The Motorbike History of TST Tyres
The staff at TST have been involved in motorcycle tyres for over 25 years. Not only are we committed professionals, we are all keen motorcyclists and we believe in giving exceptional customer service.
We have many testimonials from satisfied customers and pride ourselves in this fact. It is worthy of note that a great deal of our business comes from repeat sales.
The Man Behind TST
The man behind TST Racing & Performance Tyres is Tony Salt. Tony started Road Racing in 1969 on a 500cc Norton at local circuits in the North West of England. During a thirteen year career he raced against such notables as Barry Sheene, Ron Haslam, and in the later years, Carl Fogarty.
Tony raced virtually every class and type of racing motorcycle available during that thirteen year period from TZ125, TZ250, TZ350, Suzuki RG500, and four stroke Formula 1 machinery.
When the time came to hang up his leathers, it was unthinkable that he walked away from racing.
The Michelin Years
He decided to start a business supplying Michelin racing tyres at the northern race circuits. Michelin race tyres were a much sought after commodity at this particular time, and Tony quickly established himself as an expert in the field. Such was the success, Michelin UK approached him to run the Official UK Race Service. This led to many years around the UK circuits where he "looked after" such riders as Barry Sheene, Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner and Joey Dunlop.
This period inevitably led to Tony working alongside the Michelin France crew who are responsible for research and development at Grand Prix and World Superbike level. The unique characteristics of the UK meant that Tony Salt was the man to contact prior to WSB and GP events in this country, not to mention the Isle of Man TT Races.
The relationships built during the "Michelin" years have endured, which means that Tony Salt is still regarded as "The UK Tyre Man".
This expertise is now available to the UK biking public through TST Racing & Performance Tyres.
Bike Collection (The Stable)
We currently own a 1982 ex-works Randy Mamola 500cc Suzuki Team Gallina bike and an ex-Barry Sheene 1983 500cc Suzuki, as used by Barry in 1983 GPs and also used by Yorkshire's favourite son Mick Grant in 1984. The last race Mick used this bike in anger he won the 1984 Macau Grand Prix.
Also in the stable is a 1977 4 cylinder TZ750 two-stroke (these monsters were timed at Daytona at speeds up to 195mph) and a Yamaha TZ350cc twin two-stroke that would exceed 155mph in places like the Isle of Man. Finally, we have the very first 750cc Suzuki GSXR in the country raced by Mick Grant in 1985 to win the UK Superstock Championship.
All of the above bikes are regularly used in Europe, Isle of Man and UK circuits by Tony and other members of staff at demos, track days, parades etc. We at TST believe that these priceless machines should be seen and used and not locked away in a museum gathering dust.