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Harley-Davidson Taps Brakes, DEI BACKLASH from Bikers & Veterans

Harley-Davidson.  The name alone is synonymous with ICON.

Chances are you either ride, used to ride, you know someone who rides – or you WISH you could ride!  How much more bad@ass American can you get than a Harley-Davidson!

But then again, recent events surrounding the brand might have your stomach churning faster than a 5-Speed black & white Electra Glide flying down Loop 12 on Ledbetter towards Mountain Creek Lake.

If so, this article is for you.  Let me explain.

Back in the day my Dad and his friends from High School rode all over the old neighborhood.  One of the more (dare I use the word again?) ICONIC areas of Dallas.

In my memory the streets of Oak Cliff rumbled with the thunder of pistons and exhaust pipes, and smelled like a mix of gasoline and the oiled leather of custom seats and saddlebags under the Texas sun.

For those of you with a slow grin creeping up on your face right now, there’s a picture just a few lines down of a tag from an older Harley-Davidson seat.  It simply explains the nature of leather.  (Trust me – this is good.)

But hold on, let’s dispense with a few formalities before we get too deep.  And yes – I do plan to wax a little poetic and nostalgic.  So buckle in.

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Here’s the story.  Harley-Davidson hired a new CEO a few years ago.  And the company started to go “woke”.  And then they went full “woke”, because the CEO was as “woke as woke gets”.

But there was enough people upset by all the “wokeness” that the company was all but slaughtered on and offline for their sacrilegious debauchery of what many saw as a truly American company.

And now, Harley-Davidson has suddenly changed it’s tune.  Or, atleast, maybe the Board has?  There are signs to that effect, though somewhat conflicting signals to be sure.

There are also a lot of folks not buying it.  I’m curious… where you’ll land on that, once you’re brought up to speed?

First, let’s revisit that aromatic leather under the Texas sun just once more… before we dive into all the facts.  We need to get the ambiance right on this one so I can make my point.

You can thank the folks at “The Hog Ring”, an Auto Upholstery online forum, for this awesome pic:

There’s our seat tag, explaining the simple nature of leather.  Notice anything?

It’s straightforward.  No-nonsense.  Unapologetic about it’s UNIQUENESS.

Again – how much more American can you get!?

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Now, keep those touchstone qualities in mind, because that’s exactly where Harley-Davidson screwed up.  That’s where America is screwing up.  And that’s exactly what we need restored to it’s rightful place:

In a nutshell, a TRUE UNDERSTANDING of what it ACTUALLY means to be straightforward, no-nonsense, and unapologetically UNIQUE.

Before I pop a clutch and get wobbly, let’s get a little background about the CEO in question, Jochen Zeitz.  (No, I can’t say it, either.)  Let me paint a quick picture.

Foreigner.  German-born.  Nothing to write him off over, yet- but I’m not done.  Former CEO of Puma (you know, the shoes?), and Kering (French-based company that owns luxury brands like Gucci, Balenciaga… you get the picture).

Yes… Harley-Davidson made him their CEO.

No… I don’t have a clue what they were thinking.

Even if you’re determined to go “full woke”, are you really stupid enough to think the folks that ride, wear, bleed and breath Harley-Davidson are going to just be fine with all this?

But since we’re all just as perplexed together, here’s a video of the man himself, proud that his CEO friend called him the “Sustainability Taliban”.  This clip should give you a good idea of the problem…

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Sustainability.  Climate agendas.  This guy is as “Green” focused as they come, and sounds more like the head of an NGO doing peace work in the Balkans than a likely leader of America’s Harley-Davidson.

And for those who want to go down the rabbit hole and see exactly what brought things to a heated boil, check out Robby Starbuck’s post on X back on July 29th.  This is the guy who really stirred the pot, and got results!

But here are the real questions that need asking, and answering:

1.) Will the recent turn around by Harley-Davidson save the brand?

2.) Is it too little, too late, damage done?

Let’s peek in for some details of what happened from the folks at Fox News:

Harley-Davidson released a statement on Monday renouncing DEI and other controversial company initiatives in the wake of social-media outrage and withering pressure from longtime loyal bikers.

“It is critical to our business that we hire and retain the best talent and that all employees feel welcome,” the statement reads.

“That said, we have not operated a DEI function since April 2024, and we do not have a DEI function today. We do not have hiring quotas and we no longer have supplier diversity spend goals.”

The statement also said Harley-Davidson was reassessing employee training initiatives and sponsorships while refocusing on its most loyal customers.

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“As a consumer brand, we will focus exclusively on growing the sport of motorcycling and retaining our loyal riding community, in addition to the support we already provide to first responders, active military members and veterans.”

Harley-Davidson had faced grumblings for years from longtime customers, including hard-core bikers, who claimed that the Milwaukee-based company “used” them to build its “bad–s” brand, then abandoned them as the motorcycle’s popularity expanded to upscale riders.

The dissatisfaction exploded in July when social-media influencer Robby Starbuck outed several controversial internal woke policies at Harley.

And here is the full statement put out by Harley-Davidson on Monday, August 19th:

So the “woke mind virus” infected our beloved Harley-Davidson.  A concerted effort was made to bring attention and apply pressure from a wide swath of customers; specifically from the veteran community.  And… it worked?

Maybe.  There are doubters.  Here are just a few:

So another big American company went “woke”, and decided to backtrack after Americans drew the line.  But.. this feels DIFFERENT to me.

This wasn’t just another company.  This was Harley-Davidson.  You know – the company that embodied what it was to be straightforward, no-nonsense, and unapologetic about it’s uniqueness?

You’re free to make up your own mind, and I guess we’ll all find out in time – but what do you think?  Was it too little, too late?  Can the damage be undone?

I sure hope so.  Because it seems to me that the wrong turn Harley-Davidson made was exactly the wrong turn that America has made.  We exchanged what we used to own like no other nation on earth (rebellion against conformity, bold courage to be unique) with it’s exact opposite (mass forced conformity by means of societal pressure in the form of WOKE-ISM), and since words now mean whatever you want them to mean, most people have no idea the switch ever happened.

The “woke” mob truly thinks they are counter-culture.  They truly think they are UNIQUE.  They truly think that they have transcended to a higher plane of TOLERANCE.

When the only thing they’ve really done is become the most INTOLERANT people to have ever lived on God’s green earth.

And all the while pointing intolerant fingers at everyone else, who are mostly very happy to let people live their lives however they see fit.

It has gotten to the point (think about this…) that CEO’s of large companies are willing to RISK IT ALL FINANCIALLY in order to infuse this “woke” lunacy into businesses all over our country.

So what do YOU think?  Did Harley-Davidson go too far for too long to ever right the ship?

Or does hope still remain in the remnant of us who still know what it means to end a conversation with, “Well, it’s a free country…”, and just go on with life, letting people be themselves?

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard those words.  Probably back in Oak Cliff.  When my parents were still young, wearing faded jeans with threads naturally wearing thin.  Worn out t-shirts with rock bands on the back.  And Harley-Davidson everything.  Not because they all wanted to be alike-

But because they truly valued, and understood, what it meant to be YOURSELF.

What it meant to be an American.

Straightforward.  No-nonsense.  Unapologetic.  Unique.

Not because someone told you that you had to, or because you were “trained” by some pseudo-intellectual social worker whose job it was to update you with the newest list of pronouns, etc.  Or even because you were tying to go out of your way to create some new level of weirdness to set yourself apart (though, IT’S A FREE COUNTRY!).

But just because… you’re free.

As it turns out, “unique” and “tolerant” don’t live well together when they’re forced.

They are true attributes of freedom.  Of a free people.  And if we want to see a return to the values that made Harley-Davidson what it was; that made AMERICA what it was…

We don’t need more “woke” crap shoved down our throats.

We need a return to freedom.  True American freedom.  Not the kind that forces pronouns and diversity independent of merit.  But the kind of freedom where it isn’t uncommon to see two people who disagree on some thing, to AGREE on another thing: that it’s a “free country, brother”… and go on with life.

Both of them completely free.  Both unwilling to afford the other any less freedom for the difference of opinion.

Straightforward.  No-nonsense.  Unapologetically unique.

That is freedom.  And I want it back.

And I want it back for you, too.


 

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