The young Burns hung out at the local Pope motorcycle dealership, and was hired as a shop helper when he was 12.

Burns signed with Indian for the 1920 season, an unusual act due to the intense rivalry between the two manufacturers.

[2] Mechanical failures plagued Burns throughout the 1920 season, preventing him from expected victories in the national races at Dodge City, Kansas, and Marion, Indiana.

[2] In his first race of the 1921 season, Burns achieved a remarkable win on the new 1.25-mile board track in Beverly Hills, California, after sustaining heavy injuries.

Burns ran into the back of Ray Weishaar's bike while coming out of a turn and crashed into the railing.

Burns's fiancée, Genevieve Moritz, had come to Toledo to deliver a birthday gift and witnessed the fatal accident.