Author Topic: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!  (Read 2062 times)

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Offline jstfkndi

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2012, 05:28:34 AM »
Wow!!

Offline tango911

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2012, 06:14:12 AM »
here is the photo and article.


In this photo taken by Canadian Peter Mark in the end of April, 2012, and released on Wednesday, May 2, a Harley-Davidson motorbike lies on a beach in Graham Island, western Canada. Japanese media say the motorcycle lost in last year's tsunami washed up on the island about 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles) away. The rusted bike was originally found by Mark in a large white container where its owner, Ikuo Yokoyama, had kept it. The container was later washed away, leaving the motorbike half-buried in the sand. Yokoyama, who lost three members of his family in the March 11, 2011, tsunami, was located through the license plate number, Fuji TV reported Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kyodo News, Peter Mark)


ARTICLE:
TOKYO—It must have been a wild ride. Japanese media say a Harley-Davidson motorcycle lost in last year's tsunami has washed up on a Canadian island about 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles) away.

The rusted bike was found in a large white container where its owner, Ikuo Yokoyama, had kept it. He was located through the license plate number, Fuji TV reported Wednesday.

"This is unmistakably mine. It's miraculous," Yokoyama told Nippon TV when shown photos of the motorcycle.

Yokoyama lost three members of his family in the March 11, 2011, tsunami, and is now living in temporary housing in Miyagi prefecture (state).

The motorcycle is among the first items lost in the tsunami to reach the west coast of North America. In March, an Alaska man found a football and later a volleyball from Japan; their owners were located last week using names that had been inscribed on the balls.

Canadian Peter Mark, who found the bike and its container, told Fuji that he "couldn't believe that something like that would make it across the Pacific." The report said he found it April 18 on Graham Island, off the coast of British Columbia.

The motorcyle was caked with "a lot of corrosion, a lot of rust," said Mark.

When he saw the Japanese license plate, Mark wondered if it might have drifted from Japan after the tsunami, and contacted a local TV station.

The Fuji report said the motorcycle would be shipped back to Japan, and that the shop that sold it to Yokoyama would help with paperwork and storage.

Debris from the tsunami initially gathered in the ocean off Japan's northeastern coast and has since spread out across the Pacific. In February, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said currents would carry much of the debris to the coasts of Alaska, Canada, Washington and Oregon between March 2013 and 2014, though they correctly predicted that some of it could arrive this year.

Last month, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter fired on and sank a fishing boat in the Gulf of Alaska that had drifted from Japan after the disaster. Authorities had deemed the ship a hazard to shipping and to the coastline.
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Offline fmctm1sw

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2012, 06:17:28 AM »
An "Ocean find."  Don't see very many of those...    :-\
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Offline Magpie

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #4 on: May 02, 2012, 06:53:49 AM »
It gets better! The bike is going back to the original owner who has suffered great losses from the tsunami. Today's paper in Victoria http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Island+dealer+help+return+Harley+that+rode+tsunami/6552187/story.html
Cliff.

Offline Magilla

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #5 on: May 02, 2012, 07:33:51 AM »
The irony!!  We are sitting in America with our Hondas commenting about a guy in Japan that rides a Harley. It's a Bizzaro world episode
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1988   Harley Sportster 883
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Offline jstfkndi

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #6 on: May 02, 2012, 08:05:06 AM »
^^No doubt!

Offline tango911

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #7 on: May 02, 2012, 08:40:26 AM »
hey, you know,  its got two wheels.
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Offline Don R

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #8 on: May 02, 2012, 08:51:42 AM »
I know it's junk but wouldn't have left it in the sand.
No matter how many times you paint over a shadow, it's still there.
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Offline cb650

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #9 on: May 02, 2012, 02:06:33 PM »
It will get rebuilt.      I find it ironic to after all theses years we are still shooting Japanese ships.  LOL
18 grand and 18 miles dont make you a biker

Offline Bob Wessner

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #10 on: May 02, 2012, 04:48:53 PM »
Hmm, an imported Harley?
We'll all be someone else's PO some day.

Offline Eydugstr

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #11 on: May 03, 2012, 07:01:51 AM »
Very cool story.  Hope the owner's back on his feet and riding ASAP.

Offline mono

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #12 on: May 03, 2012, 08:16:11 AM »
wow that's a wild story.  what are the chances?  hopefully getting his bike back and getting it restored will help bring the guy at least a little happiness after all he's been through. 

Offline boatsdickson

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #13 on: May 03, 2012, 12:02:26 PM »
Surprised someone didnt snatch it up and throw it on Craigslist.

"Might need carb rebuilt"

"Ran fine when parked"

"Minor salty air oxidation, will buff out"

"Wont last long"
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Offline Magilla

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #14 on: May 07, 2012, 09:46:06 AM »
Is that a sandcast Harley?
1972   Honda CB350
1972   Yamaha 500
1982   Yamaha 650
1988   Harley Sportster 883
1983   HD FXR Shovelhead
2003   HD Heritage Softail
2006   Victory Vegas Jackpot
1980   Honda CB650
1976   Honda CB750K
1982   Honda CB750
1964   Honda CA95
1982   Kawasaki 550
1974   Honda CL360
1975   Suzuki GT550
1981   Honda CB750
1981   Honda CB750
1970   Norton Commando
1972   Yamaha U7E
1970   BMW R50/5
1976   Honda CB750F

Offline mono

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #15 on: May 07, 2012, 11:14:42 AM »
Is that a sandcast Harley?

good one.

Offline CrankyOldGuy

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Re: Who would have thought it, Harleys float!
« Reply #16 on: May 07, 2012, 05:35:22 PM »
An expat has returned home .. sort of .. just missed by one country.
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