Shocking the biker world both here in America and back in Japan, Harley Davidson has agreed to sell 51% of its shares to Yamaha Corporation in exchange for a much needed influx of capital.
The Milwaukee based iconic motorcycle manufacturer was forced into the merger in order to save the company from further manufacturing cuts and production line losses.
"The influx of capital from Yamaha will allow us to keep our production lines operational and our current skilled workforce in tact", said Harley Davidson investment banker, Akiro Tanaka. "We do not expect to change anything with the famous look of the Harley product at all, in fact we consider it an honor to include it along side Yamaha's sporting bike line", says Tanaka.
The new company, tentatively labeled Harley-Yamaha, will only call for the nameplate to changed on existing production bikes. There was no word on how pissed off the Davidson family was about the news.
Harley-Yamaha Corporation is also asking its customers to help design a new nameplate for future production bikes, in an attempt to build a relationship with its broad customer base. There was no confirmation to the rumor that the first express mail response to that request contained a bag of steaming human feces.
