There’s no good reason for them to be on the road. Consider the following:
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They’re extremely loud and cause noise pollution
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They’re very dangerous on the road and have high accident rates
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They’re bad for the environment and cause air pollution
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They’re extremely inefficient as they can only carry 1-2 people max
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They can’t carry cargo
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They’re dangerous for pedestrians
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They’re very demanding to operate
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They’re virtually useless in the winter when there’s snow, ice, and hail
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The people who tend to drive them tend to be assholes who don’t respect road laws
People complain about cars all the time, and while our car dependency is definitely a big issue that we need to address, cars still have a lot utility. Motorcycles on the other hand? Not really. I think getting rid of them once and for all is good way to immediately make our roads safer, simplify traffic, and open up a pathway to move away from cars.
Motorcycle is a broad category, most e-bikes fit under it. The defining characteristics is a motor vehicle steered by handlebar from a saddle style seat.
They don’t have to be loud, but many drivers intentionally choose to make them loud. This comes down to a cultural issue, more about that later. Arguably most sports cars are much more obnoxious.
The accident rate and danger tends to come down more to cars than to motorcycles them selves. Most deadly motorcycle accidents are collisions with cars, and most of those are deemed the fault of the car driver. They’re also unreasonably fast for the form factor, again, because they have to mingle with cars, particularly on the highway.
Motorcycles are held to the same emission standards as cars, unless it’s not a road legal vehicle like a dirt bike, or not fast/powerful enough to require a license, like a moped. And they’re generally way more fuel efficient than cars due to being physically smaller, most getting between 70 to 90 MPG. Even Harley’s, intentionally outdated and inefficient designs, get 45MPG better than most cars.
Most can fit 2 people, which is more than most cars tend to have in them at any given time, and with pannier bags they can carry more than most cars will carry on a day to day basis, with most people never carrying cargo in their car beyond a few grocery bags.
They’re statistically much less dangerous to pedestrians than cars. I have no idea where you got the idea they’re more dangerous to pedestrians from.
They’re generally actually much easier to maintain than a car being smaller and less mechanically complex. The reason that so many motorcyclists tend to spend a lot of time maintain them is because they’re doing more of it them selves rather than taking it to a dealership or a mechanic.
There is absolutely a cultural issue among motorcyclists, but much of that comes down to how often they’re nearly killed by inattentive drivers. Constantly being put in danger by car drivers not paying attention tends to make people a bit hostile to car drivers. Much of the rest comes down to the fact that such a risky activity tends to attract people who are in to it to seem “cool”, which will attract some shitty people.