to the salt were not without incident. In issue no. 1 of Motorcycle New Zealand, published in 1973 Burt is quoted as follows:-"At the Salt in 1967 we were going like a bomb. Then she got the wobbles just over half way through the run. To slow her down I sat up. The wind tore my goggles off and the blast forced my eyeballs back into my head - couldn't see a thing. We were so far off the black line that we missed a steel marker stake by inches. I put her down - a few scratches all round but nothing much else". At the time Burt was traveling at close to 206 mph!


Burt Munro died in December 1978. The Indian, which had been his for 57yrs is in the hands of an enthusiast in the South Island. As well as the bike he left behind a legend of skill, perseverance, and courage which typifies the ingenuity and resilience of the New Zealand spirit, and of which all New Zealanders, motorcyclists or not, may be justly proud.


whoo! Good one Palari.

[sarasotajenny]

ummm.......another name.......let's see.........(feel free to jump in)

[palari]

Wow SJ...what a comprehensive answer! Bert's story is also told in a movie called "The World's Fastest Indian" with Anthony Hopkins playing Bert. Its a good yarn.

[sarasotajenny]

yes- i had that too. But I edited myself.LOL
I guess i liked him because he reminds me of my dad. (alive and well)My dad is a self taught race car builder. We grew up with him and his buddies in the driveway every weekend. He is kinda a local who's who. From the creator of the Sleeze Burger (burger cooked in the bar with onions and peppers smuthered on it), to the daily trivia question champ, to the guy who worked with Tiny Lund and Paul Newman in Dayton. Raced the 24 hours of sebring (while his young family camped there) Better known as Goose to his buddies. Raced to Danbury Fair before it was turned into a freakin mall alog side the fathers of other nascar guys racing today.

ok- sorry- i wll stop now. I guess i did that one backwards:: Who is Goose? LOL

ok- enough of that. Next name!

[sarasotajenny]

oh- here is one:
Dick Hoyt.

(unbelievable)

[sarasotajenny]

ok- google him, you will be blown away!!
Or google Team Hoyt.
do it, do it. Just do it.

[sarasotajenny]

from their web site:
Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon — that daunting, almost superhuman, combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America.

It’s a remarkable record of exertion — all the more so when you consider that Rick can't walk or talk.

For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.