American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 216 July 2017 | Page 18

BST celebrates 15 years as
carbon fiber wheel pioneer
Leading carbon fiber wheel
manufacturer Blackstone TEK (BST) of
Johannesburg in South Africa is
celebrating its 15th anniversary this
year.
Founded in 2002 by Gary Turner and
Terry Annecke, the company almost
single-handedly created the volume
production carbon wheels market,
and as such has had quite an
influence on the race and custom
motorcycle industries.
The company has been ISO 9001
certified since 2003, audited by the
German TUV and JWL and DOT E
certified, with BST indeed being the
only OEM certified supplier of carbon
fiber wheels in the world and the
biggest aftermarket supplier.
The winner of multiple international
awards, BST has over 25,000 wheels
in the market worldwide, offers four
different styles of wheels in sizes
ranging from 12” to 23” and offers
over 200 individual fitments for 20
different manufacturers.
BST wheels have become a default
choice for Harley, Buell and
performance V-twin customizers
looking to save weight and add
strength. BST carbon fiber wheels
have been the ‘go to’ for AMD World
Championship of Custom Bike
Building competitors, for whom
performance engineering is the
driving force in their design decisions.
BST’s latest success has been with
Ducati’s new 1299 Superleggera, said
to be the first ever factory bike to be
equipped with carbon fiber wheels.
“To lighten the load and provide a
reduction in rolling resistance, Ducati
chose BST carbon fiber wheels to
enhance the performance,” says Gary
Turner.
“A traditional metal wheel
manufacturer uses one wheel per test
– our wheels are engineered to
withstand four tests - cornering
fatigue, radial fatigue, torsional
fatigue and impact testing - all using
the same one wheel,” Gary
explained.
BST employ some 50 plus people at
their 4,800 sq m (approx. 51,500 sq
ft) facility and have exported their
wheels “to just about everywhere in
the world, including Kazakhstan…
basically everywhere that has a
motorcycle community.”
www.blackstonetek.com
Gary Turner and Terry Annecke started Blackstone TEK in 2002