I dig the idea of a charity motorcycle ride. It gets your customers engaged, talking, and riding to help a cause. It's why RideApart's covered them in the past, as well as the folks who do it as part of their everyday lives. But Harley-Davidson's "Let’s Ride Challenge–Ride for Heroes," a ride designed to support military veterans' charities, was one for the books.
Not only did the ride, which took place across the United States, see over 29,000 Harley-Davidson customers ride out, but those riders clocked in a whopping 50 million ridden miles on their respective motorcycles. That, in itself, would be noteworthy. But because Harley stated that if those miles reached a certain goal, it'd unlock some additional funds, it's extra special, as that's exactly what all those riders did.
And in the end, Harley's customers cared enough, rode enough, and did enough to ensure that the brand would be sending a cool $1 million to veterans' charities. Great work, folks.
"The Harley-Davidson community is always ready to step up to support those who keep us safe and free," said Theo Keetell, Harley-Davidson Vice President of Marketing, adding, "The Let’s Ride Challenge – Ride for Heroes combined fun with purpose, and Harley-Davidson was overwhelmed with the positive response. It’s with great pride that the company will make this donation to these very worthy organizations on behalf of all the riders who participated."
The Motor Co. said in its press release that the challenge was open to anyone in the United States with a Harley-Davidson VIN, and started on March 28 and went until October 31. All they had to do was register at a local Harley dealership and then head back to said dealership to count the mileage as they accumulated it throughout the time period. According to the brand, the average mileage for someone who was participating in the challenge was 3,500 miles, yet, more than 2,300 Harley riders did at least 10,000 miles in that short period.
So while I give a lot of Harley-Davidson riders shit for not riding their motorcycles, these folks absolutely showed the heck up. And that showing up unlocked the $1 million in support for a number of great charities, including The organizations supported by Let’s Ride Challenge: 1 Soldier 1 Dog 1 Team, American Legion Riders, Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, Hanks for Our Troops, Motorcycle Missions, National Association of Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers, Rolling Thunder, Wounded Warrior Project, and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Again, it's always good to see a company like Harley-Davidson giving back, and this is some serious giving back. Good job, Harley. Good job.
