Words & PHOTOS: LARA WILDE

The year is 2019 and the sight of a woman riding her own motorcycle is still considered a rare sight. A woman working on a motorcycle is an even rarer sight. A mother and daughter who live and breathe motorcycles, repairing them, riding them and operating a business servicing them is the rarest sight of all. In Townsville, at RHD Classic Supplies and Services, you can find such a rare sight. Business owner, head mechanic and mum Sharine ‘Spanner’ Milne works closely with office manager and daughter Shauna ‘2 Foot’ Milne daily to provide a top level of customer service, motorcycle repairs and maintenance for bike riding enthusiasts.

The ladies are passionate about their motorcycles, owning more than 20 bikes between them. As the daughter of a proud Indigenous woman who blazed a path in a male-dominated field, Shauna grew up loud and proud in the two-wheeled community. Having been brought up around motorcycles, she had an appreciation of older bikes from an early age and enjoys looking at them and admiring the work involved to build and maintain them.

After many years cruising the highways as a pillion, 2 Foot took the test to get her own licence to ride and now, aged 22, she has been licensed on the road for more than four years. Her first road registered bike was a Suzuki GS500 – a great all-rounder for her to gain confidence on the road, but when it came time to invest in a second bike, the influence of the RHD customers who love their Harley Davidsons was strong.

In 2015, Spanner had bought a 1993 Harley Davidson Sportster. As the last Harley Davidson to keep the old-style frame before the 1994 update, Spanner saw the bike as a collectible and hoped that it would stay in the family for the long term.

2 Foot saw the little Sportster that was built four years before she was born and fell in love. Straight away negotiations began for 2 Foot to buy the Sportster from Spanner and plans for the restoration of the bike began.

“I bought it from mum because it meant I didn’t have to come up with lots of money for a bike straight away and I liked the physical size,” she said. “Being new to riding and no longer being a pillion, I didn’t want a big, heavy or massive bike while learning its power.”

After a few years on the road getting used to the bike, the mother and daughter team began to give the Sportster a makeover.

Being the last of the Harleys built on that frame it was challenging to find parts for the rebuild. The little 883cc motor was bored out to 1200cc and the ladies gave the whole bike a thorough going over with new bearings, rubbers and seals, leaving nothing to chance mechanically.

The bike restoration was painstakingly slow with many hours of overtime clocked up in the RHD workshop.

“The opportunity for me, as a mum, to know my daughter has learnt the ins and outs of her bike and that the machine is safe and reliable meant that the many hours of overtime were well worth it,” said Spanner.

With the bike mechanics sorted it was time to make her look pretty with new paint and some artwork.

For those who have met 2 Foot in person, they will know that there is nothing subtle about her. It comes as no surprise then, that one of her favourite colours is an ‘in-your-face’, bright, fluro green. There aren’t many fluro green motorcycles in the world of Harley Davidson, but 2 Foot has one thanks to her talented painter Braydon Ross. Braydon added a metallic-flake sparkle to give the fluro paint depth and reflection and 2 Foot had every surface – including the oil tanks, battery cover, pulley and wheels – coated in the bright green duco.

However, just the fluro green wasn’t enough for 2 Foot to feel fully self-expressed and so it was time for some artwork to tell the story.

“When I first bought the Sportster, plenty of people told me that old Harleys were slow and would never be fast,” she says with a laugh. “Rather than argue with them I decided to own it. ‘Hell yeah, I am going to be slow, slow like a snail’ and so I gave the Harley a snail theme.”

Snails were airbrushed on the bike showcasing the talents of painter Braydon Ross once more and the results have seen the Sportster pick up trophies for Best Paint and Best Mural at bike shows.

When most people see the Sportster for the first time their reaction is “wow that is bright”. Not many people like the bright green paint and very few people say that they would want to own it but they do appreciate the story behind it and the work that the mother and daughter have put into the bike.

“I understand that my vibrant green Harley isn’t to everyone’s taste, but it is my bike and not everyone needs to love it the way that I do,” said 2 Foot.

However, whether they love it or hate it, everyone stops to check out the bike.

Today 2 Foot and the green, snail-themed Sportster cruise up and down the coast to bike shows and on charity rides. It is a daily rider but far from finished and 2 Foot has plans to install taller bars with internal handlebar wiring and to replace the standard seat with a custom seat.

With Spanner the mad bike collector as her Mum, there are expectations of another bike joining the stable soon.

“I’d love to own a sports bike as well, maybe a Kawasaki Z750 or a Suzuki GSX1000,” says 2 Foot. “You know you cannot have too many bikes.

“Having now been through a restoration of my own I can truly appreciate the time and effort that goes into doing a job like this and since working in the industry I feel I have a better understanding of the potential all bikes have while going through a rebuild of this proportion.”

So, while a sports bike might be on the cars, would she partner with her mum to rebuild and restore another bike?

“Yes, but next time it would be a 2000 model Harley Davidson Wide Glide.”

Nice.

Source: Motor Trader E-Magazine (November 2019)

7 Nov 2019