Indian Motorcycle Issues Statement on Harley Controversy. Doubles Down on Criticism

Over the last few days, a host of controversial social media posts have lambasted Harley-Davidson, while simultaneously hyping its main rival, Indian Motorcycle. This ended with a post from Indian's corporate social media account that mimics political attack ads against Harley, citing a host of reasons why consumers should flee the brand.

Those issues included the brand's shelved DEI program, its offshore manufacturing, and Harley's failure to market toward its "real" customers. The same talking points of those influencers that had broken through the noise of the internet just a few days prior.

RideApart has been covering the story since it dropped last week, detailing the inner workings and who's who of Indian's new marketing firm, Noise Media and its potential role in this campaign. We also reported Noise Media's ties, and subsequent scrubbing of those ties, with former Donald J. Trump campaign manager, Brad Parscale, and his role in this purported campaign. And at the time, neither Indian Motorcycle, Noise Media, Carolwood LP (Indian's new owners), nor Parscale's numerous PR firms responded to RideApart's questions on the supposed campaign or social media posts. 

That has changed, as the following was sent to RideApart's inbox and is attributed to an Indian Motorcycle spokesperson. Not only does it not answer many of the questions we posed, but it furthers Indian Motorcycle's criticisms of Harley-Davidson. 

To the motorcycle community:

The claim that Indian Motorcycle manufactured the recent criticism of Harley-Davidson is false. We did not create the story, script the voices, or direct the people who brought these issues back into public view. Sean Strickland speaks for Sean Strickland. Robby Starbuck speaks for Robby Starbuck.

What we did was not hide from a conversation riders were already having. Harley-Davidson made its own decisions in public. Riders have every right to question them. Indian did not create Harley-Davidson's record. Harley-Davidson did.

We know some people want this industry to stay quiet and just talk about the bikes. We respect that. But American motorcycles have never been only about specs. They are identity, loyalty, culture, freedom, and trust.

Harley-Davidson understood competition when it launched its own "Indian Conquest" program targeting Indian riders on the first day of Indian's new ownership and Mike Kennedy's first day as CEO. That was treated as business. When Indian competes back, it should not suddenly be treated as bad for motorcycling.

A stronger Indian is better for riders, dealers, builders, mechanics, racers, and the future of American motorcycling.

We respect Harley-Davidson's history. We respect Harley riders. But respect is not surrender.

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For those who aren't up to speed on the Indian vs. Harley spat, the controversy arose after MMA fighter Sean Strickland began posting about his issues with Harley-Davidson and its supposed "woke" policies, and how he was switching to Indian Motorcycle. A number of other right-wing influencers began posting similar narratives across their timelines, stirring folks up, and then pointing them to Indian, as well. 

That culminated in a collaborative post with Indian Motorcycle and Sean Strickland, with Strickland riding off on a new Indian Motorcycle. 

Robby Starbuck is the same right-wing influencer who strummed up the attacks on Harley-Davidson AND Indian Motorcycle nearly two years ago for each having DEI programs that supposedly pushed "woke" ideologies on children and their customers. The attack was, at the time, considered a success, as both companies walked back their programs, though neither admitted to any wrongdoing. Starbuck recently began posting about Harley-Davidson again, while also promoting Indian Motorcycle, just as others had. 

Indian's above statement seems to disprove that the company had any hand in either posting about Harley or Indian. However, when RideApart asked Indian about the supposed campaign, we asked whether or not Indian had any branded campaign at all with Strickland? That wasn't answered. Neither was whether there was a broader brand campaign across other influencers, as the Indian response only mentions Strickland and Starbuck. It doesn't mention any of the others included in the original report. 

This specific passage is also worthy of note, stating, "What we did was not hide from a conversation riders were already having. Harley-Davidson made its own decisions in public. Riders have every right to question them. Indian did not create Harley-Davidson's record. Harley-Davidson did." The basis of this line seems to go after Harley's record with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, as well as its offshore manufacturing, both of which were brought up in the attack ad. Yet, as RideApart pointed out in our original coverage, both companies had DEI programs and shelved them and, Indian, too, offshored production to Poland and Vietnam. Harley's record is remarkably similar to Indian's in these regards. 

As for the accusation of Harley implementing a conquest program the day that Carolwood LP was announced as Indian Motorcycle's new owner, as well as the appointment of Mike Kennedy—he, himself, working for Harley for decades—that was certainly news to RideApart. When we reached out to Harley-Davidson for clarification and/or confirmation on the subject, a spokesperson told RideApart that while the company does indeed have a conquest program, it's been in place for years, as a good portion of Harley-Davidson's annual sales are conquest-based. It, however, includes all makes, not just Indian.

Indian also didn't answer many of our other questions, including whether Indian has since communicated with Strickland since his Twitter post about Indian and Harley-Davidson, what was Noise Media’s involvement if so, whether Indian Motorcycle was aware that Noise Media had scrubbed Parscale’s name off its original press release and why,  does Carolwood LP feel as if this latest attack ad, sent through Indian's social media channels, is going to move the needle for Indian, how Mike Kennedy feels since he (as CEO) is heavily featured in the latest ad campaign, and whether or not Indian's own DEI program still exists.

And once again, no one but Indian has responded to RideApart's inquiries.

Yet, given this statement, it's clear that Indian Motorcycle's brass had hoped to do something to the ongoing narrative, as many of the comments and forum threads across the internet have denounced Indian's campaign. However, the final word reads defiantly, stating, "We respect Harley-Davidson's history. We respect Harley riders. But respect is not surrender."

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