People really hate bosozoku, apparently: Biker assaulted by iron bar-wielding Nara innkeeper

Biker assaulted by iron bar-wielding Nara innkeeper

Bosozoku are deliberately annoying people who customize their motorcycles (usually shitty little dirtbikes of some kind) and scooters so they're as noisy as they can possibly be.  Ear-injuring noise levels.  The kind that causes permanent threshold shift the likes of which Pete Townshend has had to adjust to.  They ride these bikes around late at night because that's the best time to piss people off and get noticed for something that makes zero sense to anyone who is not a bosozoku.  Or simply to avoid traffic and the police.  Judging by the comments at the end of this article, few people have sympathy for them or their loud hobby.

We have one or two bosozoku out where we live.  This area has a lot of broad avenues with straightaways and you can probably boom through as many red lights as you want after midnight.  Our local bosozuku don't ride every single night.  Once or twice a month.  Occasionally during the day.  I was waiting to cross a major street so I could get to a pizza restaurant for lunch one day and one of them was waiting at the traffic light.  I had to close my ears with my fingers to avoid hearing damage.  I hope he was wearing some kind of muffler or earplugs.  I have to admit to some interesting thoughts regarding the bososoku late at night when I've lost sleep because of their motorcycle antics.

People seem to grudgingly tolerate them when they appear.  This may have something to do with not wanting to be the one to violate the concept of group harmony while secretly deploring those who do.  Or maybe it's because bosozoku intimidate.  I saw a small group of them cruising slowly through downtown Hamamatsu a few years back.  When traffic became too heavy they simply switched their bikes from the street to the sidewalk and drove on.  People made way for them and no one waved a fist or cared to tell them to stop.

Hitting someone with an iron bar is a bit extreme, though.  I don't know what the best solution to this problem is, but that's definitely a step too far.  Did I receive a vicarious thrill from reading this article?  Of course.  But if we all give into vigilante thoughts we're going to end up with a worse society than one where a few noisy people with a dumb hobby cause us to lose some sleep.