2021 marks the 50th anniversary of Bert Monroe's speed record, which is still relevant in motorsports today. In honor of the occasion, his nephew Lee Monroe, also a professional motorcycle racer, recreated his uncle's historic Bonneville run of the Indian Scout trimliner. Bert Monroe was a purposeful man who can be understood not only by an enthusiastic motorcyclist who does not hesitate to smear his hands in motor oil. Leaving his mark on the history of mankind, it was he who said the words that became an aphorism and motto for many: “If you give up your dream, you turn into a vegetable.”
Bert Monroe: biography in numbers
1915 - first motorcycle - English Douglas.
1916 - crashed on it and remained unconscious for a whole day.
1917 – Began racing the Clyno motorcycle.
1920 – acquired the legendary Indian Scout.
1921 – unconscious for a whole day after riding a motorcycle while standing.
1927 – concussion and multiple bruises after flying off the race track.
1932 – concussion and deep wounds on the head after another accident.
1937 – Lost all his teeth and broke his collarbone after racing on the beach.
1940 – New Zealand speed record – 194.4 km/h.
1959 - almost all the skin was torn off and a new concussion was the result of a new accident.
1962 and 1967 - two world speed records.
Absolute speed record on an electric bike
Along with the development of progress, another direction appeared in the list of records - the speed record on an electric bike. Moreover, there are already two directions here: for motorcycles with an electric motor of a “classic” design, externally reminiscent of models for MotoGP, and electric bikes with a sidecar - electric analogues of streamliners.
The record holder in the first category is professional British motorcycle racer Zeph Eisenberg. On September 21, 2021, on the runway of the former Royal Air Force base in Elvingston (Yorkshire), he managed to accelerate to 317 km/h on a non-production all-electric motorcycle developed at the University of Nottingham.
Fun fact: Eisenberg is one of the most famous athletes in his native UK and holds more than 50 different records, including the title of surviving the “highest speed British motorcycle crash” – 370.2 km/h.
The holder, or rather, the holder of the world record in the second category is the Swedish engineer Eva Hakansson. In 2016, at the previously mentioned Bonneville Salt Flats International Speedway, she accelerated to 399 km/h on a self-assembled electric streamliner, KillaJoule.
Childhood and youth
On March 25, 1899, twins were born into a family of New Zealand farmers. The girl died immediately after giving birth. Despite the doctor's predictions, the boy - future motorcycle racer Bert Monroe - survived. From an early age he loved speed - the fastest horses were his best friends. The 20th century was on the threshold - the century of scientific and technological progress and the development of technology with internal combustion engines. Planes, trains, cars and motorcycles - it was technology that attracted him to the army. Bert returned from it after the end of World War I. By this time, the farm had been sold by his parents and the young man went to work on the construction site of the Otira Tunnel. Soon the father bought land and returned to farming, and Monroe Jr. with him.
Interesting facts from life
The most unusual world records
Mysticism, coincidence or a well-thought-out plan - but the life, fame and death of the actress are shrouded in eternal mystery. The most prominent style icon of the 20th century passed away at a young age.
Many articles and books have been written about how Marilyn Monroe died, her life and roles.
Marilyn loved to read
Her home library contained more than four hundred books. All her life, the actress considered herself physically constrained and thought that something was wrong with her. Monroe was afraid of her carefree role in films, so she spent almost all her free time in acting studios. Despite the attention from the outside, the actress always felt lonely. For the sake of Arthur Miller, her third husband, Monroe converted to Judaism. Marilyn Monroe's birthday is 06/1/1926, the date of her death is 08/5/1962. The actress could drink only orange juice all day long, but still did not suffer from thinness.
Bert Monroe Motorcycles
The future inventor and racer bought his first motorcycle when he was 16 years old. It was an English Douglas with an engine in the form of an opposed twin, located transversely to the frame. It was the first time he seriously crashed on it.
In 1919 he purchased a Clyno motorcycle. He took the stroller off him and took part in the races.
On his twenty-first birthday in 1920, Bert Monroe bought an early model Indian Scout motorcycle. It has a serial number of 5OR627 which will become a legend. It is he who will be the object of his modifications throughout his life and will bring Bert Monroe worldwide fame. This bike at that time had very good characteristics - a 600 cc engine, a rear hardtail, a chain drive and a three-speed gearbox. But this was not enough for Bert.
The final work "The Ultimate Journey"
Monroe created this book with the results of his own searches and experiments on himself a year before his death. It describes, in the form of a fascinating journey beyond the boundaries of a person’s internal, habitual consciousness, everything that the author has come to over decades of work.
In “The Final Journey,” the veil of the secret hidden by the will of fate behind the material shell of the world is lifted. Monroe’s absolutely amazing view of man, his place in this world, life and what follows after physical death are described in the book as the final stage of all the author’s creativity and research.
Robert Monroe, whose books and methods so excited the world, died in 1995, when he was almost 80 years old. The wording of even this event is interesting: it is often found in the form of the phrase “after physical death.” And again we are given food for thought, a reason to take one of the author’s works and immerse ourselves in it.
So, after Monroe’s physical death, his research came under the leadership of his daughter. For a long time she was the main follower of the doctrine of out-of-body experience and led the creation of new methods of working with consciousness.
"Munro Special" - the first reboot
He began modernizing his Indian in 1926. Bert did everything himself and in very unconventional ways. He converted old water pipes into cylinders, and cast pistons in tin cans from “pieces of Chevrolet and Ford.” And these parts withstood compression of 143 tons! He adapted the tractor axle to create connecting rods, and replaced the spring fork with a springer fork from an Indian Prince motorcycle. He invented his own lubricant and made his own clutch, flywheel, valves, pushrods, rocker bars and slick tires. So, his bike got its own name, and he became a speedway racer.
Its upgrades increased speed by an average of 5.2 km/h per year over the next 44 years. This corresponds to the increase in power of production motorcycles over the same period. He independently and with his own hands walked the path that the largest bike manufacturers around the world have traveled for half a century with the efforts of many designers!
A salesman by day, a racer by night
The racing driver's professional career was put on hold by the years of the Great Depression. Bert works in a store as a motorcycle salesman because he has a family to support. He married Florence Beryl Martin in 1927, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. But the speed did not let him go - he races in Melbourne and Oreti Beach. At night, in the garage, Bert improves his bike.
At the same time, he acquired another bike, the Velocette MSS, the weight of which he managed to reduce and the engine capacity to increase to 650 cc/cm. The racer used it for races in a straight line. He spends more and more time in the garage and his wife leaves him. But his path to his dream is still illegal.
New Zealand is getting small
In the 40s, Bert Monroe quit his job and devoted himself entirely to cars. He experiments with materials for motorcycles, invents a plastic fairing, and finalizes the suspension. Ten years later, in his homeland there were no bikes left that could match the speed of his developments. During this period he sets several records:
- On a Munro Special Indian bike in a half-mile road race in the unlimited class - a speed of 99.45 mph.
- On the same bike, on the open road and in the open class - 120.8 mph.
- In the 750cc class – road speed is 143.6 mph.
- On the open beach at a distance of half a mile - a speed of 131.38 mph.
- With his Velocette MSS, he sets beach records in the half-mile class in the 750cc-129 mph class.
- In the open class, he finishes the quarter mile in 12.31 seconds.
But this is not enough for Bert Monroe.
Blessed Utah
In 1957, Bert decided to participate in the race, which since 1910 has been held on the Bonneville salt lake (Utah, USA). In 1962, he loaded his Indian onto a cargo ship and set off to conquer the vastness of America. Not everything went smoothly - at first he was almost excluded from the race. However, luck and American friends did not leave him. And in the same year, a miracle happened and Bert Monroe’s cherished dream came true - a speed record of 178, 971 mph (295, 44 km/h) on his legendary “Munro Special Indian” bike in the first race. The engine capacity of his bike at that time was 850 cc. He would visit Utah ten more times and set new records: 168 mph in 1966 and 183 mph in 1967.
But it was his first race that made him famous; photos of Bert Monroe and his bike were published in all the newspapers. His popularity was compared to that of his contemporary and namesake, Marilyn Monroe, and his “Indian” was the envy of all motorcycle racers of that time. During the preliminary race before the record, Bert accelerated his bike to 332 km/h - it’s a pity that the result is not considered official. With the standard speed of such a motorcycle being 90 km/h, his Indian is still the fastest today!
Personal life
During her biography, Marilyn Monroe had many relationships with various famous men. In 1954, she became the wife of baseball player Joe DiMaggio, with whom she lived for less than a year. It is worth noting that the athlete loved her until the end of his life. Another interesting fact is that of all her lovers, only he was present at Monroe’s funeral.
In 1955, the Hollywood actress married playwright Arthur Miller. Over time, Marilyn became pregnant, but the pregnancy turned out to be ectopic. This marriage lasted 6 years.
Soon information appeared in the press that Marilyn Monroe was allegedly in a relationship with John and Robert Kennedy. However, it was actually difficult to say whether this was true, since these rumors are not confirmed by any facts. Below we will take a closer look at the relationship between Monroe and Kennedy.
There is a version according to which Monroe had rhinoplasty. This is stated in the notes of her plastic doctor Michael Gurdin. The surgeon's report mentions that the actress had a nasal septum injury.
At the peak of her popularity, Marilyn Monroe was constantly at the center of events. She had many lovers, had many abortions and communicated with the most famous people on the planet, including world politicians, scientists, military personnel and cultural figures.
All the newspapers discussed the personal life of Marilyn Monroe, details of her biography, as well as her successes in cinema.
However, in reality, Monroe's life was not nearly as happy as it seemed to many. Failed marriages, abortions, and treatment in a psychiatric hospital took a serious toll on Monroe.
After a thorough study of her biography, American psychoanalysts Susan Israelson and Elizabeth McAvoy named a special type of mental illness in honor of the artist - Marilyn Monroe syndrome. This term refers to the state of people who, although successful, consider themselves failures.
An interesting fact is that some compare Marilyn Monroe with actress Angelina Jolie, finding common features in the biographies of both actresses. At the same time, one can hardly compare Jolie with Monroe, whose popularity was simply unprecedented at one time. Although in terms of the generally accepted standard of beauty, they are undoubtedly similar.
In the saddle until the end
When Bert set his record on the famed Utah lake, he was 68 years old and his bike was 47 years old. He did not calm down and continued to participate in races and qualifying races. Numerous injuries undermined the racer's health; since 1975, doctors forbade him to participate in speed competitions. But could he part with his passion - his Indians and Velocettes?
In 1977, Burt Monroe fell ill with a sore throat, which led to heart complications. And a stroke followed. At the age of 78, the motorcycle racing legend's heart stopped beating. On January 6, 1978, Bert Monroe was buried in the Eastern Cemetery in Portland (Maine, USA). His legendary bikes are now owned by the New Zealand Motorcycle Enthusiasts Club.
Rich man's toy
“We, beautiful women, are obliged to appear stupid so as not to bother men,” Marilyn stated. The image of the stupid beauty stuck tightly. Every man in the United States, or whatever, in the world, would let his hand be cut off just to spend the night with her. In the meantime, I consoled myself with her nude photographs in Playboy magazine. They were published without the actress’s permission. It's also violence.
“Member of the Anonymous Club of Borderline Disorders,” that’s what Marilyn called herself with a grin. She shone in revealing dresses in front of politicians and moneybags. Like a bright rhinestone, similar to those that decorated her outfits. She understood this and tried to diligently play her role. But how long will a living person be able to pretend to be a thing?
Made Invercargill famous
Bert Monroe brought worldwide fame to his hometown - the southernmost and westernmost town in New Zealand. And he did not remain in debt. Today here, at the Bert Monroe Museum, you can see that very fast Indian and get acquainted with the exhibition dedicated to the legendary racer and inventor. The museum has become especially popular since 2005, when the film starring Anthony Hopkins was released. By the way, the actor starred in the film for a ridiculous fee. This is the second film about the legendary racer, and the first, “Offerings to the God of Speed,” was released in 1971.
