National Packard Museum hosts motorcycle programs
The National Packard Museum will host a pair of events in the coming week in conjunction with its 26th Motorcycle Exhibit — “My First Ride.”
Tom Banks and Sean Jackson, of North Versailles, Pa., will be at the museum on Saturday with their 1920 J Harley Davidson to share their experiences competing in the 2025 Trans American motorcycle race.
The Motorcycle TransAm is a one-of-a-kind endurance race featuring antique motorcycles that are at least a century old, traveling 4,000 miles across the United States. Starting in Nags Head, N.C., and ending at the Heceta Head Lighthouse on the Oregon Coast, this epic journey challenged riders and their vintage machines to push limits and celebrate the spirit of adventure last September.
Banks has been collecting and riding antique motorcycles for more than 40 years, and a few of bikes from his collection have been featured in the museum’s motorcycle exhibit, including a beautifully restored 1926 Harley Davidson Pea Shooter factory racer that currently is on display.
The program starts at 12:30 p.m. and is free with paid admission to the museum.
The Pirate Motorcycle Club will have its annual movie night at the museum, 1899 Mahoning Ave. NW, Warren, at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
This year’s program is entitled “Rabbit’s Tales: A Tribute to Larry ‘Rabbit’ Smith.” Smith was born and raised in Youngstown and purchased his first motorcycle, a 1957 Zundapp “Bella” motor scooter, in 1959 at age 15.
In 1964, when he was 21 years old, Smith helped reform the Pirate Motorcycle Club, first organized in 1933, and he’s been an active member of the club for more than 60 years. In 1972 he founded Cheap Shots, and his photos and stories were published in such national magazines as Hot Bike, Chopper, Street Chopper, and Super Cycle.
Smith started Northeast Motorcycle News and helped organize Competition Riders of America. He helped start Western Pennsylvania Motorcycle News and Handcrafted American Racing Motorcycles, and he published his autobiography, “Rabbit Tales,” in 2018. Since 2020 he’s hosted Pirate Movie Night at the National Packard Museum.
Admission for movie night is $10, and all proceeds benefit the museum. For more information, go to packardmuseum.org or call 330-394-1899.



