Motor Cycle Center was founded by the Mellinger brothers 43 years ago as a humble repair shop that serviced the finest motorcycles in the world. It is now housed in a 28,000-square-foot building on 3.5 acres on St Charles Road in Villa Park. It is the premier European motorcycle specialist store in Chicagoland and the Great Lakes region.
Motor Cycle Center has Triumph dealer license 001, is the oldest Ducati dealer in the U.S.A., and is the #1 KTM, Husqvarna, and MV Agusta dealer in the region. The MCC philosophy of “taking care of the service customers” drove their business to today’s level of success. After 43 years it was time to hand the baton over to a new generation of enthusiast ownership.
Johnny Scheff is the owner/operator of Motoworks,1901 S. Western Avenue, Chicago’s official dealer for BMW, Ducati, Royal Enfield, and Triumph motorcycles, plus the iconic Vespa scooter.
Greg Mellinger is retiring. Geoff Mellinger is staying on in a leadership role that has him mentoring the new management team and engaging with loyal patrons. “I’m excited to continue our legacy, to take care of our customers, and grow the business,” said Geoff Mellinger.
Johnny added ”I am beyond grateful to be the steward of the Motor Cycle Center legacy. The Mellinger brothers built a community here over the last 43 years. I am looking forward to celebrating the history of the store and its iconic brands while forging a bright future for our team and the local community.
Unbeknownst to us, MCC Motor Cycle Center started in our parents’ garage in 1976. We were racing motocross and learned how to maintain and rebuild motorcycles. Before we knew it, our parents couldn’t even park their cars in their garage because of all the customer bikes! All this, while maintaining full-time employment. Fast forward to January 1980. We opened the doors to MCC Motor Cycle Center, at first with partners until summer of 1981. We initially had full-time “real” jobs, and ran MCC Motor Cycle Center in the evenings part-time just to get the store off the ground.
At that time, our partners didn’t see any future in the business (fools!) and we purchased a controlling interest for ourselves. We decided to add our first line of motorcycles, Husqvarna. Soon after we were able to stock, sell, and repair a full-model line-up of what was then the most dominant marque in off-road motorcycling. Then in 1983, we added Laverda streetbikes. This was the first fuel to our growing fire of passion for Italian machinery.
In 1985, we added the brand Cagiva to our line-up. At that time, Cagiva was in control of Ducati motorcycles. There were only a few models available from Ducati, but the name was widely known.
By 1987, Ducati was on the gas with a flurry of new models, and we just kept getting busier!
In 1989, we took on KTM motorcycles as our latest endeavor. By then the Cagiva group (which controlled Husqvarna) fumbled, and we needed another great European off-road brand to fill the gap.
1992 saw the beginning of a new era for the most respected brand to come out of Europe–Triumph Motorcycles. I sent a letter to Triumph in England (not truly expecting one in return) and damned if they didn’t just reply, they invited me to see the new product they were launching in Canada in 1993. As soon as I saw the product, we were on board and became one of the first dealers in the USA!
In 1999 came the addition of two great new brands from Italy. Aprilia motorcycles and MV Agusta motorcycles. Aprilia provided a different flavor of V-twin for our customers. And MV came with four-cylinder powerplants and probably the finest craftsmanship of any machine seen in our 25 years. Between 2005 and 2006 Aprilia sought to take their product in a different direction. We decided to part ways in the spring of 2006 to focus more on our current brands: Ducati, Triumph, MV Agusta, and KTM.
In 2012, huge changes came in the way of moving to our new 20,000-plus sq ft state-of-the-art facility. Now looking the way a proper European motorcycle dealership should, with the space to stock all the bikes and parts and accessories you could want, we are poised to become the top European bike dealership in the nation! Plus, we have added the iconic brand Norton to our line-up. What more could you want!
Our staff are all enthusiasts. We ride what we sell, and we race it on weekends. No matter what you’re looking for dirt, street, track, or even if you’re not quite sure…we’ll help you find it.
While great effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, errors can occur. Please verify all pricing information with a customer service representative. This is easily done by calling us or visiting us at the dealership.
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