After Mr Sheba’s son turned 18 and moved to Melbourne he decided to start a new project and reward himself. 

“To reward myself I went out and bought a cheap 1987 Harley Davidson Sportster,” he said. 

Mr Sheba started a four year, $25,000 project by spending months on the internet searching for motorbike parts that he could buy and modify, even getting parts shipped from countries like America, Germany and Sweden.

“Anyone can go buy the same parts from the same shops off the shelf,” he said.

“I wanted something absolutely original, that nobody else has.”

The motor and frame are the only parts left from the original bike, everything else has either been either replaced or re-fabricated. 

“I changed everything, from every nut and bolt to every wire,” he said. 

Mr Sheba built the bike in Portland out the back of a friend’s bike shop.

“I was very lucky to be able to come in and work on the bike,” he said.

Some of the boys who worked at the shop often gave Mr Sheba a hand with some of the physical tasks.

 “I used to be a cray fisher, I’m not a welder or a mechanic so I needed a hand,” he said.

Mr Sheba had been in the cray fishing industry since he was 14 but after his accident he was told he would never be able to go fishing again.

While his friends were supportive, some of his family thought his money might be better spent on a block of land or even another house.

“All my money went towards my bike and my son Gary, I was living off two-minute noodles and bread for three-and-a-half years, that’s how dedicated I was,” he said.

His dedication paid off and now he’s regularly participating in hot rod runs and even featuring in the next issue of Australian custom bike magazine Ozbike.

Mr Sheba has already started purchasing more parts for his next bike project which is a 1987 Harley-Davidson and will include a fully automatic clutch.