"In the end the bike came...
"In the end the bike came out just as Jesse envisioned-race-inspired and performance-driven."
In 2009, the American V-twin industry lost one of its icons with the passing of Bruce Rossmeyer, owner of 15 Harley-Davidson dealerships and the title of the world largest dealership, with his 109,000-sq-ft Destination Daytona. Aside from being a mogul in the V-twin industry, Bruce was also an inspiration and helping hand to not only the motorcycling community but also charities and goodwill causes outside the industry. A smart businessman, when it came to his dealerships Bruce was always looking for ways to move bikes off the showroom floor. In fact, it was on the showroom floor of his Destination Daytona dealership that the bike before you came to be.
The single-sided swingarm...
The single-sided swingarm Jesse made with Gregg's Customs hub assembly swoops around the 240mm Dunlop tire. You can see the Delrin bushing Jesse made to support the top of the chain.
Back in 2008 during Daytona Bike Week Jesse Rooke was hanging inside the dealership when Bruce pulled him in his office and pointed to a brand new 883 Sportster and said, "I want you to build a bike out of that." The idea was to build a limited number of 883 customs that Bruce could sell. Having known Bruce for quite some time and working with him on previous bike projects like this, Jesse was instantly on board.
At the end of Bike Week, the bike was loaded up and shipped to Jesse's shop, Rooke Customs. With the XL's history drenched in racing and Jesse having his own racing background, he instantly knew what he wanted the bike to look like. "I wanted to build an American V-twin version of a Hypermotard bike," Jesse said. For those who don't know, a Hypermotard is a race-bred Ducati designed for the Supermoto race class, which is a mix between road racing and motocross.
The Trask Turbo and exhaust...
The Trask Turbo and exhaust system along with the ThunderMax Auto Tune helped the Sporty put out 86 hp and 73 lb-ft of torque in its stock 883cc displacement. With the installation of the SE 1200 kit, the setup put out 118 hp and 105 lb-ft of torque.
Somewhat of a hybrid between an XR and a Hypermotard, the final results are nothing but racing roots to the core. The frontend and triple-trees were removed and a set of Todd's Cycle triple-trees were installed. Todd designed the trees to work with high-end sport bike frontends and still utilize the H-D steering stem and neck rake geometry. A 50mm Marzocchi inverted frontend with radially mounted Brembo brakes was used for the front suspension. The skin was peeled off the 883 and in its place Jesse installed a Storz Performance Dirt Track Style body kit, which included a hand-formed alloy gas tank and a fiberglass seat/tail section with a Saddlemen seat pad.
The Ducati Hypermotard features a single-sided swingarm, so to replicate the look Jesse ditched the stock swingarm and rear suspension and fabricated a single-sided swingarm with a hidden mono-shock rear suspension. "The swingarm has a Gregg's Customs hubs assembly. The rear suspension is an Ohlins CBR 929 coil over, oil-damped shock I ordered out of a catalog," Jesse told us. "The hardest part of the build was the driveline. For one, it's a long driveline and I raised the bike up quite a bit in the back to give it that stance, because normally the framerails sit so flat. But when I did that, the pivot for the swingarm was way up high, and I had to go over the pivot with the chain. So after messing with it quite a bit I just made a Delrin bushing that's mounted at the pivot for the chain to slide on. Eventually I think I'll have to build a better slider for it."
Lightweight and race ready,...
Lightweight and race ready, Jesse bolted a set of Tag Metals motocross bars to the frontend with a set of his own risers.
After installing a set of PM Contrast Cut Judge wheels wrapped in Dunlop rubber, Jesse put the bike on the ground and hit the street. While the Sporty does have racing in its DNA, off the showroom floor Jesse was disappointed in the 883's horsepower and torque. So the bike was sent to Arizona where Trask Performance bolted on one of its Turbo Kits for EFI Sportsters and managed it all with a Zipper's ThunderMax with Auto Tune EFI kit. With the turbo installed, Jesse hopped on the bike again and was a little happier but still didn't feel the snap he wanted, so the bike went under the Trask knife and they installed a Screamin' Eagle hop-up kit. It was after punching the bike out to 1200cc and combined with the turbo that the XL finally had the pep in its step that Jesse was looking for. In fact, the bike was putting out 118 hp and 105 lb-ft of torque.
In the end the bike came out just as Jesse envisioned-race-inspired and performance-driven. The plan was to bring the bike to Sturgis in 2009 and enter it into the AMD World Championships, which would have been its debut and the first time Bruce would see the bike. Unfortunately, it was while riding to Sturgis, that Bruce was killed. And while he never got to see the bike, with his appreciation for Jesse's bikes and style Bruce probably would have loved it.
"Bruce showed me a side of the industry I would have never seen, the lifestyle and everything. He brought it to a new level for me. I owe him a ton," Jesse told us.