I can’t think of another corporation in the United States that stirs up such strong emotions and opinions as Harley-Davidson.
At one end of the spectrum, you have who knows how many people who have the company logo tattooed on their bodies, and I know there’s at least one guy who has portraits of the company founders tattooed on his back. At the other end, you have motorcyclists who sneer at the products and swear off any association with what they perceive as the culture surrounding the brand. And how many companies’ customers are the subject of a South Park parody?
Thirty years ago I had a Sportster. Didn’t everyone who’s been riding for more than 40 years have a Sportster at some point?
And, since this is the age of social media, that means there are plenty of people out there eager to cash in on the emotions, both pro and con, toward the Motor Company. That’s why we see YouTube and TikTok videos and website articles with doomsday clickbait headlines such as “Can Harley-Davidson even survive this?!” It’s why in recent years you saw influencers doing some outrage farming, slamming the company for “going woke” and the absurd spectacle of a YouTuber blasting his Harley-Davidson with a shotgun.
It’s all more than a little ridiculous.
Easily the most expensive motorcycle I’ve ever ridden was the Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide ST I tested almost two years ago.
In the latest edition of the Highside/Lowside motorcycle podcast, I join my friend and podcast host Spurgeon Dunbar to take what I intend to be a much more measured, calm, and factually accurate look at Harley-Davidson.
Yes, the company has some genuine challenges it must face and it’s not in as strong a position as it has been in the past. (Also, some of those challenges aren’t new, and it’s been facing them for decades.) But at the same time Harley-Davidson is a profitable company in no danger of going bankrupt in the near future.
There’s no click-bait hype here. Just a balanced look at the biggest motorcycle company in the United States, along with a quick review of how the corporate strategy has changed significantly under the last two CEOs and the first hints of how it might evolve under newly appointed CEO Artie Starrs. If you care about Harley-Davidson, check it out and let me know if you feel we succeeded in producing a discussion that sheds more light than heat.
