Reid, who contested his first race in 1976, has ridden Yamaha machines for most of his career. Most of the victories came in the smaller displacement classes. He was a successful road racing driver and two-time TT Formula II world champion . In 1985 he set a new lap record in his class at the Isle of Man TT with 176.577 km / h. In 1994 he had to end his active career after a serious accident at Temple 100, which gave him complicated arm and leg fractures. Because of his success, Reid was elected into the National Hall of Fame of Racers by readers of Irish Racer Magazine in 2007.