In 1962, Truett began racing drag bikes but he continued to look for ways to get more speed out of them, and he started by changing the flywheels in his own Sportster. “I changed out the flywheels in an attempt to gain more power,” Truett said. “I also tried a number of unusual additives to increase speed like paint thinner and cleaners, because back in the day, we tested everything in bikes. And believe it or not, it worked.”
Around 1964, Truett found that using nitro-methane worked the best in powering the bikes.
“I trained with nitro when most people didn’t even know what it was,” he said, “and was the first to go to nitro racing in Wichita.”
During this time, Truett also began dating his future wife, Diane. Diane worked as a licensed beautician but it didn’t stop her from getting involved in the oil and grease to keep up with Bonnie.
“I mixed chemicals for the beauty shop to do hair and it wasn’t long before Bonnie had me mixing the fuel for the drag bike, too. It was the same as work except I was using different additives,” Diane said. Truett said some of the chemicals mixed were literally liquid dynamite. “It took four people to stage and start the bike,” he said. “But it was just me and Diane. She was my pit crew, and would stage the bike until I was on the driver’s seat.” “Not only did I mix the fuel, I learned to change the oil and spark plugs, work the clutch and file it, and a lot of other things,” Diane said.
But Truett’s racing career did not come without sacrifices. The two said they travelled short distances quickly and on a budget so Bonnie could race. “We’d pack a bag and be ready to go in at a moment’s notice,” Diane said. “We had to race on a budget and a lot of times we slept in my van instead of having to pay for a motel room,” Truett said.
Opens Shop
Truett was working for the railroad in Kansas when he and a racing buddy, Paul Osborn, decided to open their own Harley shop, Truett & Osborn, in 1971. Eventually they started to create and manufacture their own flywheels, cams, cylinders, and rods.
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