# Loud motorcycles to honor vets on Memorial Day? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 31, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-motorcycles-to-honor-vets-on-memorial-day/834844 "2019-05-31T19:20:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-motorcycles-to-honor-vets-on-memorial-day/834844/21 "2019-06-03T16:11:19Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Was it during Rolling Thunder? If not, I fail to see the relevance. It was during Memorial Day weekend and with jackholes who were clearly going to participate in the ride. That’s why I mentioned it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-motorcycles-to-honor-vets-on-memorial-day/834844/22 "2019-06-03T16:54:53Z")
A bunch of people from all walks of life gather together to spend time and money for the purpose of acting as an honor guard? The only words that come to mind are “Thank you.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-motorcycles-to-honor-vets-on-memorial-day/834844/23 "2019-06-03T16:58:48Z")
Anyone who intentionally rides a vehicle that loud is by definition an asshole. But these guys turn it up to 11 when they come into town on Memorial Day. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-motorcycles-to-honor-vets-on-memorial-day/834844/24 "2019-06-03T19:26:05Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > I’m no fan of the President, but this at least was not an example of him being “nutty”. > > The reason that Rolling Thunder is not being planned for next year is that the cost of it is too high. The primary reason for this is dealing with the security concerns of having a large group of motorcyclists parading around amidst sensitive security areas (namely, federal government buildings that include the White House and the Congress). President Trump’s assertion that they will be back is, in essence, a statement on his part that he wants his Administration to facilitate their return, by waiving or paying for or otherwise mitigating the expense of security efforts. Which, certainly, he’s in a position to see happens. The expense is a big part of it but I’m confused as to why they have “hundreds of thousands of participants” who can’t cough up $2 apiece to execute this. The stated reason was, “Reasons which determined our decision were the Pentagon Security Police/Washington Police officials continued lack of cooperation, increased harassment to our supporters and sponsors.” There is an enormous planning and logistics effort and coordination with many agencies in the DC government and the federal government, and a rising number of participants, which I’m sure would be a big challenge even with great cooperation. It is simply collapsing under its own weight, and Trump can’t do anything about it. Trump tweeted that they’ll be back next year when he does not have the ability–yes, not even Trump!–to ensure this is true. Nutty. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-motorcycles-to-honor-vets-on-memorial-day/834844/25 "2019-06-03T21:55:26Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > A bunch of people from all walks of life gather together to spend time and money for the purpose of acting as an honor guard? The only words that come to mind are “Thank you.” riding around the mall for hours is acting as an honor guard? ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-motorcycles-to-honor-vets-on-memorial-day/834844/26 "2019-06-03T22:10:06Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Anyone who intentionally rides a vehicle that loud is by definition an asshole. This. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-motorcycles-to-honor-vets-on-memorial-day/834844/27 "2019-06-04T04:27:27Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Well, I say it’s a good cause. Plus it’s cool to see all the bikes and bikers. Well you might think so, but here’s the first part of their mission statement (from Rolling Thunder link above): _Rolling Thunder Washington, DC, Inc’s mission is to educate, facilitate, and never forget by means of a demonstration for service members that were abandoned after the Vietnam War._ In other words, a myth which I’d say is at best a delusion, at worst harmful to families of the missing. But I’d guess most participants really just want an excuse to have fun and gun their big bad Harleys. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-motorcycles-to-honor-vets-on-memorial-day/834844/28 "2019-06-04T05:13:12Z")
I was in a hotel outside of Columbus Ohio for a music festival over Memorial Day weekend. A Rolling Thunder group got a block of rooms in the same hotel. They were as nice as can be. They left fairly early in the morning and of course it was noisy when they started up their bikes but they road straight out of the parking lot and didn’t uselessly rev their engines at all. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-motorcycles-to-honor-vets-on-memorial-day/834844/29 "2019-06-04T12:31:35Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > Well you might think so, but here’s the first part of their mission statement (from Rolling Thunder link above): > > _Rolling Thunder Washington, DC, Inc’s mission is to educate, facilitate, and never forget by means of a demonstration for service members that were abandoned after the Vietnam War._ > > In other words, a myth which I’d say is at best a delusion, at worst harmful to families of the missing. > But I’d guess most participants really just want an excuse to have fun and gun their big bad Harleys. They’ve adjusted it to encompass all POW/MIAs from all wars. But hey, you don’t have to like it. I think it’s cool to see. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-motorcycles-to-honor-vets-on-memorial-day/834844/30 "2019-06-04T17:24:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > So as long as he hasn’t done anything, it counts as a success? Because he might still do it in the future? > > You must have dug a trench to lower the bar that far down. Uh, false dichotomy. One is not “ineffective” just because one hasn’t yet been “successful”. It’s simply too early to measure the effectiveness of the President’s efforts, _n’est-çe pas_? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-motorcycles-to-honor-vets-on-memorial-day/834844.md?page=1)