Burt Munro and his legendary 1920 Indian Scout Streamliner are part of the global history of motorcycling in general, and the Bonneville Salt Desert in particular. However, the versatile New Zealand rider dedicated part of his life to manufacturing motorcycle parts. An example of this is the cast piston for a Velocette engine that has recently been auctioned on the official Iconic Motorbikes website.
A piston manufactured by Munro for charity purposes
The piston in question is an original piece customized by Munro himself, in the workshop he owned in his own home, located at 105 Bainfield Street, in Invercargill, New Zealand. Originally, this piece was intended to be part of a preparation powered by a Velocette engine, associated with a Norton gearbox and a chassis signed by AJS.
This is how Ashley Bell, a friend of Munro and the first owner of the auctioned piston, relates it in an official letter of authenticity provided to the auction: “In 1970, I bought Burt a 650cc engine for $100, which he had built himself with several Velocette parts he had in storage and others he made himself.”
Concludes: “As is often the case with some of Burt’s engines, when I started it there was a loud bang and we ended up picking up chunks of the drain at my work entrance. Burt then rebuilt the engine, including this piston and several spare parts.”
Later, Bell sold the complete motorcycle to Peter Ramage who still has the original engine and who has also confirmed the history of this piston manufactured by Munro: “Mr. Bell used Burt’s engine in an AJS chassis with a Norton gearbox as a beach racing bike. Its authenticity can be verified in the book “Burt Munro Indian — Legend of Speed,” written by George Begg, who lists me as the current owner.”
Additionally, this handmade piston was used as part of the movie props. “Burt Munro. A dream, a legend”starring Anthony Hopkins. Now the $3,000 raised by Iconic Motorbikes will be used to finance part of the 2026 season of the young New Zealand Moto3 rider, Cormac Buchanan. This is confirmed by the person who until now was its owner in the certificate of authenticity signed by him:
“While I retain ownership of the engine and gearbox, I have decided to donate this piston to Cormac Buchanan to support his 2026 Moto3 World Championship campaign. It seems very appropriate. Many people helped Burt along his career and I think he would really enjoy helping Cormac in this modern era of racing.”
