Harley-Davidson Club Hits Important Milestone
Over the years, clubs come and go. But Pennsylvania’s Pirate Motorcycle Club is still alive and kicking 80 years later!
Motorcycle culture began to really take hold in America back in the ’60s and ’70s, which, as we know, led to the formation of some pretty notorious groups. But while we all like to imagine ourselves as biker badasses, the truth is most Harley-Davidson clubs aren’t anything like you’ve seen on TV shows. Instead of running drugs and burying countless bodies, they’re doing good things in their local communities and raising money for charity. But one particular Pennsylvania-area motorcycle club has been doing it longer than most.
That enduring group is known as the Pirate Motorcycle Club. Way back in 1938, the club was formed by the Youngstown Indian Motorcycle Shop. The idea was to simply bring like-minded enthusiasts together. And like most relationships, the past 80 years haven’t been all biscuits and gravy for the Pirates. There were a few years in between when it essentially didn’t even exist, but members have remained steadfast in their desire to keep this iconic club going.
The Pirate Motorcycle Club celebrated their 80th in style, throwing a big shindig at the Croatian Club in Bessemer recently. There were loads of vintage Harley-Davidson machinery and decades of memorabilia, of course. But it also told the fascinating history of one of the oldest clubs in existence. And it’s clear that members like Larry Smith, the current club president, are as passionate as they come. New Castle News asked Smith about his beautiful orange ’64 Harley, which obviously isn’t some sort of garage queen.
“This was my road vehicle for 50 years,” Smith said. “I raced it in a wide variety of races, drove it all over the place for my newspaper, and even raced it in a 78-mile endurance race several years ago.”
The Pirates have a long history of motorsports activity, in fact. They’ve sponsored motocross and hill climbing events, and even owned their own hill at one time. Today, that’s all ancient history, of course. But kudos to the group for keeping that important history (and this club) alive!
Photos: Facebook
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