Harley-Davidson Sets Up Japan Tsunami Memorial - East Idaho News
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Harley-Davidson Sets Up Japan Tsunami Memorial

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Getty W 031211 JapanFlooding?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1338082621473Sankei/Getty Images(MILWAUKEE) — More than a year after the Japanese Tsunami, a 2004 Softail Night Train Harley-Davidson bike washed ashore on British Columbia’s Graham Island.

When the bike was found in an insulated cargo container 4,000 miles from where it came from, authorities were able to trace the bike back to its owner from the Japanese license plate.

The owner, Ikuo Yokoyuma, 29, lost his home and three relatives in the tsunami. Harley-Davison offered to restore the bike and return it to Yokoyuma, but the owner asked that the bike instead be preserved as found and displayed in the Harley-Davison museum.

“It is truly amazing that my Harley-Davidson motorcycle was recovered in Canada after drifting for more than a year,” said Yokoyama. “I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt appreciation to Peter Mark, the finder of my motorcycle.”

Bill Davidson, the Vice President of the Harley-Davidson Museum, said “the Harley-Davidson Museum is honoured to receive this amazing motorcycle to ensure that its condition is preserved and can be displayed as a memorial to the Japan tsunami tragedy.”

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