Russell Mitchell

"We want to expose the American people to clean, tough European styling - whether they like it or not! If the conversation turns to tasteful chops, we want our name to be mentioned.""We want to play a part in reversing the current trend towards the fancy, frivolous and ridiculous.

So speaks Russell Mitchell, never one to mince his words.

A one time vetinary surgeon and model, Russell went to the States to fulfil a modelling contract and stayed. That was 1991. Before moving to the States, Russell made a name for himself in the UK customising Lambrettas, winning a few trophies along the way.

Accurate Engineering

I have chosen the Accurate Engineering Knucklehead (www.accurate-engineering.com/) as my engine of choice. It is 103" which transalates to 1688cc. The HotRod is often built with the 121" TP Evo engine, but for me the whole look is compromised if the Knucklehead motor is not used. It fits in with the style of the bike perfectly and is worth the extra money in my book. Accurate Engineering, setup by Berry Wardlow in 1996, enjoy a superb reputation in the Custom Bike community, and Russell at Exile uses them too for some of his more special projects. Other famous bike builders to use Accurate engines are Billy Lane of Choppers Inc and the late Indian Larry. Each engine is built to order, and the delivery is estimated at 3 months. The engine will be delivered to Exile who will then fit it to the frame to weld the additional brackets to the frame so they line up when it is finally delivered to me. The engine will be Scotchbrited, ie dulled, and to do this the engine first needs to be fully polished. Scothbriting is a process using a Scotchbrite pad with WD40 to take the shine off metal and leave a satin like finish. It looks great when done.

The UK supplier

Started in 1990 by Rikki and Dean Battistini, the company grew as a result of their enthusiasm and love of motorcycles. With a unique flair for design, there were two sides to the business; the design and building of exquisite custom motorcycles and the distribution of top of the range parts and accessories (Arlen Ness and Performance Machine) to European dealers. Mark later joined the company to concentrate on sales to the Italian market.

In May 1995 Dean sadly died as a result of a tragic motorcycle accident. This had a massive effect on Battistinis as a company and a family, resulting in the decline of the original Battistinis. After much deliberation we decided to go right back to basics, doing what we are good at, building high quality, unique custom motorcycles. With sales and distribution running alongside this, the business has grown into what it is today.

We now have a workshop and showroom which covers everyhting from original bike builds and customising to servicing and repair.

As we are building more than one of each bike, this has enabled us to make the bikes more realistically priced whilst still retaining the desirability.

Battistinis always welcomes visitors to their workshop and through the summer months holds barbeques and open days as a showcase for their latest custom built rides.www.battistinis.co.uk

The order has been placed

I have finally placed my order for an Exile HotRod kit. Exile Cycles (www.exilecycles.com) is based in North Hollywood, California, and run by an expat called Russell Mitchell. The bike is available ready built, however I want to build it myself, and change bits as I see fit. I have been restoring bikes over the last year and feel I am ready to take on this task. I have been tod the kit will take around 3 months to arrive, let's see.... Exile make several bikes, including a mental Trike (www.exilecycles.com/index.php?section=25). All his bikes are described as clean, tough and industrial.