Giovanni Bonaffini, unforgettable and iconic synonymous with two wheels for Caltanissetta, passed away at the age of 81. A man who wrote the history of Nisse in the motorcycle field directly and indirectly.
He began working at Piaggio at a very young age when it was located in via Palmintelli. The sense of duty was combined with a passion and enormous talent that led him to open his first workshop in via Traversa Elena in the early 1960s.
Italy, in the 70s, was ‘overwhelmed’ by the advent of Japanese motorbikes and he immediately specialised, with an eye on Kawasaki. Then the move to via Verga where he remained, expanding his structure, well beyond the mid-90s.
His love is also direct. Her performances on her Vespa Gs are legendary. In the gymkhanas that were organized in the Nisse area: in one year he was able to win all the competitions; the Ferrari horse (another great love of his) imprinted on the helmet is symbolic.
The prize obtained for the Eurovespa 1963 was unforgettable, for the longest distance, when in June of that year it went to Cortina d’Ampezzo starting from Caltanissetta.
His touch in preparing the bikes for races is of similar value. Generations of Nisseni have been honored to entrust their “creatures” to Bonaffini.
But beyond the motorbikes, there was a man of great value, of great sensitivity: a gentleman from another era.
A touching and sincere memory is traced by his great friend Vincenzo Cosentino, the undoubted protagonist and connoisseur of the history of the two wheels in Nisse: “A good man, I am honored by his friendship. Of having lived with him and for him, the world of motorbikes, a world apart. He passed on his enormous knowledge and experience to me, almost like a son. She always read the newspaper, you could talk about anything with him. I remember my second place in Favara with a Kawasaki prepared by him, his happiness; Others had attempted the same thing before but without shining. I could tell hundreds of anecdotes related to us. He incredibly loved his family, his 4 daughters, his mother and the sister he cared for. His family was everything to him and it was a priority not to let him miss anything. Moderate, never longer than you can chew – he adds with his voice breaking with emotion – I have difficulty saying anything else, I have a great pain in my heart”.
