EBR has officially closed their doors at the Wisconsin factory in the US awaiting a new receiver to resume operations. CEO Erik Buell filed for Chapter 128 protection under Wisconsin state law last week citing unexpected turn of events. The Chapter 128 status puts EBR into court appointed receivership. Whilst disappointed, Erik has shown determination to support the appointed receivers to achieve the best possible outcome with an official statement posted on Facebook:
“Thank you for the supportive posts, texts, and e-mails since the announcement that EBR has ceased operations. This is a difficult time, and your comments mean a great deal to me personally and also to the EBR team that has done such amazing work over the past few, intense years.No doubt, it was an incredible ride, feeling like the longest qualifying lap ever. And, then, just when we knew we were about to set an all-time record, we tossed it in the last corner…
Keeping with racing analogies, now we need to get back on the track and look ahead remembering all the things we were doing right around so many turns.
Unfortunately, in the end, we tried to do too much with too little funding, but it doesn’t diminish the accomplishments. We introduced the world class American super bikes of 1190RS, 1190RX and 1190SX, while at the same time doing revolutionary work for Hero on the HX250R, Leap, SimplEcity, iON, RnT and many others, plus concepts never publicly seen. It was great EBR innovation and design, and introduced new technology to Hero and its suppliers to provide a real kick start for them. But in the end all of this simply overwhelmed us, and for that we are sorry and saddened.
I want you to know that looking ahead my focus is 100% on helping the receiver best maximize the value from EBR to benefit all, and I will make every possible effort to get the new organization to where it can support the dealers and customers first, and then help find investment to get back to full throttle.
Thank you for your support, it means a great deal. Please stay tuned – I cannot predict the future, but always believe the best is yet to come.”
EBR Australia will continue to focus on supporting the brand in Australia and New Zealand. We look forward to updating you all with any news that comes to hand.
