More motorcycles in NYC these days? Just wondering.

A few weeks ago, I was in New York City for two days and stayed at the Thompson Hotel near Prince and Thompson. It had been several years since I was in this area of Manhattan and was surprised to see so many scooters and motorcycles parked along the streets of SoHo. It was dreary and rainy during my visit so I didn’t see many riders but I was energized to see a bike parked on just about every street I walked through.

This Monster was barking!

There must be stringent motorcycle noise laws in Prague; and throughout Europe. During my visit I did not notice any excessively loud pipes until this Ducati blasted past me on one of my walks through Prague. In fact I only saw one Harley Davidson motorcycle during my entire stay in Prague and London. And even then, it was a rare, quiet Harley. Cruisers were just a rarity in the two cities I stayed in Europe. And they were all quiet, except for this Ducati bad boy.

In Prague, people seem to park their bikes just about everywhere but on the streets

In walking the streets of Prague, I noticed that people predominately park their motorcycles on the sidewalks. Is this just a blatant disregard for the law? Even the Police officers who rode on their slick Can-Am Spider Trike parked on sidewalks. Can you imagine this in the U.S.?