Within the motorcycle community, Indian bikers have long been a favorite target of trash talk from Harley-Davidson (HOG) riders.

Harley riders call Indian bikes glorified snowmobiles (a nod to its former parent, Polaris), while Indian riders say Harley-Davidson (HOG) is being run by a pizza guy (Artie Starr was actually Global CEO of Pizza Hut).

But the mostly good-natured jabbing has turned more hostile as the two sides engage in public relations campaigns to burnish their reputations and achieve dominance in the $79B motorcycle industry.

Indian got its start as the Hendee Manufacturing Company, a bicycle production company founded by George Hendee and Oscar Hedstrom in Springfield, Massachusetts. The first, single-cylinder, 1.75-horsepower motorcycle eventually morphed into the modern Scout with a liquid-cooled, 60-inch V-twin, 111 cubic inch Thunder Stroke engine with 105 horsepower.

William S. Harley and brothers Arthur and Walter Davidson made the first motorized bicycle in a Milwaukee shed, eventually growing the business into a $2.7B multinational corporation with more than 5,000 employees and 20 unique models. 

The century-long rivalry was rekindled recently when MMA fighter Sean Strickland called Harley “woke and gay” and pledged allegiance to Indian. This triggered a deluge of social media posts against Harley, culminating in a joint post with Indian and Strickland showing Strickland riding off on an Indian motorcycle.

The new owner of Indian Motorcycle, Carolwood, accelerated the “Indian vs. Harley” campaign and orchestrated a culture war by hiring a public relations firm with links to President Trump and Israel, calling out Harley’s (HOG) move to Thailand, electric bikes, and DEI initiatives under former CEO Jochen Zeitz.  

“This is a pivotal moment for Indian Motorcycle,” said Carolwood co-founder and Indian Motorcycle Chairman Andrew Shanfield. “As we sharpen our focus on who we are and what we stand for, paid media has a critical role to play in how that story is told.”

But rather than telling folks why they should buy an Indian, “the company was just calling its competition slurs,” observed RideApart’s Jonathan Klein.

So as Indian engaged in more attack-based marketing, the motorcycle community took notice and took Indian to task for trashing Artie Starrs’ ambitious efforts to bring Harley back to its former glory and right the mistakes of its past. This prompted Indian to issue a statement that didn’t so much apologize for the ads but rather doubled down on Harley’s break with American values.

“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. Riders were already having that conversation,” an Indian Motorcycle spokesperson said in a statement. 

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

But for riders, the feud is a distasteful reminder of the divisiveness of the country.

"I don't want a 'red brand' and a 'blue brand' in motorcycles. There's too much of that already," said Indian owner Dave Friedl.

While the backlash has shown that riders are willing to give Starrs the opportunity to restore Harley’s luster, it also reminds us how quickly a century-old rivalry can turn toxic in the age of social media.