Iconic Motorcycle Dealership Shuttered After 110 Years Amid Woke DEI Backlash

The San Fran­cis­co Harley-David­son, a beloved insti­tu­tion that had been in oper­a­tion for over a cen­tu­ry, abrupt­ly closed its doors, fac­ing the con­se­quences of the par­ent com­pa­ny’s woke diver­si­ty, equi­ty, and inclu­sion (DEI) initiatives.

Chaos and Mismanagement Lead to Downfall

The icon­ic deal­er­ship, found­ed in 1914 by Dud­ley Perkins and passed down through three gen­er­a­tions, had man­aged to sur­vive the Great Depres­sion, two world wars, and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

How­ev­er, its demise came in the final days of June 2024, amid a peri­od of “chaot­ic” man­age­ment under Cliff Chester, who took over the deal­er­ship in 2018.

For­mer employ­ees described the deal­er­ship as hav­ing been “run in the ground” under Chester’s leadership. 

They claimed that auto parts went unla­beled, mer­chan­dise reg­u­lar­ly went miss­ing, and there was no sys­tem in place for employ­ees to orga­nize invoic­es or pack­ing lists, lead­ing to unful­filled orders.

Backlash Over Woke DEI Initiatives

The clo­sure of the San Fran­cis­co Harley-David­son deal­er­ship came amid a broad­er con­ser­v­a­tive back­lash against the par­ent com­pa­ny’s woke DEI ini­tia­tives under CEO Jochen Zeitz. 

These ini­tia­tives includ­ed fund­ing a Pride event in Penn­syl­va­nia with face-paint­ing and bal­loon twist­ing for chil­dren, as well as a “rage room” where adults could “let off steam.”

The com­pa­ny also part­nered with polit­i­cal groups that pushed left-lean­ing ideas, includ­ing the Wis­con­sin LGBT Cham­ber of Com­merce, Unit­ed Way, and the Human Rights Campaign. 

This led to accu­sa­tions that Harley-David­son mon­ey was being used to pro­mote sex-change pro­ce­dures on chil­dren and anti-racism efforts against “white­ness” and “Chris­t­ian privilege.”

Calls for CEO’s Removal

Con­ser­v­a­tive influ­encer Rob­by Star­buck spear­head­ed the move­ment against Harley-David­son’s woke poli­cies, demand­ing the com­pa­ny drop its CEO. 

Coun­try music star Travis Tritt and for­mer UFC cham­pi­on Sean Strick­land also voiced their oppo­si­tion, with Strick­land say­ing he would nev­er own a Harley-David­son again.