I'm sorry you had to have such a frightening and sad experience with Nino. Bckrazy's post was a good one and pretty much gives the explanation that I would feel is most likely. The other thing is that it only takes one time of someone frightening him or teasing him while tied up to trigger that 'fight or flight' instinct (of course while tied up, he can't take the flight option) and it can suddenly become something he does every time.
Think of it like this, if someone had a bad accident at a certain intersection, they will probably always be nervous and anxious when they go through that intersection again. Also, when the person/biker/boarder goes away after he does it, it reinforces that as a solution. He learns that lunging/barking means the scary person goes away. I think you should definitely end the tying and leaving, especially since now it has become a situation of high anxiety for him and he is acting increasingly alarmed, which transfers into increasingly aggressive behavior. The first step in all this is to take away/stop the scenario that's causing the behavior to occur, and then like bckrazy said, work gently and slowly on desensitizing to things that cause alarm.
If he's fine around your bike and so on, perhaps try to take him to an area where bikes go by at a distance first, and slip him a yummy treat like cheese or hotdog bits when a bike goes by until he's completely oblivious to bikes and people going by. I would stress that it's important to start out farther away from them where he feels fairly safe. Very gradually, over days/weeks even, inch a bit closer and continue doing this until you reach the point that a bike can pass by him pretty close with him being relaxed. If at some point he suddenly shows alarm and barks, it's VERY important not to give him any attention for it, simply take his leash and walk him away and let him calm down on his own. If you get stressed out or hug him or scold him or do anything like that, it will reinforce the behavior. Try as much as possible to stay calm and confident, he will pick up on your emotions too.
If you can get him to the point where he is calm when bikes and skateboarders etc go by him, that is great, but I still would not leave him tied outside anymore because it places him and you in a situation where you are not in control, and it only takes one idiot or jerk to go by and traumatize him to the point where he's back at square one, or maybe even worse than before.
I wish you the best, and give that sweet boy a hug from me.
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