Mike Salmon in action on his Lambretta. Photo: Supplied / Vanessa Adcock
* This story was updated on 10 February to correct Ian Footit's name.
In the true spirit of Burt Munro, two Wellingtonians will this weekend push their suped-up scooters to the max at an event carrying the motorcycling legend's name.
Riding a heavily-modified Lambretta and Vespa respectively, Mike Salmon and Ian Footit will compete in the pre-1963 Girder Fork division at the Burt Munro Challenge - the largest motorcycle rally in the Southern Hemisphere.
In the 1960s, Burt Munro famously set a land-speed record on a 47-year-old Indian motorcycle he had re-engineered in his Invercargill shed.
It was that same ethos bike mechanic Mike Salmon was hoping to bring to the track this weekend.
He'll be riding a 1959 Lambretta.
It's had a few tweaks.
"The engine I modified pretty heavily, so it's actually running a more modern Yamaha cylinder and just lots of handcrafted parts and it's water cooled as well now instead of air cooled like an old scooter used to be.
"In the spirit of Burt we've taken something old and slow and tried to make it as fast as we can."
It was likely to surprise a few.
"I'm hoping for about 125km/h out of it at top speed. It will shock a few people I think. Most people don't expect them to do more than 50-60km/h and so it's quite a devil when you get them going quick."
Mike Salmon and his modified 1959 Lambretta. Photo: Supplied / Miriam Dawson
Mike Salmon explained the attraction of modifying a street machine for the track.
"Just doing it yourself in your shed, you know, it's going slow we'll try something and take it out and run it and it might go faster, it might blow up or it might go slower.
"And you go back and try again and it's fun. Yeah it's a giggle. It's a challenge and really rewarding."
Retired engineer Ian Footit's Vespa is barely recognisable.
"It's disguised as a Mad Max scooter. It's black and it's got little tanks that are welded near the front. Yeah, it doesn't look like a Vespa anymore to be honest."
Burt Munro Challenge committee chairperson Bill Moffat said the scooters didn't look out of place on the Teretonga Park racetrack.
Iain Footict's Mad Max inspred Vespa. Photo: Supplied / Miriam Dawson
"Yeah, we'll they certainly seem to go all right. I'm sure they go better than a standard one of those scooters. They certainly modify them quite a bit to make them go mind you if you've ever ridden around Italy and you see scooters over there they seem have some speed on them too."
But he didn't expect them to take the chequered flag.
"I think they'll be in a race amongst themselves probably more than likely, but that's you know ... the other bikes are slightly faster but they're still old bikes they're racing against, so they're not breaking any speed records out there, they're just having fun."
Iain Footict in action on his Mad Max inspired Vespa. Photo: Supplied / Vanessa Adcock
Ian Footit certainly hadn't set his goals too high for the 10 lap 25-kilometre race.
"Finish. All we can hope to is finish ... because they blow up."
Mike was a shade more optimistic.
"I have no idea. Look I'm the same as Ian I'm really just here to ride with my friends and if I finish that's what I'm hoping for and if I finish with any kind of placing that would be way above and beyond. That would be like oh my God I can't believe that happened."
Thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts have already descended upon Southland for the Burt Munro Challenge which wraps up on Sunday
