Noise Annoys

Now that it is summer, noises of certain kinds are sending our canine resident at the Dunne Hosey Estates, Walker Evans, into occasional frenzies.
He remains terribly afraid of thunder, running around the house barking and chasing the sounds, trying to protect Val and I, unless I grab him, close him in the media room with me or put him on a leash. None of this is particular fun at about 3 a.m. on a summer night/morning.
Being a day away from Independence Day, Walker has also been quite scared of some fireworks displays as well as overnight firecrackers, but he is doing his best with those, notably seeming to be more used to the fireworks after Buffalo Bisons' baseball games than he used to be.
Walker has also been afraid of motorcycles for years, but as of late, he seems to be more annoyed and angered with them than ever before. Besides doing much more barking at them when we encounter them during our walks, he tries to go after them if they are at a traffic light or intersection near us or driving very close by us. Maybe it is just for show and he would not actually force an encounter, but he has almost knocked me over once or twice (and I am about 200-205 pounds), so I am not taking any chances and am holding the leash shorter and tighter as soon as we see or hear a motorocycle.
Only one or two thunderstorms have severely affected Val and my sleep so far, but the summer is young.