This is just so sad and wrong, if accurate.

[dobervol]

This should be apolitical. Hopefully we can all agree it’s wrong to murder someone based simply on riding a particular brand of motorcycle and the color of their skin. Heck, I’m just passing this along, and not really looking for comment as much as saying to those in areas of civil unrest, be careful out there! Protect yourselves. And know that no matter how rare this might be, something like this is possible.

No one likes to troll and trigger H-D riders more than me, but at the end of the day, we’re all brothers and sisters in the same 2-wheeled club.

Marine, former police officer murdered. Officials now say was a hate crime against a 'white Harley rider'.

He was a Marine and a former police officer. After that, he worked for the Wisconsin Department of Justice Internet Crimes Against Children unit.

www.lawenforcementtoday.com

 

[RocketEd]

Good lord, what a world we live in. What makes it even more concerning is so much of the public think all big bikes are Harleys.
Harley better hope this is just a one off whack job, heaven knows they have enough of an image problem already.

 

[dobervol]

Good lord, what a world we live in. What makes it even more concerning is so much of the public think all big bikes are Harleys.
Harley better hope this is just a one off whack job, heaven knows they have enough of an image problem already.

I don't see this as hurting their image, as neither they nor the rider did anything wrong. But it would make for an interesting negative sales pitch from an Indian salesperson, or Triumph on the Rockets, when a guy admits to cross-shopping an H-D: "Oh, you don't want to buy one of those...they kill people who ride those, ya know." We just all need to be really careful out there, regardless, if we're anywhere near, say, a city large enough to have a pro sports team.

 

[RocketEd]

What I was trying to say is that IF the general public, rather than just this one guy, perceive old white Harley riders as also being racist, that's just one more reason for their sales to continue to decline.
I often read where people say they have nothing against Harley the motorcycle, but they don't buy one because they don't want anything to do with the perceived "lifestyle". Not saying the perception is right or wrong or even valid, just that I hear it often. Then you add racist to the mix?
At any rate this incident is a real tragedy.

 

[dobervol]

What I was trying to say is that IF the general public, rather than just this one guy, perceive old white Harley riders as also being racist, that's just one more reason for their sales to continue to decline.
I often read where people say they have nothing against Harley the motorcycle, but they don't buy one because they don't want anything to do with the perceived "lifestyle". Not saying the perception is right or wrong or even valid, just that I hear it often. Then you add racist to the mix?
At any rate this incident is a real tragedy.

Agree completely. I’m one of those guys who just dislike the “lifestyle“ myself. The sad thing is, I’d read reports that their fastest-growing demographic with the big bikes was African-American riders, and I’d anecdotally noticed the same, just riding around.

 

[Jallen3.14]

As Rocket Captains, we've got a toe in several of the bike style pools, but don't live fully in any of them. We can have fun poking fun at greasy Harley guys, squids and their rice burners, beemer nerds, Geese and their red suspenders, the Goldwing trike with a trunk full of Geritol... Mostly because we can run away from all of them* without even dropping a gear, but there's not one I won't pull over and try to help if they're on the side of the road, and not one I wouldn't glad sit down and have a beer and talk bikes with.

When someone kills someone over their skin or their beliefs or their lifestyle - it's not really about any of those things - they're just itching for an excuse to kill someone, and should be dealt with accordingly.

*I never make fun of someone until I've walked a mile in their shoes. Then, I blast them, because I'm a mile away and I've got their shoes. What are they gonna do?

 

[aquilla]

This unfortunately validates my concerns. I bought a bike in California looking to make a West to East Coast trip this second half of July. Another even better option would have been to buy one in Seattle or up north do the whole West Coast and cross then to the East Coast. I decided to not push my luck with the current events and postpone this to some later time, probably next year. This is exactly what I thought- white guy on a cruiser could mean pinata for some imbeciles now.
Knowing that the number of the idiots is increasing it makes it necessary to always have a plan B, stay paranoid, stay safe.

 

[tdragger]

My wife's best friend's husband is a retired police officer. He went through police academy and served for 20 years with the murdered rider in northern Virginia. The article incorrectly lists Fairfax, Washington when it should be Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC.

 

[dobervol]

My wife's best friend's husband is a retired police officer. He went through police academy and served for 20 years with the murdered rider in northern Virginia. The article incorrectly lists Fairfax, Washington when it should be Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC.

Thanks so much for the correction. I always hedge with "if accurate" on innerweb-tubes articles written shortly after the event. Everything moves so quickly in the social media world, that articles often contain inaccuracies. But even though on opposite ends of the country, the amount of civil unrest in Portland, OR, Seattle, WA and Washington, DC, is very similar right now.

And I think riders would do well to steer clear of any and all large cities until the civil unrest ends, unless your bike is your only transportation and you have no choice. I'm only riding out in the middle of nowhere, and in small, country towns until this passes, and even then, I'm always carrying, and only going to places where carrying a firearm is legal.