Tsunami Harley on display

HARLEY-DAVIDSON has unveiled a special display at its museum showing the 2004 Softail Night Train that made international headlines when it washed up on a beach in British Columbia earlier this year.

Ikuo Yokoyama's bike was swept to sea in a transport container when the tsunami struck Japan in March 2011. When Peter Mark found the bike, still in the container that had kept it afloat for more than a year, Yokoyama was traced via the bike's licence plate.

Although Yokoyama had lost his home and possessions, and still lives in temporary accommodation now, he declined Harley-Davidson's offer of the bike's restoration and return, asking instead that it was displayed as-found, a memorial to the lives lost or changed by the tsunami.

“We’re truly humbled to display Mr. Yokoyama’s motorcycle,” said Bill Davidson, Vice President of the Harley-Davidson Museum. “This motorcycle has an amazing story to tell, and we are honoured to be able to share it.”