Testimonial

When we hear the word “Frankenstein” We think of the Mad Scientist surrounded by electricity and lightning, loudly proclaiming “It’s alive, it’s alive”.  In the book, Victor Frankenstein was a serious scientist obsessed with life and death and pushing the bounds of creation……

I first heard about Mitch about two years ago from my friend Andy. He saw “a bunch of bike’s outside a shop called “Frankenstein Performance Cycle” and he stopped in to talk to the owner. He was impressed with Mitch and told him that he would tell his friend but warned that his “friend” would probably stop by to “Interview” him.

I’m always very interested to find a good motorcycle mechanic. You know why? Because there aren’t very many. Some bike mechanics these days are, to put it bluntly “Butchers” and not very good at their trade. It’s the state of the industry, not many are being trained properly and it is very hard to find good ones.

I stopped in to see Mitch for the first time in the spring of 2009. His knowledge was very impressive and I confess to “Interviewing’ him a few more times after that. He told me he was a drag racer and that he frequently went to Toronto Motorsports Park (Cayuga). We went down to watch him race a few times.

Impressive again. His naturally aspirated ZX14 was doing 9.30 to 9.12 seconds in the quarter and he was well respected among his peers there.

In the fall I made arrangements (after the season was over) for Mitch to tune my ZX14, and do the valve adjustments. Long story, short…. When I got my bike back I was blown away. The increase in the range of power in every gear was phenomenal as was the smoothness of the motor. My Bike was 160 hp at the rear wheel when it went in and 177.5 hp at the rear wheel when I got it back.

Dyno’s don’t lie. (I’ll show you the slip)

Many mechanics claim huge horsepower gains just judging by the seat of their pants. Not a very accurate way to measure performance. The Dyno is the only way to measure accurately. (Depending on altitude, there may be a difference of 3 hp or more on different Dynos)

My gas mileage was also improved on long trips. Being very particular about my bike as many of us are, I was also impressed with the care that Mitch took when working on my bike. Your bike will not leave his shop until it’s running perfectly.

There are different stages of learning any profession. There’s the learning stage, the mastery stage and the composition/invention stage. Few people get to the last stage. Mitch is there and he’s very serious about his life’s work. He is always eager to learn new things and add to his store of knowledge. When it comes to working on your bike, whether it’s maintenance or adding modifications and pushing the bounds of performance, Mitch is the mechanic you want.

Truth be told…. There’s a bit of the Mad Scientist in him as well.

Paul Kahnert 

Three time contributor to Cycle Canada’s  “Showcase”                                  Regular Guest Tester on TSN’s “Motorcycle Experience” since 2003

For questions I can be reached at  pkahnert@rogers.com