Episode 37 - Nick Haris
Motorcycling and politics don’t mix, right? They do for Nick Haris. In college, the Washington state native was an economics major, and he later worked at a motorcycle shop. He ultimately found his dream job: a government-relations role at the American Motorcyclist Association. “It was a natural combination of a lifelong interest in politics and a love for motorcycling,” he says.
In 2023, after more than 20 years on the job, Haris became the director of the AMA’s Government Relations department. In the first of two interviews with “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long, Haris reiterates something we all know, that motorcyclists are a relatively small portion of the U.S. population. “If we look for reasons to divide ourselves,” he says, “we’re not going to have a lot of success.”
Spending long, memorable days in the saddle gives Haris time to think about the future of our country on every level. “Reality is,” he says, “it’s the city council or the board of supervisors that really affects you more on a daily basis than anything that Congress is going to do. Day to day, it’s the locals that you really need to get to know.” Good advice.