Tim Bushman Print

Born and raised in San Bruno, California Tim was quickly introduced to water sports at a young age. His parents owned a waterfront property on Clearlake and he would spend every weekend during the summer there. He began water skiing at the age of 4 and tried speed skiing at age 9 winning hands down. His parents saw the danger in that sport and encouraged him to seek other ventures. They bought their first Jet Ski when he was 9 to give his Dad a break from always taking the kids skiing.

Tim couldn’t get enough of the Jet Ski and heard of a local race on Clear Lake in April of ’91. He competed in the Beginner Stand Up class aboard an ’87 550, which was bone stock. He placed 3rd in the first moto and won the second. Needless to say he was hooked. He has raced every year since until suffering career threatening injuries in ’96. He was warming up for a ramp jump competition at the end of the ’96 National Tour when a hard impact injured his left foot and lower back. After three years of surgeries and rehabilitation he resumed racing in 2000, basically starting over.

He raced sporadically throughout the 2000 season and full time in 2001 finishing 3rd overall at the World Championships. He switched brands in 2002 from Yamaha to Kawasaki and with the help of Joey Pearce of Joey’s Watercraft Racing won his first National and World Title. Turning Pro for the 2003 season came with some tough knocks and a financial burden forcing Tim to think twice about where he wanted to focus his efforts. While the Pro Tour in the U.S. was fading away, the European Championships was booming with young new blood and the best promoter our Sport has seen. He traveled overseas three times in 2003 and met some wonderful people. The remainder of the 2003 season was spent developing the SX-R into a competitive racing machine which sparked the start of TBM Racing Inc.

The next season Tim continued to race in the US and Europe while product development continued for the Kawasaki SX-R 800 and the TBM Super Scoop was released. This was the first of many product ideas Tim had used on his personal ski to prove their effectiveness before bringing them to market. Towards the end of 2004 Tim was approached by Hot Products and Jet Connection who were both instrumental in helping make TBM a world renowned company. By 2005 Tim was forced to quit his day job to focus full time on TBM Racing Inc. and this allowed 100% focus to be directed towards more product development and distribution of innovative products.

In April of 2005 the TBM Super Pump Cone was released and quickly became the best selling part to date. Throughout the next several years TBM Racing has become one of the top three aftermarket manufacturers in the personal watercraft industry worldwide and is regarded as the highest quality, best performing products on the market.