Iron&Lace 2002
Speedvision's American Thunder TV Show covers our
Iron & Lace Calendar Shoot with a hot new Russ Tom bike

2002 was another incredible year for the Iron & Lace Calendar, as we again featured the finest custom bikes in America together with some very incredible models. Our photography began back in May of 2001with the shoot of a hot new rigid frame custom from Performance Machine which we paired up a sexy new young model named Zdenka from Prague, Czech Republic, who was in Los Angeles for just a few weeks doing adult modeling work. The photos came out so incredible that we had to use one of them on the cover of the calendar, and Performance Machine came on board to join Mikuni Carburetors as one of the calendar's title sponsors. We then learned that Zdenka had also been photographed by Suze Randall for Penthouse magazine, which in turn picked Zdenka to be the Penthouse Pet of the Year!

2002 saw the return of Playboy's 40th Anniversary Playmate Anna Marie Goddard to the calendar after having been away for 4 years. We photographed Anna with two really beautiful choppers from Jessie James at West Coast Choppers, Long Beach, CA, so both Anna and Jessie got double month exposure this year. Plus we now had the 2 most beautiful centerfolds ever, from both Playboy and Penthouse magazines!

Then, Speedvision's American Thunder joined us in Santa Monica, California, recently with a video crew to cover our 2002 Iron & Lace calendar shoot with Russ Tom and his gang from DownTown Harley-Davidson, Seattle, WA. Russ is one of our favorite bike builders because many of his Big Twin customs are designed in a sportbike style, meaning they can stop, go and corner as good as they look. And they always have a clean, functional and innovative new look you've never seen before, all executed with quality and precision of a bike you'd love to see put into production so you could buy one yourself .

Russ' latest creation here, we'll call the Blue Menace, sports a monster sportbike theme with a big inch Merch engine, a dirt tracker flat black exhaust system, and inverted front forks with sportbike clip-ons and a mini handlebar fairing. This thing is beautiful! And so is our lovely model Amanda Swisten who was certainly the center of attention at the photo shoot.

Additional 2002 Iron & Lace photos with Zdenka: 2002 I&L Zdenka

Jim Gianatsis photographed photographed the 2002 Iron & Lace cover bike from Calendar sponsor Performance machine with beautiful Penthouse pet of the the Year Zdenka from the Czech Republic.

Looking Back at
Iron & Lace 2002
Jan 1st 2011 - The custom motorcycle industry went through and incredible evolution, expansion and downfall in just 10 years since the 2002 edition of Iron & Lace was photographed in ad produced in 2000.

Television exposure on the SpeedTV and Discovery Channels in America with programs Monster Garage, Biker Build Off, Build or Bust and Orange County Choppers featuring our soon to become very famous Calendar Bike Builders Jesse James and Russell Mitchell would turn motorcycling into a Billion dollar bushiness in American and around the world.

Builders would soon be selling their $25,000 custom bikes for s much as $80,000 and be making Bike Event appearances on the East Cast and in Europe for as much as $20,000 a weekend.

Our own LA Calendar Motorcycle Show became huge as well, moving form its 1-day venue at the Santa Monica Airport's Museum of Flying, to to an expanded 2-day Show at the Queen mary Event Park in Long Beach, CA, Attendance rocketed from 1,500 spectators to 8,000, and vendor and manufacturers hit 180 with some15-20 factory big rig trucks included.

With the start of the 2008 Economic Collapse in America it all came crashing down even more quickly than it started, as custom motorcycle became an un necessary luxury expense that very few could afford any more.

My favorite custom bike builder because of his innovative designs, Russ Tom of Downtown Harley-davidson, Seattle Washington, sold his family dealership in 2007 at the peak of the market and retired a millionaire. A year later he would be killed with his girlfriend in a crash of their personal helicopter.

Jesse James of West Coast Choppers, with all his television shows and an expanded line of products, licensing and endorsement from celebrities, including marriage to one of Hollywood's top actress Sandra Bullock, became the most famous celebrity custom bike builder in the world. But nothing was bigger the Jesse's ego and attitude, which really tuned him into a jerk.

It all came crashing down in 2009 with the collapse of the motorcycle industry and when Jesse was discovered by the media cheating on his 3rd wife Sandra with a tattooed stripper. Just before marrying Sandra, Jesse had a brief 2nd marriage with Penthouse Pet of the Year turned porn star Janine Lindamunder. Sandra divorced Jesse in the summer of 2010, and without the movie star's millions to keep his business afloat, Jesse closed the doors on West Coast Choppers in Long Beach ca in November 2010.

Major motorcycle events across America also went away with the motorcycle buyers spectators and the custom bike industry. Our own LA Calendar Show returned to its original 1-day format in 2010 and spectator attendance was back at 1990s levels. - Jim Gianatsis.

©1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, copyright photographer Jim Gianatsis and the FastDates.com Calendars

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