they wanted a bike night ,” J . Shia said . “ We threw a small party a handful of years ago , and my girlfriend had one too many drinks . Her nickname is ‘ Bunny ,’ and she got a little wild that night . It ’ s named after her .”
“ It ’ s more party than show ,” she continued , “ and last year we had 1700 people buy tickets . If you have a bike and you think it ’ s cool , you can bring it to compete . It doesn ’ t matter if it ’ s your first bike or you ’ re a professional builder .”
What makes J . Shia stand out is her unique , artistic view of bike building . Listening to Tchaikovsky inspires her building , and her current builds are inspired by Swan Lake . “ I even took one of my bikes to the SCOPE Art Show in New York City ,” she said . “ I went solely because I wanted to see how people reacted to seeing a motorcycle at a contemporary art show .”
Asked what she ’ d say to women thinking about riding or learning to build a bike , she said this : “ In general , your gender doesn ’ t really play a factor in creating a motorcycle . While anatomy may have some differences , when it comes to creating and thinking and welding and designing and riding , your gender won ’ t stop you from anything . Just do it if you want to do it !”
“ I think the future is really bright for women in the industry ,” she continued . There ’ s so much momentum for women right now , and the future looks bright .”
You can follow J . Shia and her badass builds at @ MadhouseMotors on Facebook , @ jshia on Instagram , or visit www . madhousemotors . com .
— JOY BURGESS
THUNDERPRESS . NET | MAY 2020 | 63