Pics of Jesse Rooke and his Snarling Darla
I saw “Darla” at the first race of the 2006 AMA Supermoto Championship at Fontana, CA. I met with Jesse Rooke and conducted an interview with him for Bkernet Radio. This was the day before Jesse and Roland Sands headed off for the Discovery Channel’s “Biker Build-Off” series.
We met up with Rooke for Bikernet Radio Interviews at the Supermoto Race and the La Calendar Show. Click the links below to hear the shows.
Pictured here is Rooke’s KTM 950-powered rigid named “Darla” and if you ever get a chance, listen to this snarling raspy monster. It’s a KTM that get’s noticed!
What makes Jesse’s bike so unique is that he was able to take the water-cooled powerplant and minimize the tubes and hoses to givethe bike a real sano look. As a matter of fact, can you find the radiator in the pictures?*
Another unique feature of the KTM bike is the front end. It features a Progressive 5th Element mountain bike shock to take care of front suspension duties. It definitely has that old school kool factor.
At the Discovery Channel’s “Biker Build-Off” Darla was road raced, drag raced and flat tracked against Sands, with the winner of the best two-out-of-three to be crowned the victor. The race went down to the last event and last pass of the drag race with Sands taking the win.
I had George Emmons Najar of Horsepower Marketing take the following pictures at the 2006 edition of Sturgis.
* The radiator is mounted in front of the rear wheel.
