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Jesse Rooke "Rockstar" Kali Kruiser by Jim Gianatsis Jesse Rooke was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, by a supportive family that was already involved in motorsports, so it was no surprise he got into racing at an early age. He competed in adrenaline-inducing activities including racing BMX bikes, motocross events, road racing in American Motorcyclist Events (AMA), and even skateboarding and wrestling. At 15, he would face a challenge far more serious than a checkered flag. Injuries from a dirt bike accident left him unable to walk, much less ride for 3 years. Jesse overcame his paralysis and started kart racing just 2 years after his recovery. It was while building prototypes for Kawasaki, Honda, and Yamaha at Seattle Speed and Custom (SSC), a custom Harley shop in Seattle, Washington, that Jesse had the insight to see business potential in bringing Kawasaki to kart racing as factory support for shifter karts for the first time. Once he decided he was ready to strike out on his own, he headed back to his hometown of Phoenix and set up MPH Inc. The shop quickly rose to become the number one retail store specializing in 125cc shifter karts. He also managed to find the time to compete worldwide racing 125cc karts. Jesse headed up an all-American effort at the World Championships with a specially built American chassis, finished just one week prior to the event. After about 3 years of success, he decided it was time to sell MPH Inc. and return to racing full time. However, his career plans took a detour after he happened to come across Discovery channel’s show on Jesse James. It inspired Jesse to give custom bike building a try before he hit the racetrack. Just 6 months later, Jesse's first ever custom bike dubbed "Dinah" took Best of Show at the 2002 Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle in Jesse's first ever appearance. Dinah made quite on impression on the custom bike industry and continued to win every other show it has been entered in. It was also featured on the Discovery Channel’s Motorcycle Mania, Speedvision’s American Thunder, and the cover of Hot Bike magazine. Based on Dinah’s popularity with both old-school Harley riders and the new generation of custom Harley riders, Jesse decided it was worth it to stick around for a while.
His next bike building challenge came from Jesse James himself. He
challenged Jesse to build a custom bike they could go for a ride with.
Knowing the bike would need to be fast and aggressive on the road,
Jesse’s response came in the form of Phyllis — also referred
to as Last Century Chopper. Phyllis was featured on the cover of Street
Chopper magazine and earned Jesse greater acceptance in the Chopper
community.
The
bike featured here is the Kali Kruiser "Rockstar" which
was commissioned for, and named after Jesse's new beverage sponsor
Rockstar Cola . The judges (which included 3 other top name builders featured in the Iron & Lace Calendnar) agreed that "Rockstar' was the most inovative and creative custom at the Show again, but they also figured a lot of other builders might get discouraged if Jesse was awardeded Best of Show again for 3 years running with slightly similar bikes. Sothe Judges, as a compromise, awarded Zero Engineering from Japan the 2004 Performance Machine Best of Show tropy for that uniquely different retro hot rod bike which theyhad flown in all the way from Japan for the LA Calendar Motorcycle Show. And Jesse was awarded 1st place in the Pro Builder Class for "Rockstar". Look for "Rockstar" in the 2006 edition of the Iron & Lace Calendar. Rockstar
Jim Gianatsis photographed the Jesse Rooke "Rockstar" for the FastDates.com Iron & Lace Calendar and Website in July 2004, just a day after it won the Pro Builder Class at the Gianatsis Design produced Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show. The model is LA Calendar Bike Show Model Search winner Jenny Galitello. Return to Iron & Lace Garage Index
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