Frank Coma
Page updated 12-Jan-2011

We have received this email from Frank Coma

Good Grief! I was flabbergasted when I came across the Gus Kuhn site, especially the staff photos.

I joined Gus Kuhn Motors in the summer of 1976, having just graduated from Leicester University with a very bad degree, and not knowing what to do with my life, but being mad keen on bikes. I was planning on working there just over the summer, but stayed for two and a half years. I can honestly say that I learned more in my time at Gus Kuhn's than I ever did at uni !

I worked in the Norton / Triumph parts department, with Bob Mancini, under Peter Stevens. Shortly after I started, Ian McDonald also joined the team. I have great memories of working at the shop, and may be remembered by my ex-colleagues for a short and disastrous attempt at 4-wheel racing, with a clapped out single-seater. This included one outing at Brands Hatch when, stuck for a tow-car, I managed to persuaded Vincent Davey to lend me the company Ford Transit van for the weekend.

After leaving the company, I tried racing MZs for a few seasons (cheaper than Formula Ford), but gave up biking in 1994, shortly before getting married. I left Gus Kuhn's to start a career in computing with Burroughs Machines (now Unisys), and moved on from there to work for other companies such as BT, IBM and Esso. I am now living in Epsom with my wife, and yellow labrador: I have 3 grown-up step-children who live not too far away, and one beautiful grandson who is just 15 months old.

I'm still working in IT, for an Insurance company based in Croydon, but sadly going to work is never as much fun as it was during my time at Gus Kuhn's.

Anyone who want's to see what a sad geek I have become can catch up with my personal news at www.comaweb.net/frank

I have sorted through the shoe boxes in the attic, and sadly can't find too many photos from my Gus Kuhn era. I came across the attached photos however from shortly after I left the company.

This one shows your truly and Mick Brannan (yes - another ex-GK employee!) at the Isle of Man in 1980. I'd kept in touch with Mick after leaving the company, so when I learnt he was going to the IoM with a mate, I invited myself along too. This was the first of many visits I made to the TT throughout the 80s and 90s.

The other one shows me from my MZ racing days. MZ racing only started in this country in 1986, and as soon as I heard about it I thought I'd give it a go. I never won anything (best result was a 2nd place at Lydden!) but it was great fun nevertheless. If you Google 'MZ racing' now, you can see it's grown out of all proportion from how I remember it. I finally gave it up in 1994 when I got engaged and then married.

I'll go back to the GK website regularly to see if any other old faces have been in touch!