Jesse’s philosophy behind this build was to get back to the roots of motorcycles, back when friends got together in a garage and built a cool, simple motorcycle that you could actually get on and ride the crap out of. As far as frame choice, it doesn’t get much simpler than using a tried-and-true Paughco rigid. “I know what I want now in a frame, so I searched around and picked out this frame right out of the catalog, it was that close,” said Jesse. “It’s a great little frame.” With 35-degrees of rake and no stretch, it’s destined to be a quick handler and a fun ride. “The triple trees are something we make and normally we use an H-D 39mm Hugger front-end, but this time we used a 40mm aluminum Marzocchi fork that has compression, rebound, and damping adjustments. It’s a brand I’m working with right now,” said Jesse.

The wheels really make themselves a prominent feature in this build with an interesting choice of 120/70×21” Dunlop rubber sitting on both ends giving the bike a light, zippy look. KTM hubs are laced to the HDWheel.com black aluminum rims and frame the Brembo wavy rotors attractively. Hey, there’s no reason to hide your brakes when they look this mechanically cool. The Pro Taper handlebars should be familiar to anyone who’s spent quality time in the dirt and look comfortable and controllable on the street. Jesse’s mid-controls are a combination of Storz and WCC pieces bolted directly to the primary and engine covers and their relationship to the bars and seat looks really comfy, really natural.

Jesse’s choice of a Steve Storz dirt track-style aluminum fuel tank was a wise one on every level. Light weight, good looks, and a great fit. Dennis Sanchez fabbed up a classy aluminum rear fender to match and all this bodywork combined is probably way lighter than a chopped steel fender alone. Although I think he’s a wee bit optimistic, here’s what Jesse has to say about the bike’s weight, “I haven’t put it on a scale yet, but I would say it’s close to 300 pounds, easy, and it should make close to 100 hp I would hope. It should be a rocket ship.”

I’ve gotta agree with Jesse on the S&S 100” Sporty engine’s stock output as these drag-based motors have been knocking out huge amounts of horsepower and torque when fiddled. The square bore and stroke engine was left alone other than Jesse’s webbed flat track-style pipes that dramatically dump out the left into a mono mega can. BAKER’s 6-speed tranny does what Bert B loves most after the one-off L-TEC primary hands over the final product of all this V-twin combustion. Jesse’s combination of solid power, light weight, and good road manners is something that is always in style regardless of what’s supposedly in style.

Builder: Jesse Rooke
Rooke Customs

Jesse Rooke’s racing background influences everything he builds even when he’s not trying channel it directly, but a quick inspection of the exhaust he built on his S&S 50th entry illustrates it perfectly. “I grew up racing two-strokes, me and my dad made some good pipes. Lots of cuts and welds, you know, different pie shapes the whole way. They’re the first thing I learned to build and that’s how I remember doing it,” said Jesse. “Even though it’s useless to do in these bikes, I just like the way it looks.”

Yeah, looks are important to Jesse and it’s usually been pretty easy to pick out a bike he’s built, but lately as he branches out with new and different drive trains and styles, it’s not as easy as his Schwinn-inspired custom motorcycles of yore. “I really like this S&S bike. I’m going to build a limited number of them, a run of ten, I’m going to do it,” said Jesse. “I may try and use Harley engines just for the cost of it. I wouldn’t mind trying to blast out some cool bikes for people without a ton of cash just because I like this style of bike. Bikes in the ‘60s and ‘70s were a lot of fun to ride, people were really enjoying riding them. Somewhere in time that got lost. My bikes get recognition from guys from the ‘60s and ‘70s ‘cause they’re just fun to ride.”

Jesse’s on the move at the moment with closing his old shop in California and sharing quarters with freestyle motocross legend Carey Hart in Las Vegas until Jesse’s new digs at the Las Vegas Hard Rock are ready in 2010. Jesse’s currently finishing up a how-to- build video of his Presley bike that’s hitting the market soon. Check out Jesse at www.rookecustoms.com or call 602-315-0207. This bike feature originally appeared in Barnett’s Magazine issue #65, November 2008.

SPECIFICATIONS
Owner:	Jesse Rooke
Year/Make:	2008 Rooke
Fabrication:	Jesse Rooke, Todd Silicato, Dennis Sanchez, Jeff T
Assembly:	Jesse Rooke and many others
Build time:	5 days
Engine:	100″ S&S Sportster
Cases/Rods:	S&S
Pistons/ Cylinders:	S&S
Heads/Cam:	S&S
Cam:	S&S
Ignition:	Dyna
Carb:	S&S Super G
Pipes:	Rooke
Air Cleaner:	S&S velocity stack
Transmission:	BAKER 6-speed
Primary:	Tech Cycle
Frame:	Paughco
Rake/Stretch:	35-degrees/0″
Forks:	40mm Marzocchi
Wheels:	KTM 560SMR hub/ HDWheel.com
Tires:	120/70×21 Dunlop E3
Front Brake:	Brembo/KTM Race team
Rear Brake:	KTM 560SMR
Fuel Tank:	Storz aluminum
Oil Tank:	L-Tec
Fenders:	Dennis Sanchez
Handlebars/ Grips:	Pro Taper
Risers:	Rooke
Headlight:	Rooke
Taillight:	Rooke
Hand Controls:	Works Connection clutch/Brembo radial brake
Foot Controls:	Storz/WCC/ Rooke
Pegs:	WCC
Electrical:	Rooke/Accel/ Dyna
Color:	Raw metal
Graphics:	50th Anniversary S&S sticker
Seat:	Todd’s Cycle/Rooke