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There is new leadership at the venerable two-wheeled online retailer RevZilla, though you wouldn’t know it beyond the PR-friendly Technical.ly publication where the news was published yesterday – and not on the company’s own news site.

Announcing that Ken Murphy will take over as the head of both RevZilla and Cycle Gear (technically, Murphy will become the President and CEO of Comoto Holdings, which owns both RevZilla and Cycle Gear), the news means that RevZilla co-founder Matt Kull is stepping down from the role, which he has held in an official and in an interim capacity since Anthony Bucci’s resignation from the post in late 2016.

Murphy comes from outside of the motorcycle industry, but has retail experience, working in the mattress and shoe business.

At 23 years of age, it is strange not to see Elena Myers on the race track these days, as the talented MotoAmerica racer is undoubtedly in the prime of her life, racing-wise.

But, Myers hung up her leathers a little over a year ago, saying that she could not secure enough funding for the 2016 season – a common enough story in the American road racing paddock – but seemingly other issues were percolating below the surface of that statement.

Giving an extensive account to the Philadelphia magazine, Myers describes a narrative about how a sexual assault during a hotel massage changed not only her life, but also lead to her quitting the sport she loved.

If you haven’t heard of Moto Guild yet, don’t worry, you soon will. The concept is pretty simple, motorcycle-friendly workshops where enthusiasts can work on their own machines with the standard and special tools that are readily available.

Moto Guild has been slowly expanding beyond its Californian borders (locations in San Francisco and San Jose) the past couple of years, opening first a new shop in Chicago, and today a new location in Philadelphia has been announced.

I will admit my own bias to this project, as I am friends with Moto Guild’s founders, and was a regular user of their San Francisco location when I lived in the SF Bay Area. Needless to say then, I am excited to see their concept expanding across the country.

The speculation about RevZilla and Cycle Gear can stop now, as the brands are finally talking about their plans together for the future.

In a letter posted to RevZilla’s in-house publication, Common Tread, RevZilla CEO Anthony Bucci announces that RevZilla will be acquired by a new holding company, which will also own Cycle Gear.

The holding company’s board of directors will include Bucci, and his fellow RevZilla founders Nick Auger and Matthew Kull, as well as the private equity firm J.W. Childs, which bought Cycle Gear back in 2015.

While Bucci’s letter to RevZilla customers states that the two brands will only be “sister companies” that will operate independently of each other, his FAQ on the subject leaves the door open for collaborations between the two brands, which would be the obvious benefit of their new ownership structure.

Respected newswire Reuters is reporting that Cycle Gear is close to finalizing the purchase of motorcycling e-commerce giant RevZilla. Citing a source “familiar with the matter” at hand, Reuters suggests that the deal could close in the next coming days, with the new venture worth between $400 million and $500 million.

If true, this acquisition would mark a titanic shift in the motorcycle retail space, with America’s largest brick and mortar chain combining with the industry’s most prominent online parts and apparel purveyor.