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Jesse Rooke & Russell Mitchell / Exile Cycles X1 One of the hottest bikes ever from our famed Iron & Lace Calendar builders Jesse Rooke and Russell Mitchell, the X1 Kali Racer is a modern era retro board track racer for the street which looks very mean, nasty, clean, basic and functional. We love it as one of the most exciting bikes ever featured in the Iron & Lace Calendar. Based on a Jesse Rooke Kali Cruiser chassis with a single sided rigged swingarm, the front end features a unique pivot suspended solid front fork. Various Exile contributions include the now hidden trademark Exile rear sprocket disc brake, slash exhaust pipes, a clean brushed aluminum oil tank and a mountain bike shock assembly under the saddle. And the X1's history is as unique as its looks. Jesse and Russell where brought together by Build or Bust TV Show producer Scott Gillen to guide an amatuer builder to construct from parts a completed bike for the show withina 1-month time frame, using a Jesse Rooke chassis kit with Exile components. Well, the guy didn't make it past the first day when it became apparent he had no mechanical appitude whatsoever, and the bike wasn't going to be completed in time, particualary as anything half decent. So they amateur builder was kicked to the curb, and Russell and Jesse were asked by Gillen to complete the bike together for the Show.... It's here we should tell you that a condition of the builders being invited onto Build or Bust for the TV publicity exposure is, they don't get paid a penny for their time and a lot of the parts they provide, nor do they get to keep the bike if it doesn't go to the amateur builder. By default the bikes go to producer Gillen who uses them for publicity at events like out LA Calendar Motorcycle Show, and some bikes eventually get sold off and the money pocketed by Gillen.
Well, to make a long story short, the collaberation between Jesse and Russel got a little heated at times as Jesse likes flashy paint and a high tech look, while Russell likes everything solid flat black and low tech. Just getting Russell to agree to have the painter add matching brushed silver graphics with an X1 logo on the black tank and bodywork to match the silver brushed finish on the rest of the bike's components was like moving a mountain. But when the finsihed tank and body work came back from the paint shop it was obvious to everyone (but Russell of course), that this was indeed another Jesse Rooke "Best of Show" winner. Jesse sat back and pondered the unfinished bike for a day during filming, visualized its complete glory, and esentially said, "Fuck it, I'm not goint to finish this bike and give it to Gillen." It was there that Jesse picked up his marbles -in this case the unfinsihed X1, and went home. Gillen was furious at the thought of loosing the best bike from the Show, ever, and Russel just sat back with his arms crossed and his mouth shut as not to piss off anybody. It was the best Build or Bust TV show ever. Hopefully you caught it. Jesse brought me the beautifully finished X1 in all it glory about 6 months later to photograph it down at the Quen Mary in Long Beach, CA for the 2007 Iron & Lace Calendar and our advertising campaign for the 2006 LA Calendar Motorcycle Show. Or beautiful model was 20-year old irsih supermdoel Gemma Gleeson, also featued in our other 2007 FastDates.com Calendars, who came over to Los Angeles to hand with me during her 1-month University school break over the Christmas holidays. Yes, that is what dead of winter looks like in Southern California! Return to Iron & Lace Garage Index
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