Legend on a Moto Guzzi

Two-wheeled motorheads have known John Monaco for decades. He is one of them and his craftsmanship, and knowledge has allowed him to grow out of a little business in his basement to needing a a much bigger space to handle the thousands of customers he has had since. 
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​In 1964 he started customizing motorcycles and it didn't take long for his reputation to spread. in 1971 he found the place that has served his needs very well since - an old dance hall out on Route 417. It has become a destination for motorcyclists from all over.

​“We get these groups from Meadville, Titusville, Mercer… all over really, coming here all the time.” Monaco said as he stood near a table with motorcycle parts from a customer's bike strewn out.

​His shop is a low-key place that focuses on word-of-mouth advertising to generate business. He has  cultivated an exclusive club of bikers who earn a “One of Monaco’s Boys” shirt only when they buy a bike.
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Monaco’s son, also named John, works with him in the shop that is loaded with bikes, parts, mementos, tons of memories, a Hank Williams Jr. figure that once danced and... lots of trophies. It’s a place where diehard mechanics and motorcycle enthusiasts love to visit.  “People come in just to smell this place,” Monaco said.

He loves good bikes and though he didn't talk down on other brands, he really likes high performance classic bikes.
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“Triumph - just the name alone, what a bike, I get goosebumps just talking about it,” he said.

It is clear when Monaco talks he has a love for bikes, trophies and a good story.

His most recent trophy and story started with him deciding to dust off his customized Moto Guzzi and take it to a bike show in Mercer.

He hadn’t really done something like that since 2019 before the pandemic and some knee surgery. “I had to test myself, I was like ‘c’mon Monaco, you got the (guts) to do this?'," he asked himself. (OK, he didn't use the word guts.)

Now, he doesn’t like to talk about his age, but he was already a few furlongs ahead of his teen years when he started his business in the 1960s. So, he had a few trepidations about hopping on his pride and joy for a 70-mile round trip ride but shrugged it off. “I decided to get the old girl out and give it a shot,” he said.

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A version of this story appeared last week in The Titusville Herald.

When he got to the show he was surprised by the attention he received. “I didn’t really realize the monster I’d built,” he said. Yes, it had won trophies before but with all the bikes out there now he didn’t anticipate what kind of reception it, or he, would get.
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As he parked the bike a young woman walked up to him right away. “You’re one cool dude on that bike,” he recalled her saying.

As he walked around, he had folks coming up to him calling him a legend. “I sold a lot of these guys bikes at one time or another,” he said. “I was shaking hands all day."
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While he enjoyed seeing old friends and customers, he had another thing on his mind.

With the sun beating on his head and his hair showing the effects of wind and helmet matting, Monaco realized he forgot his ballcap.

As he was walking around the show, he asked people if he could buy their hats, he said. Finally, he came upon a former customer who gave him the hat off his own head. “I didn’t really look at it, I was just happy to finally get a ballcap and was trying to give him a few bucks that he wouldn’t take. I put it on, and it fit pretty good... and it came with its own sweat already,” he joked.

All day he walked around with the hat. People were stopping him to chat and many wanted to take pictures with him. “I had three young women want to take a picture with me,” he said smiling.
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When he found out he had won for having the top custom-built bike, he went to get his trophy and more pictures were taken.

“Now I never looked at the hat until later, but when I did, I saw it said ‘Naked’ with this little leaf next to it. All those pictures of me with that hat on I thought… I don’t even know what (it stood) for.”

It was a promotional hat for Naked Juice, an American smoothie and fruit juice company.

He laughs about it now. The hat has found its way to his awards display along with his latest first-place trophy. And the Naked Hat photos out there will likely only stand to further his reputation as a legend.