Historic motorcycle dealership shuts down amid backlash over 'woke' policies
The most recent location for the San Francisco Harley-Davidson
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A motorcycle dealership that had been described as 'like a museum' for Harley-Davidson enthusiasts has shut its doors.
The San Francisco Harley-Davidson was founded in 1914 by Dudley Perkins and was passed along to three generations, becoming the longest-running family-owned Harley-Davidson dealership.
However, the shop, which has moved locations several times before settling on Mission Street, closed suddenly.
It comes as there is concern that even more Harley-Davidson dealerships may close amid a conservative boycott of the storied American company.
The most recent location for the San Francisco Harley-Davidson
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Carlos Martinez, who had worked at the dealership for 22 years until he was also let go last week, said: "Everything was just kind of chaos."
Harvey-Davidson dealerships are independent businesses licensed to sell Harley-Davidson products. However, they must comply with corporate standards. There were accusations that many of these protocols weren’t followed by the new management, three employees said. They added that parts sat in a room, unlabeled and merchandise was lost.
Martinez added: "It just became a dealership. That's not the way Dudley Perkins was... you were part of a family, the motorcycle community."
Mechanic Christopher Weber told Mission Local that the dealership was "like a museum" for enthusiasts but he said that in the last few days the dealership was in operation, it seemed like it had been "run into the ground."
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Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz
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It comes as the company is the latest target in a series of conservative protests against companies with DEI efforts.
According to one activist, Robby Starbuck, the company has hosted an LGBTQ+ boot camp, donated money to LGBTQ+ campaigns, helped found Wisconsin's LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, had employees attend training on how to be an ally to LGBTQ+ members, and made employees adhere to DEI measures.
While the motorcycle company has not responded to Starbuck's calls for a boycott, a dealership in Vermont published a blog post calling them "another example of his baseless attempts to stir controversy."
The post read: "His baseless accusations against Harley-Davidson are part of a broader pattern of sensationalism aimed at monetising outrage."
Starbuck is now demanding the company drop its CEO Jochen Zeitz and has rallied some major names to his cause.
Country music star Travis Tritt also called the accusations against Zeitz "disturbing."
He wrote on social media: "I seriously doubt that pushing a DEI agenda will be very popular with any of the HOG members I know.
"Looking forward to discussing these issues with many of my Harley-Davidson owner friends @SturgisRally next week."