Jimmy Binns: Motorcyclist and Philadelphia legend with a ‘Rocky’ connection
By Mary Anna Rodabaugh
James “Jimmy” Binns, 85, of South Philadelphia, rides his motorcycle every single day. The fearless lawyer of 60 years may be a true Philadelphia legend.
At 33, Binns was elected president of St. Luke’s & Children’s Medical Center in North Philadelphia. From 1980-88, he served as the Pennsylvania Boxing Commissioner. A role he portrayed as himself, opposite Sylvester Stallone, in the 2006 film “Rocky Balboa.”
Binns has also won several awards for his philanthropy and leadership. His most notable effort is unwavering support of the Philadelphia Police Department. He has dedicated gun lockers to the Philadelphia Sherrif’s Office. He has raised money to donate 64 motorcycles for the Philadelphia Police Department. Binns is as a lifetime member of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police. He spearheads the annual Hero Thrill Show fundraiser. The event pays college tuition for the children of fallen Philadelphia firefighters and police officers.
The beginning of the ride
In the early 2000s, Binns took over a restaurant at 13th and Locust streets. While this was his least favorite venture, it did lead him to his greatest passion.
“I became friendly with one of the officers in the 6th district,” Binns said. “We would have tea. He told me Police Officer Daniel J. Faulkner was shot and killed while making a traffic stop at that very corner of 13th and Locust.”
Binns reached out to Officer Faulkner’s widow, Maureen, and told her he was a lawyer in Philadelphia. He wanted to put a plaque to dedicate the corner where her husband was murdered. She agreed.
Officer Faulkner’s Hero Cop plaque would be the first of 326 such plaques that Binns would create and dedicate. Though his thoughtful memorial efforts, Binns began to meet a lot of police officers.
“I met this one inspector around 2004 or 2005,” he said. “I told him that I see cops riding along on motorcycles and asked if he taught them how to ride.”
Upon learning the officers were trained to ride in Northeast Philadelphia, Binns asked if they would teach him how to ride.
“I started to learn how to ride in my 60s,” Binns said. He has not stopped since.
Along came Rocky
Binns met Slyvester Stallone during boxing matches in Las Vegas. The two developed a friendship and Stallone offered Binns a part in the 2006 movie, “Rocky Balboa.” The timing could not have been more perfect.
Philadelphia’s Hero Thrill Show was in trouble. The organizer at the time asked Binns to take it over. It was a last-ditch effort to keep the show and its scholarship fund alive. In the years prior to Binns becoming the show’s President and CEO, it only attracted about 50 attendees. However, everything was about to change.
At the conclusion of filming “Rocky III,” the iconic Rocky statue was moved from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the front of the Spectrum for 16 years. It was Binns who would help get the statue back to the Art Museum at the request of Stallone himself in 2006. In return for this favor, Stallone agreed to serve as the Grand Marshall for that year’s Hero Thrill Show. Attendance at the event surpassed 13,000.
“This will be my 20th year running the Hero Thrill Show,” Binns said. “Since I took over, I’ve put a few kids through college.”
Age is just a number
In 2011, Binns dedicated a Hero Cop plaque in Chester, where he knew a local sheriff. Binns asked him, “Buddy, if I ever want to become a cop, can I become one?” The sheriff replied, “You have to go through the Police Academy.”
That is how Binns, at 73, proved that age is nothing but a number. He passed and became a motorcycle cop in Darby Township.
Binns purchased his first motorcycle before his inaugural leadership of the Hero Thrill Show. “I saw a picture of the 100th anniversary Harley bike,” Binns said. “I wanted it. I stuck it in a bar and never rode it.”
Today, he owns a 2020 Harley that he rides every single day. “If you don’t ride every day, then don’t ride at all,” Binns said. “If you have to think about what you have to do, it is too late.”
The 70th Annual Hero Thrill Show
This year’s Hero Thrill Show will take place Saturday, Sept. 20, from noon to 5 p.m., at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia. Tickets are $15 each or $35 for families (up to five members). To learn more, call 215-922-4000 or visit HeroThrillShow.org.
Mary Anna Rodabaugh is a writer, editor and writing coach
