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In hindsight, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea – mixing a staid, military-skewed vintage aircraft museum and a leather-clad 
motorcycle club whose violent name can be misconstrued or viewed as offensive by anyone unaware of either the term’s derivation or the club’s origin and reputation.
The name of the club is Murdercycles.
Yes, the motorcycle show at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks last April 19 was a huge success. Dozens of spectacular bikes were scattered around the aircraft inside three hangers. It was an instant hit thanks in large part to the Manchester-based club.
And, yes, the turnout was formidable for a first-time event. In just one day, the NEAM show staked a claim as the kickoff event to the riding season in the region. Riding away, I was already looking ahead to another edition this year.
It wasn’t until I got home that I became aware of a negative side to the show when a friend called. He had ridden to the show and departed without entering. His gripe was that the Hells Angels motorcycle club had erected an outside booth to hawk goods, and he wanted nothing to do with them.
I didn’t think much about his reaction at the time. However, in the wake of a recent decision by Murdercycles to cancel a second edition of the show that had already been announced for April 18, I can’t help but wonder if it isn’t for best.
What forced the cancellation was a branding dispute. “The new manager didn’t want to use the name of our club in any promotion, so we decided not to do the show,” said Ray Luce of Murdercycles when we spoke briefly this week.
The new man is Jerry Roberts, who was appointed executive director of NEAM in mid-December. Over a 30-year museum career, Roberts worked 18 years for the Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum in New York City and served as executive director of the National Lighthouse Museum on Staten Island and the Connecticut River Museum in Essex.
In a written statement, the museum confirmed that the show’s been scrapped. “We had every intention of producing another show this year working closely with Murdercycles, and others, to create a sustainable annual event. After a preliminary meeting, we were disappointed that Murdercycles decided to cancel the show,” the statement read in part.
Roberts was tight-lipped when reached and wouldn’t go into details regarding the recent meeting, allowing only “we were talking about issues that included branding.”
I have to wonder, though, just how disappointed the museum and Roberts really are about Murdercycles’ decision to essentially retract its kickstand and ride off – the motorcycle equivalent of taking its football and going home. Roberts has the experience and the perspective to know a bad branding idea when he sees it.
As a rider, I’m fully aware that the words “murdercycle” and “donorcycle” are often used to describe a bike. They innocently reflect the added risks that a motorcyclist faces every time he or she takes to the road.
I’m also aware of Murdercycles MC. I met several members at last year’s show and bumped into club members again at the Brooklyn Invitational show last September. They come off as pleasant and enthusiastic riders, and the club boasts about its charitable and family-oriented events.
Here’s the hitch. To non-riders as well as to riders who don’t know the club, the Murdercycles name can seem threatening, even villainous. The logo on its murdercycles.com website even shows a V-twin engine with the letters “F.U.” rebelliously emblazoned on the side. Slapping the name on promotional material and advertisements as the museum naively did last year projects an image that a non-profit doesn’t need. It’s not a matter of how “good” the club is. It’s a matter of public perception.
Murdercycles made what it considers to be the right decision; one that’s also good for the museum. Why would any private, educational entity that caters to the general population, needs donations and admission fees to survive, and is answerable to a board of directors made up of strait-laced business bigwigs want to be associated with a club that has such a moniker?
The name Murdercycles may have an innocent origin, and the members may all be great people, but in this age of ISIS, other terrorists and even the Newtown tragedy, the name just isn’t suitable outside of its small core group. It’s as much the times we live in as the name itself that creates the problem. By cancelling the show, the club accomplished for NEAM what the museum likely wanted all along.
NEAM’s motive in this tempest is clear – to protect the museum’s image. No doubt Roberts’ mission is to get the museum to “the next level” by increasing patronage, increasing donations and increasing visibility. It just needs to be done in manner that will be perceived as proper for its wide-ranging constituency.
Murdercycles’ motive is less clear. Was its purpose in organizing the show, in a spirit of volunteerism, to bolster an educational resource in our state? Or was it simply to promote the club? By abruptly walking away, the club looks like its goal was merely selfish self-promotion.
In a post on the club’s Facebook page after it pulled the plug, Murdercycles wrote, “We were told the ‘Murdercycles MC’ name was too dangerous. We’d rather stick to what we do best rather than compromise.” I fully appreciate and respect the club’s position; just wish membership had paused, looked at the bigger picture and said, “OK, we understand and we’d still like to help.”
In its statement, NEAM said it will “step back and consider a future event that would include broad-based representation within the motorcycling community.” Here’s hoping that the show gets revived in 2016 – with or without Murdercycles. It’s too good of a show to lose.
(Originally published in “The Republican-American” on Jan. 31, 2015.)
Bud, Your sad style is writing is not only pathetic, but it is useless, biased and misconstrued. You need to check your facts, first, Bud. You, Sir, are not a motorcyclist. You’re an antagonist, and not in a cool way. I’m sure you’re the type of guy who goes around and “inspects” and judges everyone’s ride, points out the faults, etc…Because you really don’t have much else going on in your life. I’ve met your kind. And, I don’t like you, or your kind. You should hang up your helmet, safety vest, and give it up. Troll.
I have personally Worked with Ray luse and the murdercycles great group of people i will work with again in the future this is the most biased articles I’ve ever read what magazine does the author work for anti Ride ct?
I’ll be brief…..Bud, your (sic) an (expletive)! To even say Isis and Newtown, what a true POS you are!! You and your ilk,are what’s wrong with this country. ….COWARDS.
Since when is standing on principal akin to “taking your football and going home”? Between The articles on Torrington; Kent, Connecticut; and now The Air Museum Bike show, I personally can’t help but wonder what exactly is Mr. Wilkinson’s agenda. He has a unique position and while I respect his right to express his opinion, his reluctance to focus on the positive attributes of the motorcycle community and to champion Murdercycle’s defense of their freedom of expression has me scratching my head. This is my personal opinion…..
Somewhat surprising to read this one-sided article from Mr. Wilkinson. You call yourself a “motorcycle journalist” but only use your article to reinforce the negative stereotypes so easily available to defame the riders you supposedly write for. Do you really feel that you serve the interests of the motorcycling public with this type of inaccurate, slanted, and shallow article?
sounds like the person who wrote this articles spent to much time watching that lame motorcycle show on FX. clubs are nothing like that lame show
Who ever the person Admin is that wrote this story,comparing Murdercycles to Terrorists and ISIS is in my opinion a very low blow and pisspour journalism.Ride Ct should stick to motorcycles and leave Admin’s warpped view of a good group of people out of it. It was uncalled for and not needed.
My opinion of this magazines merit has dropped to zero. You sirs, need to regroup and apologize to Murdercycle in print and retact your comments. Sowhoever authored this article hide behind your admin title because you sir are a hack.
To this day I see stereotyping is still in style. There is only one thing that comes from this…FEAR.
We are taught at an early age and then teach our own children about discrimination, labeling and judging too quickly without doing our, what I would like to call, “homework”. Apparently NEAM feels that educating the public is insignificant. Last I knew this was a learning museum. What’s the harm in educating a little on a promoters name and what it means and the origin of it?
If one person doesn’t like something or someone…then we should all follow suit? The success of last year’s show (2014) brought in such a variety of people and ages of all kinds. A complaint about the Hells Angels being present is insignificant. They are no different than you or I; they have families, respective jobs and responsibilities just like anyone else. They had every right to be at NEAM that day.
There was concern with the way the public would or may perceive the name “Murdercycles”. The turn out from last year speaks for itself. The show would have been even bigger this year if closed- mindedness wasn’t involved. What’s even more distasteful is the fact that ISIS, terrorists and the Newtown tragedy were thrown into this article as if to say “Murdercycles” could possibly be in comparison to them due to the “risky” name and the lack of the meaning behind it. What this world needs is for everyone to open a book once in a while and educate themselves!
As the article says…with or without Murdercycles, it’s too good of a show to lose…
Mudercycles MC didn’t profit from last year’s event and were not going to make any profit this year as well. They simply wanted the respect of having their name behind the promotion of this successful show and they had every right to. This is what they are known for…RESPECT.
I also note you had no issues with the name Murdercycles in the following article: https://www.ride-ct.com/?p=9476
Not realizing you were against the name ‘until you got home’ from one persons opinion after seeing it everywhere before the show, writing the name in a writeup, AND going to the show, is no excuse.
Sounds like someone can’t make up his mind.
It’s sickening to use something like ISIS and Sandy Hook to further your anti-Murdercycles agenda. No better than any other BS politician trying to fear monger.
The museum greatly benefitted from the show that Murdercycles did all the work for, and you write them off as thugs who only self promote.
Now they want to use Murdercycles success to put on their own show. How nice of your non profit. I hope they lose money doing it.
And why should they compromise? In a field like graphic design, this is comparable to having a designer create a bunch of content for you, give you watermarked proofs, then photoshopping out the watermark and using it as your own with no credit given. You want them to build a success and hand all the praise to the museum. How can you possibly think that is ok? I’m sure our friend taking professional photos at the show would be pretty pissed if he did all that work, only to have the images stolen and published with someone else’s name on them.
Your article is a joke, and NEAM will continue to live again in obscurity once all of this is forgotten.
So despite the fact that the show was huge and brought in scores of people who otherwise would not have ever come to the museum, your anecdotal story of one person being made uncomfortable is sufficient for you to besmirch the name and rep of Murdercycles? Your attempt to imply a eqivalency between Murdercycles and terror groups is repugnant and showcases the shallowness of your reasoning. How are the goals of the museum, as you define them, furthered by having empty halls rather than perhaps the highest one day attendence of the year?
I disagree. I think that NEAM has missed out on a big opportunity here. Perhaps you are right that NEAM is safer by catering to what it supposes its “straight-laced business bigwigs” want, but who says safer is better? Safer is not always better, and is not always a path to success. Often, “safer” is simply a path to mediocrity. How many times have we seen someone succeed after taking the riskier path?
You assume that the bigwigs will be put off by the name “Murdercycles,” and you assume that the general public will have the same reaction. But we really don’t know that (certainly that wasn’t the case last year – even the friend in your example didn’t object to the name of the club, which he undoubtedly saw when he learned of the show). Perhaps this is just an ego driven decision by an experienced, conservative museum director who thinks he knows better? I would have liked to see that possibility explored in your piece. Perhaps some of the more progressive bigwig donors, directors, etc. would think that this was an “edgy” way to create a buzz around the museum? I would have liked to hear from some of them firsthand. (It is, after all, a place dedicated to the history of machines that, in large part, were used to actually kill people – so the hypocrisy of objecting to a name could not have been lost on all of them. Could they really be so sensitive to a single word and simultaneously cavalier about the broad history of their collection? And, if they are, is that a good thing?)
Perhaps some current museum patrons would be sensitive about the name, but the museum’s goal here has to be to attract new patrons, which is what last year’s event did. Isn’t it more likely that by playing it safe NEAM will simply continue to cater to the same core audience it always has? Is there some other big contingent of new patrons ready to storm the gates that Jerry Roberts is concerned about offending? And did the core group complain, or drop their memberships, after last year’s event – which was publicly advertised with the Murdercycles name? I’d like to know the answer to that question before hearing that Roberts was right to make his decision.
As you rightly point out, after last year this event was poised to become THE kickoff event of every season. But last year’s event was conceived, organized and run almost completely by Murdercycles and those they enlisted to help (which, of course, is why it’s preposterous even to suggest that this year’s show should be produced without even mentioning the club). Why do we think that NEAM will produce a similar event on their own, when they never have before? You give a glowing recitation of Jerry Roberts’ resume, but none of it seems to have anything to do with motorcycle events. Ray Luce is among the best event planners you will ever meet, and what he knows are motorcycle events. A listing of the items on his resume – which I also would liked to have seen – would be filled with decades of successful motorcycle events, including the NEAM show last year.
At the end, NEAM missed not just an opportunity to put on a great show, but to educate, which should be its core mission as a museum. To the extent that NEAM and Jerry Roberts believe the Murdercycles name is a problem, they could have produced a fun, informative display explaining to all that the name has its genesis in early motorcycle racing – educating their patrons in the process. Maybe NEAM could have produced some t-shirts with the logo “It’s a racer, not a crime” or some other, more clever phrase? Is there some reason to think that the public, even the bigwigs to whom we apparently must kowtow in order to succeed, would reject that effort, or remain concerned even after being educated? I suppose we will never know. But last year’s event, which you say NEAM “naively” agreed to, suggests that they would not. If NEAM really did stumble naively into this event last year, then the results should have had them thanking their lucky stars this year, not throwing away their good fortune in an effort to kiss corporate ass.
Suppose if we all rode dirt bikes and we’re called “Muddercycles” this would very a non issue.
All of this is nonsense. NEAM made their decision to snub a great group of guys over a name that they are clueless to understand.
Ride CT should be ashamed of posting this article.
Thank you for solidifying my decision to never go back to NEAM and to promote how it is run by a group of imbeciles.
In our ‘meeting’ with Jerry Roberts, we felt that we would have had to fight for every aspect of the shows fun. Last year was a great success for the NEAM and we would have had no better thrill than to continue to have had the same results year after year. One thing I want to make perfectly clear is that, the show at the museum was a Murdercycles MC event, not a NEAM production. While Gina helped tremendously with planning and promotion, our club put the event on. Economically speaking, our club received zero compensation for last years show. In truth, I personally spent countless hours and many dollars of my own money to prepare for the show. So then what’s in it for Murdercycles MC? We put on a great family oriented event to bring people to the museum that have never been there. To create a buzz about the museum. To open people’s eyes and see that Murdercycles MC is a family of brothers who’s love for motorcycle has brought them together to ride and show people how wonderful the world of the motorcycle is. Did you really mention our name along side of Newtown and ISIS?! That is an extremely unacceptable and ignorant comparison and you should be ashamed of yourself for writing those words. The bottom line and mystery as to why we are not doing the show is very simple. We will not work with Jerry Roberts just like Jerry Roberts won’t work with Murdercycles MC unless we changed our name while in association with the NEAM show. Our meeting lasted 10 minutes, of which Jerry Roberts felt the need to throw his career achievements on the table, and it was clear to us that the show would no longer be fun with him involved. Our club has 15 years of experience putting on shows. We do not need the NEAM show, we will have many more without them. We were projecting 2000 participants/spectators this year. Do the math, at $12 per entry, 10 minutes cost the museum in excess of over $20,000 ……….It makes me curious, if you have met (and think you know us), then why are you even questioning our withdrawal? We have had a wonderful supporting outcry about the cancellation of this event, but again, we do not need the show, we were doing it for the museum. For our name to be slandered by the likes of ignorant onlookers is upsetting and makes our efforts to correct the stereotype that is held about us seem feudal. I will not apologize for cancelling the show, that is on the hands of Jerry Roberts and his board. Hope to see everyone at our next event and thank you for understanding the position we were forced to deal with.
The pussification of America continues.
Now it’s “sefish self-promotion” to want credit for your creativity? Typical thoughts from an internet “publisher”. I bet he gets all his “content” for free.
And if by ‘public perception” you mean near-obscurity, they have succeeeded in protecting that.
I will never return to that building. Or this web site.
F.U. – Forever United!
Living in a time where substance is overridden by perception,,,,, neither party involved had a guarantee,,,,however the impetus and physical work was performed in majority by the Club,,,,a mutually beneficial event,,,,placing the blame on either party is your opinion,,,maybe next time you should fact check better Mr. Donorcycle,,,,,has not a thing to do with Murdercycle,,,,
After reading you article I am beyond disbelief at the disregard that you have for a group of guys who have done many great things for those in need. For one you think that they should have willingly put on a show at your museum but did it with no recognition is what this seems like. They were willing to do a show without any profit of their own accord but to have their name on it. That seems not only reasonable but also can be an education gain for those who don’t understand what Murdercycles is. These “people” are the one’s who ride and collect donations, toys and so on to give to those less fortunate. Yet your friend complains about them so they must be terrible. That same friend of yours that complained who I bet if fell on hard times and couldn’t get things for his children on Christmas would have no problem excepting a donation from Murdercycles to help out. I have know all of the members of Murdercycles since they started and some before it started and not once have they ever done anything to deserve anything less than to be recognized as the good guys that they are. They promoted that show through their website and actively sharing and telling others. Without them it would not have been such a big hit. I would not waste my money coming to your show next year unless Murdercycles was recognized for it.
Further more using ISIS and the Sandyhook shooting in a sentence with the Murdercycles name was extremely tasteless. Do you realize there are military men and women that are part of them, that have fought for our country? You sir should be ashamed.
I am not a member of murdercycles but i have attended numerous events that the club successfully produced. I’m also aware of the positive things they do for both family and community. I will continue to attend murdercycle shows and events, i will however not attend any motorcycle event at the air museum on principle. I am disappointed with the opinion of Ride CT in this article
Mr. Wilkinson, I don’t ride and I don’t belong to a club but I know Ray Luce from Murdercycles and the good work he and his club do as do many MC’s throughout the US. I understand that public perception can be an issue and its unfortunate that it led to the cancellation of the show, but to state that Murdercycles motive may have been selfish self promotion is just your speculation and completely untrue. Any organization that puts together an event, handles all the logistics, obtains sponsors and pulls off a successful show would and should want their name promoted as a sponsor or host. What you fail to realize is that it is not about promotion it is about respect. The club could not in good conscience put on an event and not be able to represent who they are and what they do. Would you want to put your heart and soul in to an article and have to give the credit to someone else? I think not. It’s YOUR hard work, time and effort. So with all due respect, you know very little about this part of the motorcycle community and once again they are portrayed as villains and thugs. It’s a shame. I have been part of the MC community for 7 years and when I needed help the most in the worst of times it is this community that was there for me and has been for countless others. I applaud Murdercycles for not backing down and staying true to who they are. Stereotypes are for the uninformed. Do your homework.
Just remember who came up with the idea of a motorcycle show indoors at NEAM. It was my idea, not the museum’s.
I cannot believe how shallow minded people can be. We are not living in the television show “Sons of Anarchy.” It is completely unfair to judge a club based on their name or the reputation that TV gives them! So what I get out of this article is that if the club had been named “peacecycles” or something equally as non-offensive, there would be no issue having them be a part of the show.
This club donates to charities, sponsors family style events in a positive environment and is a club full of all around good people, but because of their name, they are now “scary bikers”? Get real people! Let the facts speak for themselves! The show last year was a HUGE success, so the logical thing to do is not have it again, right?….