Iconic motorcycle dealership shuts down after 110 YEARS amid 'chaotic' final days - as firm battles woke DEI

An iconic motorcycle dealership abruptly closed its doors for the last time after 110 years amid some 'chaotic' final days, with the corporation now facing backlash for its woke DEI initiatives.

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 as it survived two world wars, the Great Depression and the COVID pandemic.

But the iconic location had been 'run in the ground' after it was taken over by Cliff Chester in 2018, former employees told Mission Local. 

'Everything was just kind of chaos,' Carlos Martinez, who worked at the dealership for 22 years told the outlet.

He and others described how Chester allegedly mismanaged the dealership, amid surging crime in the Bay City. 

They said the new management under Chester failed to enforce a number of rules as auto parts sat unlabeled and merchandise regularly went missing.

Workers also claimed there was no system for employees to organize invoices or packing lists, so orders were left unfulfilled.

Additionally, they said Chester put much less emphasis on building a good rapport with customers - something that was key under the Perkins family.

'It just became a dealership,' Martinez said. 'That's not the way Dudley Perkins was... you were part of a family, the motorcycle community.'

Mechanic Christopher Weber also told Mission Local that the dealership was 'like a museum' for HOG 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.' 

He told how he expressed his concerns to Chester about theft within the business in 2023 and 2024, writing in one email: 'I just don't want the doors to close at the dealership.'

Martinez also said he sent Chester an email that stolen parts were being sold 'on the down low.'

But neither employee ever received a response, they said.

Finally, on June 22, workers stayed at the dealership for hours, awaiting a staff meeting that had been scheduled for noon.

Chester did not show up for hours, with employees still waiting at around 6pm as they became nervous that the historic shop may close, according to Mission Local.

Chester then announced the bad news, and sent the employees packing.

'There was no preparation,' Weber said. 'There was no warning. Just abruptly, we had to put all our tools down in the middle of working on customers' bikes.'

The closure came so suddenly that even the social media pages for the dealership were still promoting deals and events that were scheduled, KRON reports.

Many former customers expressed their shock about the sudden closure in the comments section of the Mission Local story.

'Wow, what a complete turnaround from Dudley Perkins,' Karen Kenney wrote.

'I remember Mr. Perkins riding with us on some runs.'

Another commenter wrote that she was recently at the store's open house.

'Seemed like a routine day, no fanfare or festivities other than giving us a lapel pin and tire pressure gauge,' she wrote. 'Nothing seemed amidst of a closure either.'

A third commenter also recounted when the dealership was in its heyday.

'Over 40 years ago, I purchased four shirts from Dudley Perkins Harley-Davidson. I wore them til they were tattered, faded and unreadable.

'Nothing is forever,' he lamented.

DailyMail.com reached out to Chester for comment.

But there is now concern that even more Harley-Davidson dealerships may close amid a conservative boycott of the storied American company -  which they say has gone 'woke' under CEO Jochen Zeitz.

The movement was spearheaded by conservative influencer Robby Starbuck, who cited Zeitz's support for hardline policies on trans care for kids, critical race theory, climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

The 35-year-old activist said in a nearly 10-minute-long video that the CEO has a 'total commitment' to DEI policies in Harley-Davidson offices and factories.

That includes funding a recent Pride event in Pennsylvania, with face-painting and balloon twisting events for youngsters, as well as a 'rage room' where adults could 'let off steam,' he says.

The bike-maker has also partnered with political groups that push hard-left ideas, including the Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce, United Way and the Human Rights Campaign, Starbuck claimed.

Harley-Davidson money has therefore promoted sex-change procedures on children and anti-racism efforts against 'whiteness' and 'Christian privilege,' he alleged.

He went on to claim that DEI efforts have changed life inside the company of some 6,400 people.

Some 1,800 employees were trained on how to become an 'LGBTQ+ ally,' he said, while some sessions singled out white men for specific diversity-training.

The company also introduced employee resource groups (ERGs), which separate staff along racial, gender and sexual identity lines.

Additionally, Starbuck said the motorcycle company is gradually cutting its number of white employees, suppliers, and dealers.

Under Zeitz, the company also signed onto a Human Rights Campaign letter that Starbuck said 'was meant to scare states away from passing laws that ban sex changes for kids and ban men from being able to follow girls into bathrooms.' 

Starbuck is now demanding the company drop its CEO, and has rallied some major names to his cause.

Country music star Travis Tritt also called the accusations against Zeitz 'disturbing.'

'I seriously doubt that pushing a DEI agenda will be very popular with any of the HOG members I know,' he wrote.

'Looking forward to discussing these issues with many of my Harley-Davidson owner friends @SturgisRally next week.'

Sean Strickland, former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion and a longtime Harley enthusiast, also shared a video to X saying he no longer supports the company.

'I've owned Harleys most of my life, but I will never own a Harley again,' he said in the video, calling Zeitz a 'zealot.' 

'If you love America, you will not own a Harley,' he said.

In a subsequent post, Strickland polled his more than 600,000 followers on whether he should sell his bike or destroy it.

'Should I sell my Harley or blow it up with a machine gun?!?!' he asked.

'I will never ride Harley again unless they repent, which they won't,' the former UFC champ added. 

'If I sell my Harley, I'm just participating in this woke freedom-hating anti-American agenda.'

More than 80 percent of respondents voted that he should blow it up.