Erik Buell Racing is ceasing operations and filing for protection from its creditors, putting 126 employees out of work and killing the re-reborn dream of its namesake.

According to the , the company filed for bankruptcy today (Chapter 128 for you finance nerds), and has shut its doors.

"The turn we recently took, after we thought we were moving forward, was unexpected. We thought we had secured funding, but in the end, we were not able to get the funding in place. Therefore we need to do the best we can under the circumstances for all parties in interest," Buell said in a statement released to the paper.

Erik Buell invested his own cash in the company and later got a heaping helping of funding from India's largest motorcycle manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp. The news of EBR's shuttering comes as a bit of a surprise, since Hero had purchased a 49.2 percent stake in the company for $25 million, and tapped Buell to help develop bikes for its home market.

However, sales of the EBR 1190 RX and SX motorcycles were tepid, at best, with dealers offering deep discounts on its bikes, and it would seem Hero finally decided to pull the ripcord on the partnership to avoid dumping more cash into the struggling motorcycle company.

Bids for the company will be opened up under the bankruptcy process. We've reached out to Buell for more info.

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