I'm kinda bored today here at work and was staring at my personal TJ memorabilia. Thinking to myself....Thruster did some building for Hutch about the same time TJ left Thruster for Hutch. Was the timing coincidence or was it part of a biz deal between the 2 companies? I also vaguely remember TJ being sponsored By Mongoose for about a second within that timeline as well.
It also seemed like Thruster began a slow slide in brand recognition around this time. Was this also a by-product of the Hutch relationship, either by design or coincidence?
Maybe Tim would weigh in on these thoughts, and fill the day with some flavor.
Brad Dalbec could also join in with his experiences around that time!!!!

I have also wondered just what happened to Thruster. They made some high-quality frames BITD. I've always assumed they were a small company that could not compete against the big names when BMX gained popularity and sales began to escalate.
Tha' Judge has always been one of my favorite racers. One of my fondest memories from 80's racing was watching him at a national at Lake Alfred, FLA, jumping every section at race heat while pedaling in the air. Too cool...

I've posted my memory of Tim doing the same pedal in the air at War of The Stars, in Howell, NJ back in 82 or 83. I was with 4 of my buddies next to the first tabletop jump and watched Timmyy soar over the other riders while pedaling in the air. Coolest jump I have ever seen in a race.

Someone needs to swim over to Tims watercraft and beg and plead with him to show up at Rockford.

It would be too cool to meet him.

I'm a huge fan.

I remember reading somewhere that Thruster got into a little trouble with the IRS and that was the end of the company.

Big Hutch fan BITD, always followed his tracks through BMXA.

TJ went over to Hutch around '80 and Speed Unlimited (Thruster) started building for Hutch around '82. As far as I know there was no deal between TJ Thruster and Hutch. Speed U. Changed ownership around '82 from what I remember which was just about the time I started riding for them.

Here's a recent picture of the "factory" where Speed U. was. Not very impressive huh...

Brad, that is the second address that Speed had. They had a different address in late 79/80. I remember meeting Lee and picking up my Factory Support Uniform and VP frameset, I think at the old/other shop??? I was expecting a much more impressive facility, especially being from Chicago and growing uo seeing the large local bicycle manufacturing factories that supplied or were run by Schwinn. It was kind of sobering to see how small a Speed U was because I perceived them as a major high end BMX Co. Lee was the founding owner of Speed U and the only owner I recall as my support ended in 82....probably around when ownership changed.

Greg,

Their 1st place was on Jerome St. in Wayne, NJ. This pic is of the second one on Dorsa Ave. Tom Daniels (the original owner) sold the operation in late '81 or early '82 to Lee V.O. who had worked under Tom. I heard that Tom died some years ago. Lee ran Speed U. until '86-'87 and I'm not entirely sure why or when they closed their doors, but a lot of BMX companies were struggling at that time.

I met Lee, never met Tom. Lee kinda implied he was the owner of the Co. when I met him. Lee seemed like a pretty dynamic guy with alot of energy, quick thinker.
What was Tom like??

I have a 79 or 80 Thruster Timmy Judge Replica that I am looking to sell if anyone is interested. Check the all thruster thread for pics or e-mail me.

Thanks

Paul

Lee had some lofty ideas, but he seemed a bit disorganized when it came to running things. He also served as team manager and was responsible for taking care of everything from hotel and travel to rider registration for those races. We all flew down to Memphis in ’83 for an NBL doubleheader, got to the track only to find out he forgot to register me and I had to sit it out. I was so embarrassed watching everyone else race and I was really ticked off. There were a few other things that he did that didn’t set well with me.

I really didn’t know Tom that well, but he seemed like a good guy. I only saw him at a few races before he left Speed U.