Remembering SoCal AMCA Founding Father Johnny Eagles
Johnny Monroe Eagles
March 7, 1931 to April 16, 2022
Missouri to South Korea (U.S. Army) to Orange, California
Johnny Eagles was a great man. Humble, jovial, talented, gracious, and friendly to all. Loving husband, father, grandfather and a dog lover always with a treat for his four-legged friends from the neighborhood.
He was born and raised about 3 1/2 miles outside of a little town in Missouri, that he described as only having one service station and one small grocery store. He served in the U.S. Army and moved to California before the Korean War.
Johnny was a world-famous motorcycle mechanic and was mentioned in all of Harry Sucher’s motorcycle books. He was a famous Indian 101 Scout tuner and rider with over 80,000 miles on his 1929 101. He rode that bike everywhere including numerous trips to Denver and Durango, Colorado.
Johnny also owned and tuned a 1913 Indian Twin motorcycle with a 3-speed transmission. It was previously owned by his mentor Dewey Bunkrud. Johnny completed many pre-16 motorcycle trips and road runs on the 1913, and that bike never failed him and ran-away from most other pre16 motorcycles.
Johnny also owned a 1929 Harley Davidson JD. He rode that bike on many trips up to northern California and completed on many Death Valley and Borrego springs road runs. That bike never failed him and is reported to have run away from almost all challengers at any time!
The consummate mechanic, Johnny could rebuild and tune any mechanical machine as long as it did not have a computer!
Johnny was loved by all and a great friend to many over the years. He was a founding member of the SoCal Chapter of the AMCA, which was launched in 1972. He was an active member and served as the chapter president for three years. He gave his time, talent, and knowledge to all on any marque of machine. He was known for his prowess on Indian, Harley-Davidsons, Crockers, BMW, Triumph, Panther, and many others. If it had two wheels and no computer, Johnny Eagles could make it purr and he could stroke-em and make them run better and faster than any others.
Memorial Ride and Celebration of Life
On June 4, 2022, there was a wonderful memorial held in his honor at Cooks Corner in Orange County, following a ride-in through the canyon with a military escort. His urn was placed on the table under the U.S. Flag and next to his Army uniform. His daughter Bonnie carried the urn, and was accompanied by his son Jeff and grandson Ryan. With more than 50 friends in attendance, Johnny surely would have loved the respect, friendship, and stories of those in attendance.
“Oh What Da World!”
Below are images from the event honoring Johnny. Photo credit: Marc Gallin.
Photos From The Archives
Johnny played a major role in the formation of our SoCal AMCA chapter, led it as its president for several years, and had been a key member ever since. Here are more photos of Johnny from the chapter’s archives. Photo credit: Various.
