Project 3RM

The 3RM project started out as a friendly challenge between Junior Burrell from Retro Moto and Logan Miller from Rust Revival. Two businesses, four guys in four States, and just one Bike – assembled in just three days…

“I had built the first cafe project 2 years prior and Junior had no problem unloading his big Texas opinion on it. He’s a harsh guy but he is honest and has incredible skills. I deeply respect his thoughts, hard as they are. I met Junior at Barber in 2012 and we’ve kept in touch on somewhat of a brotherly basis ever since. We’re close and we’re honest with each other. I think that’s a big part of why we enjoy each others company so much. This industry is knee high to a headlight in bullshit, so honesty goes a long way with us.”

“The build was innocent enough at first. Junior was going to build a new seat for it and I was going to rebuild the motor. After some typical top end oiling issues, it was only a matter of time before she went. A few dozen text messages and several hours later we had “jokingly” designed a completely new bike and called it the “3RM Project” (Rust Revival Retro Moto). At some point the conversation turned from late night joking into a serious discussion on whether or not we could build a bike several states away and then assemble it at Barber. Keep in mind, Barber is only a weekend event so we would have only 3 full days for assembly. The joke had turned into a challenge and we had accepted. To make matters worse, we decided to make this a build between friends. We wanted to challenge ourselves as builders and see if we could pull it off.”

“It was set. 4 Guys in 4 states would do their part in just a few short months and then meet at Barber to see if it would all fit together. Junior Burrell (Retro Moto) fabricated the tank, seat and exhaust. Logan Miller (Rust Revival) rebuilt the motor from the ground up and took care of the frame. David Kiggins (DEK Performance) built a whole new suspension set-up and front end. Kiley Owen (Kanticoy Designs) would fabricate a new oiling system to flood the top end and eliminate the oiling issues. Kiley also provided the garage where the bike was assembled.”

“When we arrived in Alabama the atmosphere was great. A lot of people were like “where is the bike?” and their jaws hit the floor when I pointed to a pile of boxes sitting next to the lift. I don’t think people were expecting us to literally start with nothing. The crew arrived to Kiley’s garage around 11:00 that night. We unpacked a few things and since we had all driven from Kentucky, Texas, and Pennsylvania, there was no rush to start building a bike.”

“Friday night was a different story. We rolled in from a day at Barber and just got to it. Looking back it was pretty amazing actually. We didn’t get a game plan together or talk it to death. We literally just started building the thing. The Do The Ton family was on hand thanks to Kiley and his wife Denise letting them stay on the property. The garage was buzzing with people. To say that 4 guys built this bike would be a complete lie. The overwhelming support from the DTT community is a major reason this actually happened. At any given time there were probably 10 guys working on the bike. From grinding parts to lacing wheels, fabrication brackets to tightening bolts. It was like having an orchestra with 4 conductors making this big, beautiful sound.”

“At the end of the weekend we had managed to turn boxes of parts into a living breathing machine. Allowing ourselves only one or two hours of sleep a night, we worked ourselves into near exhaustion.The bike was finished and running but more importantly we had achieved what we set out to do months before. We wanted build a very functional and solid bike that would run as good as it looked. None of us were interested in dropping another “art bike” on the floor. It was always about challenging our skills and creativity.”

Written by Logan from Rust Revival.

via The Bike Shed