Tell me this is late April Fools

[Scott]

Scott- I think your scenario above must be pretty close to the truth. It occurs to me that things may have gone a step farther, like Erik saying "OK, I'll sell if you agree to keep the East Troy factory open and keep these people employed", Hero balks at that, and Erik says, "OK, I'll play hard ball."

That's certainly possible. If I were Hero, I would want to keep the US plant open. Not only are they already set-up and running, but it gives Hero an all-important footprint in the US and the unique ability to offer an American Made sportbike (even if it is Indian owned). If I were Hero, I would also be making statements saying something along the lines of "We have every intention of buying the company and continuing business as usual with our full support and funding. If we're successful, all debts will be paid, all warranties will be honored, parts will be available and all dealers will be able to continue to stock and sell EBR motorcycles." Obviously that hasn't happened yet, and I suspect lawyers and people who want them to have every advantage in the bidding process may have prevented them from doing that.

I'd also be talking to and 'hiring' key EBR people - Even if they don't end up keeping the company running, it seems they intend to have a US presence and they could use talented people. I'd set up a temporary office somewhere and keep some of those people working as the legal process works itself out.

I would also be making every effort to keep things as civil as possible with Erik. I'd say something like: "We realize you have your own goals you're working on and while we're at odds at the moment regarding those goals, we'd like you to be part of our effort if we end up being the ones owning the company."

I think that last part may be a futile effort at this point, but from a public relations point of view, I think it's important for them to have Erik providing at least the appearance of being onboard.