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Post by pipe welder on Dec 29, 2014 20:25:17 GMT -5
Frank Mrazek R.I.P. Motorcycle champion of Czechoslovakia, Canada and the USA, died Dec 29th/14 in Czechoslovakia where he lived. Over 77 Years old and still racing his TR750.Raimo passed on the news today so I thought I would take a look through some of my pictures. Frank was one of the most well known people in the fast bike game in Toronto and he never stopped. I found this old Toronto motorcycle ad from Franks Shop.
This is Frank at Mosport in 2009 Here Frank is sitting on my H2 with Lang Hindle beside him and Bill Davidson from the Cox&Davidson side car team next to him. This was back in 2009 More pictures at this link. www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.499696466769142.1073741832.221616391243819&type=3Link to Frank Mrazek Racing - facebook . www.facebook.com/FrankMrazekRacing?fref=photo
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Post by drewski on Dec 29, 2014 21:47:32 GMT -5
I used to hang out at Frank's shop in Mississauga. It was there that I was first introduced to Tracy bodies. They sold them there as kits and on complete bikes. Triples and z1's. I was smitten.
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Post by lc on Dec 29, 2014 22:11:33 GMT -5
Remember him riding out of the pits at Mosport on a kaw....Such a strange smell of exhaust.. (smelled of a nitro blend of model airplane fuel)...
Met up with him at his shop once and he showed me his Egli chassied TZ 700? Gary Wolf had built the three down one up pipes...Frank grumbled about them cracking.
Was later told by Wolf it was Frank who insisted the pipes be built out of super thin 26 gauge!
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Post by H2 Dude on Dec 30, 2014 0:08:38 GMT -5
First time I saw Frank was at Mosport at the VRRA meet in the Mid 80s/ Frank was about 50 at the time Frank was bandaged up around his chest due to a nasty accident. broken ribs he climbed on a Norton and smoked a lot of riders. Amazing I thought.
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roadrash
2nd Gear
10 McNab St.E. Port Dover
Posts: 271
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Post by roadrash on Dec 30, 2014 11:28:37 GMT -5
I worked for Frank in the '70's.Was just out of AMI in Florida and looking for an apprenticeship.He said no one needed one,so I started the next day.I only lasted two weeks.Didn't make enough money for him I guess. Then got on at McBride's.That was for about seven years. Bye Frank,it was different.
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Post by lc on Dec 30, 2014 12:20:33 GMT -5
Fwiw, I was once told of a book that was written of Frank's later racing days written by George Jonas..
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Post by pipe welder on Dec 30, 2014 13:52:35 GMT -5
A PASSION OBSERVED: A TRUE STORY OF A MOTOR-CYCLE RACER George Jonas Toronto, Macmillan, 1989. 280pp, cloth, $24.95 ISBN 0-7715-9206-X. CIP Grades 10 to 13/Ages 15 to 18 Reviewed by Michael Freeman. Volume 17 Number 5 1989 September ________________________________________ Frank Mrazek, fifty-four years old, born in Czechoslavakia and a resident of Toronto since 1965, has done nothing but race motorcycles since he was fifteen years old. He has had little formal education, has followed no trade or profession, and has never earned sufficient money from his "passion" to even pay his expenses. To indulge his activities he compelled his dutiful wife, a five-time national figure skating champion, to give up a profitable and satisfying career with the Ice Capades. He has broken almost every bone in his body, come face to face with death on numerous occasions, and moves about with difficulty because one leg is permanently crippled. Yet he has never been successful on the international circuit; his victories have come only in local races in Czechoslovakia, Canada, and the United States. One wonders why George Jonas, a well-known Canadian writer and news¬paper columnist, would devote a lengthy book to the exploits of a rather non-heroic character. Only in the last chapter does the reader become aware that Mr. Jonas, born the same year as his protagonist, shares the same fas¬cination with motorcycle racing. Both are still active in the Vintage class, risking their aging bodies and reflexes for the transitory thrill of the chase. Although the detailed chapters on the strategy involved in pursuing success on the motorcycle track may have limited interest for the majority of high school readers, the interspersed accounts of childhood and teenage life in post-war Czechoslovakia will hold a certain fascination for those who have not personally experienced life under a Communist regime. Mrazek's brief career in the army, his courtship and marriage to Jana, and their eventual defection from Czechoslovakia to the West, are also of intrinsic interest. Unfortunately the last third of the book deals solely with Mr. Mrazek's racing exploits, his victories, his injuries, his financial and competitive frustrations, and his inability to retire from the sport, despite the best efforts of his friends and family. Mr. Jonas's informal, enthusiastic writing style carries the action along; but the reader is left at the finish wondering about the point of the story. There is no meaningful ending, in fact, there is no ending at all.
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Post by captainpooby on Jan 1, 2015 11:04:03 GMT -5
I remember watching him race super bikes in the 80s. Never knew him but he certainly was an interesting character.
Bizzarre coincidence but I was just trying to remember his name the other day. Might even have been the 29th.
So long Frank.
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