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Bikers feel used after Harley-Davidson goes ‘totally woke’: ‘It’s branding suicide’

August 10, 2024 | | Print Article

Harley-Davidson is reportedly facing growing backlash over the motorcycle manufacturer’s decision to go “woke.”

The company’s decision to go “woke” became apparent in a Twitter/X post published last month by conservative activist Robby Starbuck.

In the tweet, Starbuck highlighted multiple ways in which the company has embraced “woke” politics.

Look:

As noted by Starbuck, the company supports the Orwellian “Equality Act,” supports drag queen storytime performances for children, and supports DEI.

Moreover, the company reportedly forced its 1,800 employees to participate in a virtual workshop on how to become allies to the LGBT mafia and donated millions to an organization that promotes the likes of racial essentialist zealots like Ibram Kendi and Robin DiAngelo.

And the company “celebrated their legal dept taking a woke 21 day racial equity and literacy challenge which included speeches like ‘Black Panthers, White Lies,’ a BLM speech and Ta-Nehisi Coates ‘Case for Reparations,'” according to Starbuck.

Speaking with Fox News this week, a number of loyal Harley-Davidson fans expressed great disappointment and anger over the brand’s newfound “woke” tendencies. They’re especially upset because they feel like they were used to build the brand up but have since been discarded.

“Harley used the motorcycle clubs and used the loyalty of a lot of bikers for decades to build the brand,” motorcyclist and former outlaw gang member James “Hollywood” Macecari told Fox News.

“The bikers stuck with Harley through the AMF (American Machine and Foundry) years in the 1970s when the bikes were junk and nobody else wanted them. C’mon. What brand gets tattooed all over people like Harley? You know? Harley got loyalty and billions in free advertising from the bikers,” he added.

And this is how the company has chosen to repay the bikers.

“The relationship with bikers worked for Harley for decades,” Macecari continued. “Then all of a sudden, if I walked into a Harley-Davidson dealership with my patch, they snubbed their noses, even though I probably made more money than half the owners.”

Bikers are not pleased.

“It’s branding suicide,” South Dakota bike shop owner Vinny Terranova told Fox News. “A lot of bikers are switching over to Indian. They killed Harley. It breaks my heart.”

According to Fox News, riders have been raising concerns about the company ever since German-born CEO Jochen Zeitz took over in May of 2020.

“A Harley valued at $30,000 just a few years ago is now getting only $4,000,” Terranova said. “People don’t even want to be associated with Harley anymore.”

The boycott is engendering real-life consequences for the brand.

For example, only 60,000 bikers attended the Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin last month, down from the 80,000 who attended the previous year.

Harley-Davidson has also faced a boycott at this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Look:

That said, not everybody believes the brand has gone “woke.”

“Harley has not gone woke,” a longtime dealership employee in Texas told Fox News. “They’re not hiring transgender influencers to ride down the road on Harleys. None of these training programs [that led to the ‘woke’ accusations] were mandatory.”

Fair point. But still. It’s a fact, for example, that the brand is “openly working to have less White suppliers, dealers and employees,” as reported by Starbuck.

It’s also a fact that Harley-Davidson has been holding race-based training sessions.

If this crap isn’t “woke” madness, then what is?

Vivek Saxena
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