discontinued parts frustration

[BIG RED ATC]

Where do you guys get the parts you need to restore your trikes? I recently purchased my first three wheeler (85 250 ES) and it seems every other part that I try to order is discontinued. I've started to wonder whether I made a bad decision buying this if I can't get the parts I need to make it look and run like it should. If I do happen to find a part on EBAY, many times it's either in tough shape or the price gets bid up way higher than it retailed for new. The pics of the nicely restored machines on here offer great inspiration....is there a NOS parts tree I don't know about?

[Bryan Raffa]

Sorry no NOS tree.. just gotta be lucky... sometimes it takes guys Years to build bikes..

[Vealmonkey]

There are no easy solutions. The parts on ebay, the prices are driven by supply and demand. Instead of being on here typing, you better find the honda parts numbers you need and start calling dealers. Also prepare to dig deep. Not a cheap hobby if you want to seriously redo a trike. Best of luck. It's also not uncommon to start looking for parts in other countries. If you are not prepared to put in some time and effort, then I don't know what to tell you.

[atc350xer]

coming here is a good start too... alot of good guys with a wealth of knowledge!

[cattle-dog]

put a wanted ad in the classifieds here

[aldochina]

you can still get most mechanical parts and such through anyone that sells oem honda parts, the items most commonly discontinued are cosmetic. you should not have too hard a time finding 250 big red parts, as it was probably one of the most common 3-wheelers out there.

[honda200x1987]

Where do you guys get the parts you need to restore your trikes? I recently purchased my first three wheeler (85 250 ES) and it seems every other part that I try to order is discontinued. I've started to wonder whether I made a bad decision buying this if I can't get the parts I need to make it look and run like it should. If I do happen to find a part on EBAY, many times it's either in tough shape or the price gets bid up way higher than it retailed for new. The pics of the nicely restored machines on here offer great inspiration....is there a NOS parts tree I don't know about? bigred72 is a member here, he has full new oem honda plastics for your model. he might shoot you a good deal.

[Dirtcrasher]

We can make/adapt allot of stuff.

It's the disappearing grommets that scare me! They are all very specific and some you HAVE to have............

As long as MAIER makes our plastic, we should be OK. OK meaning us 350X,200X and 250R guys. Many other models may be out of luck on MANY parts. Those models were very specific and the parts are tougher to adapt and make fit.

[petesatc]

I have loads of NOS bigred parts send me a PM or contact me through the web-site below

[Leadfoot71]

If you think restoring a three wheeler is bad, check out this resto. http://www.espadatechsite.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17:first-contact&catid=6:ongoing&Itemid=25

This does get frustrating though. This is my first restoration and while I'm glad to see some stuff available, it's almost always the stuff I really, really need that isn't.

[Thorpe]

I did a resto mod on a 1961 DKW Junior... That was a PITA to find parts for...

What do you need for your BR? I just wrapped mine up a few months back, could possibly point you in the right directions...

[JoeyStacks]

Go to your local cycle shop and get them on it. My local guy found me parts for my Discontinued Carb among other things that I couldnt find when I went to the deepest depth of the internet. And check ebay once a week at least. One day their will be 1 part for your bike next day there will be 100

[BIG RED ATC]

Wow! Thanks for all the responses and suggestions. Over the years whenever I needed a part for one of my motorcycles (street or dirt) it usually was no big deal to get. So I didn't give it a thought when I tried to order parts for the BR. I guess I should have known since trikes have been out of production for so long. Thought I remember hearing once that Honda had supposedly claimed they would always offer parts for all their models (unlike some other manufacturers). Well this just adds to the challenge and makes all the machines seen here even more impressive.