Hey, there! Log in / Register
Rolling coal, Boston style
By adamg on Sat, 08/27/2016 - 10:55pm
Dan Meade reports he was in front of Faneuil Hall around 6:45 p.m. today when a large group of motorcycles came roaring up:
They came down Devonshire, held up traffic at the crossing at Congress to keep the pack together, and then about 100 motorcycles stopped in front of Fanueil Hall and smokescreened the whole block.
Copyright Dan Meade. Posted in the Universal Hub pool.
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
I'd like to nominate the
I'd like to nominate the person who came up with, "what's the difference between a motorcycle rider and a vacuum cleaner? The location of the dirtbag." for a Nobel prize for accuracy.
Not who you guys are thinking of
"Bikers" or old men on Harleys never pull stuff like this. As the video below shows its a bunch of kids on suzukis. It does fit a certain generallization but not one that you can talk about honestly. It would just make you uncomfortable.
Around 7 PM
A large number (maybe 80-100) of motorcycles southbound of Morrissey Blvd, taking the exit on Freeport St.. Uhub twitter has a similar sighting in Cambridge around 6.
Is it Bike Week in Boston?
Harley Davidson was at the
Harley Davidson was at the Convention Center in South Boston earlier this week.
Harley-Davidson
That event was an event open only to dealers and the people who work in them. It was not an event open to the general public.
They were a pretty low key group.
Agreed
This was to introduce their 2017 line and new engine, (the Milwaukee 8). This is NOT the group that will be pulling wheelies and burnouts. Its all corporate types and dealer owners.
Side note.. pretty cool how H-D could of picked any city in the USA to make a huge announcement about their products.. They chose Boston. Mass is not known as being a biker friendly state like NH.
There was a convoy through Cambridge
Several people doing extended wheelies while driving, and one person somehow crouching on the back while doing a wheelie.
It was very loud, and they risked injuring someone by messing around with wheelies on a busy street, but at least it's not a nightly disturbance like in some other areas.
Devonshire is one way - in the opposite direction
Running away from the intersection at Congress and state.
How does 100 motorcycles going the wrong way down a street not cause an accident or police attention?
Haven't you noticed?
When a large pack of motorcycles decide to do something the police either look the other way or are powerless to stop it. Often these large packs will also ignore traffic signals until the entire group has passed which can take 5-10+ minutes for a large rally.
That said, there are a lot of smart and good motorcyclists who enjoy their ride. (Motorcycles are fun.) More often then not these people don't ride with the big groups and don't modify their bike to make as much noise as possible.
I have worked downtown for 20 years
With the exception of an organized parade, I
have never seen a large group of anything drive down a one way street in the wrong direction.
well you see
people dont like to let facts get in the way of their preconceived notions or agenda
Go to NH Sometimes
I don't think I've ever seen a huge group roll through Boston like that. But outside of 495 and in NH, VT, etc it's pretty common. Some of the groups are sanctioned and have police escorts but many are just a club out to roll around.
The only thing which bugs me is how loud they are.
Sometimes cops are in the pack
According to LEOs I've talked with cops are often in motorcycle gangs. Ironically there are large motorcycle "clubs" which include cops, but also include smaller gangs of club members who are the opposite of law abiding police. In a motorcycle club that can pull together 100 cyclists it's easy for criminals to hide in a larger club that appears to be legitimate.
But so many motorcycles going through downtown that they create a fog of pollution is wrong. If local police were in a position to shut this down and didn't then they were in the wrong. At the very least the level of noise and air pollution justify charges of disturbing the peace.
But motorcycles gangs - especially where they make enough noise to make a person thing they are the heralds of the second coming - are not uncommon. They are too regularly polluting residential neighborhoods with noise.
Good campaign issue for anyone wanting run for office.
Who do you think
They get their drugs from?
Piss in a cup? That'll cost extra.
Motorcycle drivers are not
Motorcycle drivers are not "cyclists".
WHAT. THE. HELL.
Between the corner of Devonshire & State and Sudbury/Haymarket by Faneuil Hall, I count 9* historic buildings facing the street alone; this does not include all of the Blackstone block, or the Old South Meeting House, or anything a block away, which would up the count A LOT. And , of course, the bronze Anne Whitney sculpture of Sam Adams
So these fuckwits blew particulates and chemicals known to damage buildings on fragile, historic structures. That has been directly tied to dissolving bronze.
Do they hate America? Hate history? Hate Sam Adams? Are they holocaust deniers?
Going out on a limb & I'll guess they don't hate douche bars, so that's clearly not the motive.
*Old State House, Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall, at least 6 buildings on Union Street.
If anything, this is a lowball, as I may be undercounting Union Street, and the Ames Building might be considered historic.
take it to easy there
60 seconds of burning rubber won't destroy downtown.
of course not BUT...
No, but these asshats chose to blast what is perhaps the best known cause of chemical damage to structures in the middle of a historic area. They chose to do that. It is deeply, profoundly childish and stupid.
I'm more concerned about Cancer
The damage to the buildings is bad and all but cancer causing effects on humans is worse. Tampering with one's exhaust or knowingly using a vehicle which releases particles beyond the state's clean air laws should be punishable by impoundment of said vehicle.
Sucks for people walking
Sucks for people walking around who have to breathe in thick plumes of pollution. These bikers are self-entitled thugs begging for attention.
Interesting but Irrelevant
"So these fuckwits blew particulates and chemicals known to damage buildings on fragile, historic structures. That has been directly tied to dissolving bronze."
Your point is interesting, but do you think these d-bags actually KNOW that? These neanderthals are not rocket scientists. Or metallurgists.
Neanderthals you say?
Why bring some of my distant ancestors into this? Are you racist? Neanderthals were actually very intelligent, even had larger Brains vs homosapiens. And they didn't drag their knuckles when walking.
yeah, but it's pretty common knowledge
I don't expect them to understand the mechanics, especially the impact on bronze, but is there anyone left who doesn't know that exhaust damages stone, brick, and mortar? When they're not plugging faux-redneck capitalism or following cops with handheld cameras, both the History Channel and National Geographic dedicate some time to looking at historical sites & the risks they face.
Hell, I can remember knowing that pollution trashes buildings when I was in grade school (1970s, for those keeping count).
please...
exhaust from 100 motorcycles is accelerating damage beyond the thousands of cars on the same road daily? are you completely delusional?
You know, mbw, I always find comments like yours fascinating
Perhaps you should to revisit my comments.
Technically, yes, one hundred bikes deliberately emitting large amounts of carbon will accelerate the decomposition of the building surface.
How does it compare to an average day's traffic on Congress Street? Of course it's less.
But, I never claimed otherwise. Nor did I imply otherwise. The level of damage was not my point.
The bikers did something obviously destructive in a historic area. To give you a simple analogy, one single graffiti tag also will not destroy a building, but it is a fuck-you to the building owner or the neighbors or the building itself or maybe all of them and something else.
Here is what I wrote:
Perhaps you may have noticed when you read my three comments-- you did read them, right?-- that nowhere do I claim the bikes caused more damage than the common, daily Congress Street traffic, the traffic that does not deliberately emit more exhaust than necessary to travel from one place to another. I wrote that the bikers chose to behave childishly and were idiots,
I am so sorry that I wrote what I actually wrote, rather than writing what you wish I wrote so that you could feel smug. Tough day for you.
That's not exhaust
It's rubber from the tires spinning. It's not burnt hydrocarbons from combustion. You're an idiot if you think that much smoke came from an exhaust on gas powered motorcycles with less than a liter displacement (on average).
It's not accelerating damage in anyway. Tens of thousands of cars pass down there in a day.
Cops honestly don't care.
I know its a bit of a generalization BUT
They won't stop the car racing
They ignore the zombies at intersections
They even seem indifferent to the shooting gallery that is Dorchester.
It's no wonder nobody wants cameras.
Bit of a generalization is bit of nonsense
At least regarding shootings in Dot.
BPD are out chasing these armed criminals down on foot and taking guns away left and right.
Pray tell, what more can the cops so with the current laws and resources they have to work with?
One Word,,,,, DONORCYCLES!
One Word,,,,, DONORCYCLES!
For Chrissakes...
Man, you people will complain about ANYTHING. Don't like the noise, pollution and/or threat of a "motorcycle gang (hahaha)?" Stay in the suburbs and pollute your comfy towns from the safety of your SUVs - and you'd better keep that lawn green through this drought, glad to see so many sprinklers running all day.
As if this entire town isn't already clogged with polluting, noisy, inconsiderate automobiles and cyclists already, but whatever gets your up on that soapbox, I suppose.
Ride motorcycles, have fun!
Yes! Have fun at the cost of
Yes! Have fun at the cost of others livelihoods and health! You're a real stand up guy for suggesting this!
Yeah, man. Have FUN
Go ahead and make it hard for everyone to breath and hear. So long as you're having FUN who cares who complains!
Your comment makes no sense.
Your comment makes no sense. You are more likely to find motorcycles out in suburbs and rural areas. They aren't really good for city riding, they are more for the open road.
Good to hear...
... from the NIMBYs.
Motorcycles run cleaner than automobiles, hence less air pollution. Most run more quiet than automobiles, therefore less noise pollution. And, as the signs say, motorcycles are everywhere, but with larger populations in cities, you'll find more motorcycles here than in the suburbs.
It's amazing to read so many
It's amazing to read so many comments filled with such rash generalizations of "bikers" - this is usually an open-minded website when it comes to race, society and politics, but to pigeonhole men and women who ride motorcycles as Neanderthals, rednecks and morons is surprising, to be honest. Do you really think every person on a motorcycle is some Sons of Anarchy wannabe or that dickhead weaving in and out of traffic on 128? Please. Just like any other group or subculture, you'll find some bad apples, but would you call every Trump or BLM supporter a racist?
Personally
I don't think every motorcycle rider is a neanderthal redneck moron. I've got some friends who ride street-legal motorcycles and follow the laws. I've done it myself.
This group, however, is 100% neanderthal redneck moron, and you can be certain most of the bikes involved are not street-legal.
Did you even read the post? See the picture? They modified their motorcycles in order to amplify the volume and increase the pollution produced, just so they could be dicks to other people. They broke traffic laws, disturbed the peace, and left a disgusting stench. Yes, this group is 100% dickheads.
The bikes weren't modified to
The bikes weren't modified to pollute or make noise you moron. We don't care about being out to upset ppl like you. That is just a bonus. They were modified specifically for stunt riding.
OK then
Which shouldn't be performed on the street as it is unsafe driving. Go find a parking lot to play in. Rent one of the many tracks in the area to go play. Put on a show - you'll get people to pay to watch you do your stunts. Wheelie - for the children! But do it in a manner that provides as much safety as possible.
And stop with the stupid burnouts. You must really hate your tires.
And stop with the revving at stop lights. You must really hate your engine. You're not in a race, you don't need to get your RPMs up in prep for a jackrabbit start.
No muffler mods? Hahaha
I would say that most riders of all types try to make their pipes louder. So..um...
BS on so many levels
Motorcycles have more emissions than cars, despite having better fuel efficiency and are louder, even before they've been modified, which these apparently have been in order to create that much pollution (did you not see the picture - hard to say they pollute less with that pic).
http://grist.org/article/2011-09-29-mythbusters-weigh-in-on-motorcycle-e...
https://www3.epa.gov/otaq/regs/roadbike/420f03045.pdf
They also drove the wrong way up a city street in the middle of the day, blocked traffic, including pedestrian traffic, then deliberately created noise and air pollution in a crowded area full of people. They're assholes. this isn't being precious, they were doing all this on purpose. Can't understand how you can't understand that.
Stay in the suburbs?!
That's what I want to say to these asshats!
Look, there are a lot of bad behaviors that us city folk get tagged with (see dirt bike dirt bags), but I'd be willing to be that if these lowlifes were all caught, the police blotter would look more like the attendance at a Bruins or Patriots game than, say, the makeup of Latin Academy or the staff at any City agency (save schools and police, whose employees barely live in the city).
So, yes, they should stay in the suburbs and roll coal around their neighbors rather than inflicting it on city folk.
ahhhmazing. good points.
ahhhmazing. good points.
Video from Inman Square
They rolled thru Inman Square at 6:10. Nothing dramatic aside from the first twenty or so who blew the red light and blocked traffic. I only caught the second half of the group on video.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q8m5kgeat6moht8/File%208-28-16%2C%2012%2014%20...
can't we just forbid motorcycles?
... these guys are annoying as heck, can't they be deported or something? i mean seriously, they're ruining our nice city with pollution, trashyness, and bad attitudes...
Really?
n/t
Pizza = a.k.a...
Donald Trump
ha!
Build an Anti-moto wall!
Yeah -
And we'll make them pay for it!
Where was District A-1?
This happened right under A-1's nose. Surely they will be rounding up this menacing gang of thugs, and holding them accountable for their reckless and dangerous behavior.
Take that, scooters!
Take that, scooters!
Hate the noise and smog, don't mind the corking
I hate the noise and the emissions. Nasty stuff, totally unnecessary, really selfish.
I don't mind them corking the intersections though. Pleasure driving is perfectly legal, as is driving in a group. I don't take offense when a funeral procession stops traffic coming the other way, I don't take offense when Critical Mass stops traffic coming the other way, and I don't take offense when these groups of motorcycles do the same thing. It seems to me that keeping the group together is safer than splitting them up, so while I wish they didn't exist at all, so long as they do I don't mind the corking.
I don't take offense when a
How kind of you.
i dont condone
"Cagers" aka cars/trucks, are the reason most bikers ride aggressive. I dont condone that at all, but when you have 3000lbs of steel cage cutting you off with little to no regard for your life, then you might see some aggressive bikers. Of course the solution is for all to ride more courteously and considerate.. but its Massachusetts. Lets be real here.