By Jim Mackinnon

Tribune News Service

Ron Greer’s labor of love has two big pink tires. The tires fit perfectly with the color scheme — and message — of the custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle he remade from the frame up. The Akron, Ohio, resident and Florida snowbird took almost nine months to build the large bike as he recovered from chemo and radiation treatments for lung cancer. He recalled at times he only had the strength to work on the Harley, a 2000 Road King, for 15 minutes before needing to rest an hour and then get back to work. “It’s one of a kind. You’ll never see another one like it,” Greer said. “It’s a fun bike.” But he does want as many people as possible to see it. “It was built with cancer in mind,” Greer said. His mother died of cancer. One of his sisters recovered from stomach cancer, and another from breast cancer. He found he had stage three lung cancer in December 2013 — he thought at first it was pneumonia when he went to see his doctor in Florida. “I beat it. I’m totally cancer free,” the 65-year-old said. “I struggled to build that bike. Believe me, I struggled. I hate to think back on it,” he said. “This was my first venture. I figured, what did I have to lose? It was a lot of work. But it was (also) fun.” He loves to show the Harley off at cancer awareness events. It has been featured in a national motorcycle magazine and took top honors at a local “Bikers for Boobs” breast cancer fundraiser. Greer hopes other people find inspiration in the Harley and why it was made. “This is basically my contribution to cancer — to fighting cancer,” Greer said. “I’m very proud of it.” He knows people who gave up fighting cancer and understands their thinking. “My choice was to fight it and beat it. But it was a struggle,” Greer said. “It’s an ugly disease. Ugly, ugly, ugly. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”