Legendary motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has found itself in the headlines quite a bit over the last week.

The question is, are they happy about it?

Last week a mandatory filing with the Security and Exchange Commission revealed the Milwaukee motorcycle manufacturer had unknowingly stumbled into bionics with the revelation that the company’s CEO was in fact a six million dollar man. At least compensation wise.

Earlier this week a motorcycle trade magazine was told by unnamed sources that Buell, owned by Harley-Davidson, could have been sold to another company instead of being auctioned off a piece at a time. If the story is true, surprisingly the alleged offer from the Bombardier Company was made not once but twice.

Now Harley-Davidson is the focus of Wall Street as rumours that the motorcycle maker could be the target of a leveraged buyout from private-equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.

The news shot Harley’s stock up 6.98%, with the high of $28.46 finding new heights since December 8, 2009. Trading was three times the normal volume in Harley shares and to put the activity in perspective, the shares have surged 137% from over a year ago.

What were all the players saying about the speculation?

"We never comment on deal speculation," Peter McKillop, director of corporate communications at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, told FOX Business.com.

With no confirmation of what interest Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is taking in Harley-Davidson or how much of the company they could possibly control, many motorcycle enthusiasts must be having a sense of Déjà vu.

Man was feeling confident about landing on the moon, the Vietnam War was in full swing and in 1969, American Machinery and Foundry (AMF) bought Harley-Davidson, streamlined production, and slashed the workforce.

This tactic resulted in a labor strike and a lower quality of bikes which couldn’t compete against the inexpensive, better made Japanese motorcycles riding onto American shores for the first time. The company would struggle under the ownership of AMF until 1981, when Harley-Davidson was sold to a group of thirteen investors led by Vaughn Beals and Willie G. Davidson for $80 million, taking its present day form.

And the company in the middle of the media focus, Harley-Davidson spokesman Bob Klein said, "We don't comment on market rumor and speculation.”