American politics have been a fucking minefield for years, but far right weirdos are smashing their foot on the accelerator lately and creating a conservative ouroboros in the process. Greasy haired music video director-turned-culture-warrior Robby Starbuck called for his 500,000 followers to boycott Harley-Davidson in July for being woke, and seemingly took credit for the company’s stock declining 3 percent over five years. This guy’s weird screed against H-D has spiraled across conservative media in the last three weeks, finally making it to the big time, Fox News.
Fox is trying really hard to make this a story. Harley-Davidson, a 121-year-old American company which employs over 11,000 people, is dedicated to making its employees feel comfortable and safe on campus, which includes diversity in hiring initiatives, and allowing transgender employees to use the facilities that fit their gender.
Meanwhile some totally uninvolved weirdos saw a trans person drink a beer two years ago and haven’t stopped trying to “speak to a manager” since. Apparently a few vocal Harley-Davidson owners are mad about it, and Fox wanted to give them a place to voice their displeasure.
In the Fox News piece the writer mentions a huge 25 percent dip in attendance at H-D’s Harley Homecoming event, which takes place at its Milwaukee headquarters every year. This year just 60,000 bikers rode and flew in from all around the country and indeed world, which is significantly down from 2023’s event, which saw 80,000 attendees. Surely this is because bikers are waking up to the company’s woke practices, right? It definitely doesn’t have anything to do with 2023 being the 120th anniversary, and the company pulling out all of the stops to make it a giant bash.
From Fox News: “Attendance declined dramatically last week at the annual Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the motorcycle maker was founded in 1903.“
Harley sold 163,000 motorcycles worldwide in 2023, up from 109,000 bikes in 2022, placing it among the largest bike manufacturers. It is still far and away the number one bike brand by sales in the U.S.. The Motor Company was admittedly embattled in a pre-2020 world, hiring Jochen Zeitz as CEO in May of that year. The German executive has worked diligently to usher in a new Harley, expanding its lineup to include the incredibly popular (and incredibly competent) Pan America adventure touring bike.
Look, whether you buy a Harley-Davidson or not doesn’t matter to me. I think they build some good bikes and some less-good bikes, and they’re all hellaciously expensive. But if you’re a weirdo who doesn’t want to create a welcoming space for people who aren’t like you, I’d prefer you didn’t ride at all. The motorcycle community is small enough already that if you are still trying to exclude people based on their race or gender identity, you’re a fucking asshole and we don’t need you.