Wow...I cannot sing enough praise about Harley-Davidson right now. Any company can drape a rainbow over their logo, but HD went the extra mile today. Turnout was about 200+ bikes, most not even Harleys.
I arrived far too early, making me first in line by over 30 minutes.
The ride was an hour long around Milwaukee’s neighborhoods and across the Hoan Bridge. Pace was a comfortable 20-30mph so slow bikes didn’t have to worry about falling behind. The most amazing part was the police escort from start to finish!
HD commemorated the event by designing a pin that an exec (they had a few of those present, too) claims is the first time the shield and bars have been paired with a rainbow.
I don’t have a pic of mine so have their hilariously low res stock photo that’s seemingly been through a bad Instagram filter. They only made 500 of these things and they only got handed out at this event.
Participating in the event also got you free passes to PrideFest and they also had Demo bikes on hand. Unfortunately I completely forgot to demo a bike until I was already halfway home. Oof.
This has given me a newfound respect for HD. It’s not easy finding a home as a LGBTQ motorcyclist outside of a major city and today they wanted to help bridge that gap. And sure, you could say that they’re just trying to pander to get sales, but you know what I really don’t care. They could have just made a rainbow logo like everyone else, but they didn’t. They know a good chunk of their traditional buyers will hate this, and yet they plan to spread this event all over the media with pride. It seems Harley really is committed to changing their image.
There were also about five other trans bikers out there and they all had awesome rides. Admittedly it’s the first time I’ve ever met another trans motorcyclist in real life.
So with that out of the way, have some of my favorite bikes! A bigger dump comes later.
This Triumph Bonneville is a 2005, it looks much older because the owner is adamant about never washing or cleaning it in any way. I dig it!
