Honda Dealer Won't Work on My Trike....Jerks!

[Darius1502]

I have heard about this but never really thought it was true.

I guess they wish all trikes would turn into rust buckets and stop running.

Man that pisses me off!!

I want someone with an ATC 250R (built up to a 380 ESR or with a CR500 engine to go roost all over thier front lawn). That would be trespassing...but man would it feel good.

[hrc85250r]

burn the place down...

[83185s]

y dont u go take trailprotrailpro r and do it..im sure it would get the job done! lol...i dont go to any honda dealership now..because of what a guy said about the 200x that i have..i just said fine f u and told him im never coming back to the store again..i hope he got fired cause i think the manager was there...and i said everything loud enough that the store could here it..anyway..yea i got to the regular atv shops..no more dealers for me..hey can u send me a pic of your quadzilla to my email>> ive never seen one before..my email is jtetidrick2007@yahoo.com ...thanks man

[350Xccelerator]

yea the dealer here wont work on trikes either, they say they wont work on any 3 wheeler or anything older than 1990.

[350x'inNY]

Huh... our local dealer loves to here how my trikes are doing... especially after I leave the parts counter! The mechanics ask me about my trikes and stuff.

[Darius1502]

Well I won't do that...but it is reckless of them to refuse service.

Just as reckless as it was for them to make the trikes auto-clutch.

Ok..here are pics of the zilla. Just a few because this a 3wheeler board.

[Dammit!]

What is it you need done?

[Darius1502]

Well I am having a hell of time bleeding the front brake after I changed the brake line (stupid me...at least the yellow colored line worked!!)

I have bled the master cylinder, then the line and then the calipher. It just refuses to work. This is odd because the brake was working fine before.

I may buy a vacuum kit sometime this weekend. If not I'll take it in to a repair shop.

[ClayW]

Mine works on them all the time. No problems here. I think some shops dont like working on older stuff because they get left with the bike and the bill sometimes. My Honda dealer requires new customers to pay a deposit orthe repair cost infull in advance of the work being done. CYA on their part.

[Dammit!]

When you squeeze the brake lever with the resevoir cap off, do you see bubbles popping up in the resevoir? Sometimes it takes a while of just working it like that, THEN using the bleeder to tighten it up.

[J.D.]

Here's two options I've always used to bleed brakes and they've never failed me

#1: Open up the bleeder screw, squeeze the lever all the way, close the bleeder, release the lever. Repeat until a steady stream of only fluid comes out.

#2, Gravity bleed. Open the bleeder screw and allow gravity to take the air out of the line.Just let it run through for a while.

Good luck!

[BLAZERONE22]

You know I had the same problem, master worked fine, changed the line and them I could'nt get it to bleed, let the darn thing set for a couple days and go out there to bleed the darn brakes and bam they work. I always wondered if the trike elfs came by and fixed it for me. lol I wish they would do my left fork seal though.

[HaggLE]

The piston in the caliper isnt seized is it?

If you can move it then try gravity bleeding it.

[Merriman]

This is the best way I have found to bleed front brakes....

Take the cap off the master cylinder, and fill it to the top. Next shake the brake lever up and down repeatedly...(you'll have a massive amount of air bubbles appear) Once the air bubbles stop popping up, squeeze the brake handle rapidly (like your applying the brakes) then repeat that process until you get a little bit of feel in the handle. Once you can feel the brakes begin to grab, then mess with the bleeder valve on the caliper. It only takes me about 20 minutes to bleed dual front 50" brake lines on my race bike this way. Last time I did it to my trike it toook about 15 minutes tops.

[wolfspider]

hey darius
when i bled my front brake it was a pain, but i got there in the end, push the pistons in the caliper right back in as air gets trapped behind them, also make sure that your new pipe doesn`t go higher than your master cylinder.
hope this helps.
steve.

[jeswinehart]

our dealer in elkhart, indiana ,,, last week had a yamaha trike sitting out with the other used bikes + quads. probbly took it in on trade or it might have been one of the restorations they do in their spare time.
it's not the first trike i've seen out in front of north end cycle either.


john

[chris200x]

our dealer in elkhart, indiana ,,, last week had a yamaha trike sitting out with the other used bikes + quads. probbly took it in on trade or it might have been one of the restorations they do in their spare time.
it's not the first trike i've seen out in front of north end cycle either.


john

It was for sale? I thought it was illegal for dealers to sell 3 wheelers.

[Orangecnty250r]

I've seen three wheelers advertised more often at used cycle centers. Darius I have a new brake line coming in for mine also so keep us updated. Thats bizarre they would not work on it. Were not talking about a 20 year old engine no tech there is familiar with--- Its a freakin brake line. If thats the case its better to find a better place anyway.

[ClayW]

No, it is not illegal for dealers to sell trikes. All the legal agreement stuff that was signed back in the day has expired. Not in effect anymore. However, it never included that.

[twgranger]

My stealer will work on trike's but it don't mean that they know how to fix them!!

[LonesomeTriZ]

It was for sale? I thought it was illegal for dealers to sell 3 wheelers.

Why is it there is such a popular belief that trikes are illegal or outlawed :wondering ? They are neither :mad: . Some dealerships love to see them come around :Bounce , especially if they have been in business since trikes were produced. I stopped going to a local Yamaha dealership because they put me down for restoring trikes, and they new nothing about them. I found another dealership a little bit farther that actually calls me just to see how the restorations are coming :w00t: . They actually have one parts guy that can identify Tri Z parts juch by the part number :D . I have no problem at all giving those guys my money :beer . By the way, go with the gravity feed ;) . I had a similar problem. The brakes worked until I replaced the line. I had to disassemble the caliper and clean it out then it gravity bled fine.

[Darius1502]

Geez what a mess.

I am going to buy a vacuum kit and see that helps. I also think that air is trapped behind the caliper. Its not in the line or the master.

The price you pay for good looks!!

[Dan Tenn]

I own a Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, and Polaris. I like the Polaris dealer best, and a close second is my Yamaha dealer. Most dealers will work on anything that they feel they can fix. I vary rarely need the dealer to fix anything, but the parts guys at these two places are great, and like trikes. I try to stay away from my Honda dealer at all costs because they really dont seem to care about anything (they did a restore on a U.S. 90 though).

[LonesomeTriZ]

I have had a lot of problems finding any one including local shops who will work on any thing older than 1993. They all usual have cut off dates. Except my favorite Yamaha dealership. Those guys are great. on the rare occasion I can not fix it, I take it to them. The other day I was over there and saw a couple of customer trikes getting worked on (Tri Zinger and YTM 200). it gave me a worm and fuzzy. :D

[ClayW]

I just bought one of those 5 dollar one man bleeder kits. Worked fine for me. Got all the air out of the front brakes.

[Pistonhead]

I've found dealer's who aren't afraid of the classics: I took these pictures inside Bill's Honda in Steinbach Manitoba.

[Pistonhead]

More!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:

[Pistonhead]

Yes, I talked wih the owners and they are as he said "slowly but surely" restoring that 85 R back to original condition, and he refused my offer of free intensive labour in trade for the 90!

[AZ250R]

Dealers / all repair shops can be funny when it comes to older atvs... The guy I goto said he couldn't @ first cause it was older than the early 90s. After I kept talk'n my 85 250R up a few minuits he said bring it down & he'd let me know based on how it looked. I's like WTF!?!? When I showed up with it, he said "OK, I can work on that NO PROBLEM". So I asked what the hold up was. He told me that so many people bring in greasy, grimmy, crusty dirt covered CRAP that as long as its CLEAN he really had no problems with fix'n them. So the key, for me, was that my trike IS almost SPOTLESS. I'm kinda with him on that angle too. :beer

[Darius1502]

I love those 85 R pics man....just awesome!!

We need to put those up with the Kearney Yamaha stuff on the main page!!

[Dan Tenn]

Dealers / all repair shops can be funny when it comes to older atvs... The guy I goto said he couldn't @ first cause it was older than the early 90s. After I kept talk'n my 85 250R up a few minuits he said bring it down & he'd let me know based on how it looked. I's like WTF!?!? When I showed up with it, he said "OK, I can work on that NO PROBLEM". So I asked what the hold up was. He told me that so many people bring in greasy, grimmy, crusty dirt covered CRAP that as long as its CLEAN he really had no problems with fix'n them. So the key, for me, was that my trike IS almost SPOTLESS. I'm kinda with him on that angle too. :beer

So if I brought my brand spankin new quad in covered in mud, they wouldnt work on it? Shmucks :wondering

[RichinMO]

Buy the vacuum pump if you haven't already. MityVac is the one I got at Oreillys and it worked like a champ. I had the same prob you had after replacing my front brake line. Just remember that it will still have little bubbles showing in the line coming off the bleeder screw, its just air thats being sucked from around the bleed screw threads, its not in the line itself.

[Pistonhead]

I love those 85 R pics man....just awesome!!

We need to put those up with the Kearney Yamaha stuff on the main page!!

I agree, I'm absolutely 100% okay with anyone using those pics, thats why I took them, gotta spread the trike love! Its funny how I found those trikes, I was on a trip out to manitoba to visit some family when we pulled up at a gas station next to the Honda shop to fill the truck up, so I decided to go look inside, but it was closed, so I looked through the windows and saw the R, and I knew it was my duty to go in the next day and take some pics. Funny, when I went in there I was thinking just like a mini Kearney!

[hrc85250r]

Here's two options I've always used to bleed brakes and they've never failed me

#1: Open up the bleeder screw, squeeze the lever all the way, close the bleeder, release the lever. Repeat until a steady stream of only fluid comes out.

#2, Gravity bleed. Open the bleeder screw and allow gravity to take the air out of the line.Just let it run through for a while.

Good luck!



option number one works the best, takes 20 or 30 of these reps to start it up, but it works great and when it starts sucking it in its downhill from there....

[grundlegrabber]

A Mityvac hand pump is handy to have when you are installing new brake parts. It helps to suck the lines full of fluid, then you should be able to bleed it regularly. I've had trouble a few times in the past. I let the bike sit overnight and then pumped the lever numerous times with the reservoir cap off.

[PowerTrike]

So if I brought my brand spankin new quad in covered in mud, they wouldnt work on it? Shmucks :wondering

Yeah :( Doesn't seem right to me. For the record my local Artic Cat dealer didn't have any problem working on my crusty old bigred and even made a comment about how well build hondas are (the owner) even though he deals Artic Cat ATVs... I've also seen 2 nice ATC 250RS for sale at a high end local Honda/Ski-doo/Yamaha dealship (only once! and poof they were gone) They charge hefty service fees though... I think its just stupid for any stealership to refuse to work on trike.

[nate b]

none of the dealers around here like trikes or working on them, they dont like my snowmobiles either, they just want to sell new machines. I wouldnt trust them working on any of my stuff anyways.

[Darius1502]

Ok guys. I used the Mityvac and it was awesome. I am convinced that 1) it would have been impossible to bleed those brakes without it, or 2) it would have taken 1 year to finish the job.

I definitely recommend it.

I also put some teflon tape (you know the stuff you use on PVC pipe threads) around the thread of the bleed nipple. That prevents air from getting in through the threads.

The seal was tight and it worked great. I had to recycle the oil through the Mityvac about 5 times using a combination of pumping the brakes and bleeding (with the vac hose on) and then just sucking hte fluid through the system with the bleed valve 1/2 turn open.

It worked!!http://www.mityvac.com/images/animation.gif