Harley Turmoil: DEI and Overseas Production

In July, the Harley‐Davidson Homecoming Festival celebrated the 121st anniversary of the revered Motor Company, and it was a feel‐good party for H‐D enthusiasts and the company you can read about in our September issue.

But the positive vibes for H‐D have faded with a confluence of events that have soured the tastes of some Harley faithful. First came the barrage of YouTubers angry about H‐D’s corporate efforts toward diversity, equity, and inclusion, a seemingly noble goal that some people believe disadvantages higher‐quality job candidates in favor of minority inclusion.

Making the biggest splash was anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck, who accused H-D of adopting “the woke agenda of the very far left.”

This vortex of animosity coincided with the Sturgis rally, which seemed to be down on attendance this year. Rather than blaming it on the pinch of inflation we’re all feeling, some bar‐and‐shield loyalists blamed widespread rejection of the MoCo’s DEI efforts.

Then came the announcement on August 8 that Harley‐Davidson would be shifting production of bikes built with Revolution Max engines to its factory in Thailand. This contradicts a statement in 2018 that all Harleys sold in America would be built in America.

“Harley‐Davidson has backtracked on that promise, planning to manufacture these bikes abroad and send them to the U.S. for American consumers,” said Brian Bryant, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Recall that H‐D opened its Thailand facility in 2018, which was followed by the closure of Harley’s Kansas City plant and the loss of about 600 jobs. That factory had produced Sportsters, V‐Rods, Dynas, and the Street platform.

Farewell to the Harley-Davidson Sportster

The Thailand factory was established primarily in response to a 31% tariff imposed by the European Union on U.S.-made motorcycles, and it was intended to serve Asian and European markets – a reaction to tariffs on European steel and aluminum imports enacted under then‐President Donald Trump.

But for 2025, the Pan America, Sportster S, and Nightster models found in U.S. dealers will be built overseas alongside RevMax bikes built for foreign markets.

“As part of our overall manufacturing optimization strategy,” the MoCo said in a statement, “Harley‐Davidson is to temporarily transition the production of its non‐core Revolution Max powertrain equipped models to its manufacturing facility in Thailand for model‐year 2025. This does not have an impact on employment at U.S. facilities.”

Harley-Davidson Sportster S, Indian Scout Bobber, Indian FTR S Comparison

While production of Harley’s core products of touring bikes, trikes, and Softail models for American customers will remain in the U.S. and the company is investing $9 million in its York, Pennsylvania, factory, the announcement about moving production overseas was met with derision.

To be fair to the MoCo, it’s unlikely the quality of foreign‐sourced bikes will suffer compared to those built domestically. Indeed, most manufacturers have production bases outside their home countries. Triumph, the illustrious British brand, builds most of its bikes in Thailand. The legendary Italian marque Ducati also has a factory in Thailand, as does Honda.

But there is no denying the blow delivered by Harley’s announcement, and some fear it will hurt U.S. suppliers and result in job losses. It’s interesting H‐D described the production shift as a temporary transition, and specifically for the 2025 model year. It would be highly unlikely for Harley to revert back to U.S. RevMax production unless Thailand was incapable of building trouble‐free Harleys.

Or unless there is a consumer backlash strong enough to change H‐D’s corporate calculations. On the DEI front, Harley is updating its stance, issuing a statement on Aug. 19 that it hasn’t had a corporate DEI function since April and no longer has minority-owned supplier goals.

“We are saddened by the negativity on social media over the last few weeks, designed to divide the Harley-Davidson community. As a company, we take this issue very seriously, and it is our responsibility to respond with clarity, action and facts.”

H-D also says it will be reorganizing employee resource groups to focus on business development, mentoring, and training, and it plans to exit socially motivated training for employees.

The backlash about DEI and the shift to some overseas production has been strong, with some disgruntled Harley enthusiasts invoking a culture war. I understand the anger, but I can’t fathom why a dude would choose to destroy his U.S.-built Harley in protest.

“I’m going to make a statement for good versus evil, for normality versus wokeism,” said Brian Lanckiewicz in his YouTube video. “I’m going to do this in the most American way I can think of,” he said unironically.

The gun enthusiast then unleashed rifles and machineguns on his poor Road King, culminating with setting his Harley atop a barrel of fuel and firing 50‐cal rifles to blow it up real good.

As of this writing, the video has garnered more than 16,000 comments, with some applauding the sentiment and others in disbelief that Lanckiewicz would unload $10K worth of ammo to destroy his $8K Harley.

While I love firing guns, I’d think that I’d get a bigger psychological bang for the buck just by going for a long ride on a Road King…