So, I was talking to a Honda guy today.....

[Dirtcrasher]

This is news to me....

I spoke with someone previously involved in Honda parts sales.

I asked him how parts could be back ordered if everything available that had been made was at American Honda. He explained to me that if in a period of time, no one orders a certain part, they discontinue the part.

If on the other hand the stock is getting low at American Honda and the demand is high, they make more regardless of the year of the machine. And they will continue to make them until demand drops for a period of time and then it's discontinued.

Once discontinued, they will never make it again regardless of current demand, he has NEVER seen them begin to made a previously discontinued part again.

He claimed that parts only get discontinued when demand drops and thats the end of it.

So this leads me to think that it's "our" fault for not ordering a certain part for a period of time that leads to that parts death....

Seems strange though, take a seat cover for example, when for any period of time was a seat cover not ordered which caused it to become discontinued???

Sounds crazy :wondering but he was a professional speaking person and this was his explanation.

Just thought I'd share this with you all and KEEP ORDERING PARTS!!

[SWIGIN]

thats exsactly what that means.....if no one goes to the honda dealer to get parts guess what......they will drop them

aftermarket too.......if no one buys say....200x rear fenders from maier...they will drop them

[edog]

Makes sense.

[tecat-z]

People are cheap! That's the bottom line. They want the cheapest part they can buy. I buy as much oem as i can. I have lots of never used oem stuff that bought for fear of it being discontinued. Hell, i even have a brand new clutch cover, basket, inner hub, pressure plate and frictions for a tri-z. New kickstart gears for a tecate, fuel pump kits, plastics, and lots of other things for my various machines. My plan, to ride 3wheelers and dirt bikes till i can't ride anymore!!

[dizasterzrfun69]

yea..................... it's called supply and demand....... thats all there is to it. :rolleyes:

[Dirtcrasher]

One time when I called Western Honda, I said to the kid on the phone "If you can find out whats near being discontinued, we can make some money...." When he got back to me, he told me he couldn't find out how many of a particular part# were left. I thought he could order 100 clutch covers, have Honda come back and say that they only have 23 of them and that would disclose the actual quantity still available. Then I'd buy them up, sounded like a good plan to me anyhow!!

Maybe I'm an idiot.... But, I always envisioned a massive warehouse somewhere that housed all these parts that were made and had huge bins filled with parts that slowly became empty as we ordered them. Those were my thoughts anyhow....

Turns out that there are bins of parts, and if you order them, they'll make more. But if you stop buying them it's goodbye part....

Yeah, we all know the supply and demand facts, but there sure are allot of parts discontinued that aways break or get ripped or worn and I'm certain they were always in demand. So whats the deal with that??

[oldskool83]

just buy extras for yourself....if not retrofit but be sure to buy a bunch of them also.

[Twilight]

Not true, the Honda Pilot front fenders and rear fenders are discontinued every couple of years, but when we get more demand for them, Honda answers and tells how many are needed to get the part made again.

Its not like the molds and specs to make those molds are thrown away, they are all kept.

[jasonb01]

Problem with Honda is that they made such great machines, that they never broke so people didn't need to order parts until 20 years later and now we are screwed because our machines were too well made. LOL Just a theory.

[oldskool83]

no thats kinda true...you wont see a 450r at the shop getting rebuild 16 years from now...you may see a 350x motor though haha

[Twilight]

Problem with Honda is that they made such great machines, that they never broke so people didn't need to order parts until 20 years later and now we are screwed because our machines were too well made. LOL Just a theory.

Your theory is absolutely correct. Most of the parts that you can still order, are things that were breaking on the machines, if the machine didnt receive an upgrade or addendum to that, then the parts being broken are still in production, the parts that arent in production are scrapped for the ones that are.

Plastics, pull starts...ect the things that receive the most damage and are constantly used, are almost all still being made, even on the older machines.

[Dirtcrasher]

Then where is the 86/87 200X plastic?

The 85/86 350X plastic?

Seat covers (any year or model)

350X headlight housings?

Axles for above machines?

I can't buy tank scoops for ANYTHING!!

Yep, Honda rules but are we assuming that no one crashed a 200X or 350X??

[WLL]

i want some parts for my trikes too. im pissed i cant find em!!! for the love of trikes ill keep trying

[Twilight]

The honda shops around here have told me that if a machine was made in limited quantities then its no surprise that the parts aren't as abundant. There weren't that many 86/87 trikes sold/made because of the low demand, that could have been a reason for the low number of parts made, and the fact that the popularity factor is a lot lower then other older models.

The Honda Pilot's still sell for more than what they were new, Honda see's that as a marketing ploy, and for 30.00 worth of plastic and couple hours of labor for a few guys, they are making 200+ a fender, and even more for side panels.

The 86 200x's I have don't even show up on a report as anything more than a machine that was assembled and sent to the USA. Neither of them have any proof that they were even sold here in the USA.

[Dirtcrasher]

Lets look at the 350X.....

Plenty of that machine (85 or 86) is discontinued and they made quite a few of them.

Take for example the grab bar and tail light, which aren't very expensive - why are those discontinued? :wondering

Those were the first parts to snap off for a new large bore thumper owner wheelying a bit too far. Thats just 2 examples that made me question what he said.

To go just a bit further, what about gasket kits? Plenty of Honda ATC'S have an "A" and "B" kit (top and bottom end) and again, most of them are gone. Most everyone wants OEM gaskets and I can't be convinced that they weren't ordered for a long enough period of time that Honda discontinued them.

You mentioned fender tooling. What about gasket tooling? or punch and die, I can't understand why it would be so hard to hang onto that type of tooling :rolleyes:

[Twilight]

They probably have all the dies and specs to everything, but again, look at supply and demand. What's quite a few to you? As for the gasket kits, unless you wrecked an engine right after you got it, why would you need it?

ATC parts are hard to find because of one reason, demand was low back then, there weren't as many people as there are now asking for parts. You could try Hillside Honda, they always had the parts I needed.

[Dirtcrasher]

Hillside, Western, Service Honda or Bike Bandit - It all comes from American Honda.

I'll agree that gaskets may not be needed as often because HONDA's RUN FOREVER!! ;) LOL... but again, what about grab bars?

Any machine made with an agressive rider bends them in the first few hours, days or months :D

No way I can be convinced that the demand for those dropped off.........

[TwoHundredEx]

Gotta remember that aftermarket companies play a part in this too. Which would you rather have, an OEM grab bar that you bent on the first ride, or a well built, stronger aftermarket bar?
Same with plastics, would you rather have OEM, or aftermarket for half the price?

[Dirtcrasher]

Plastic? We all wanted OEM...

These are just a couple of examples. I'm sure I could come up with plenty of parts that break that got discontinued and it makes no sense to me why....

Anyone who ran the 350X low of oil or ran the oil filter backwards ruined the head, to this day a good head is 200$. Why is that puppy discontinued??

All and all, if they have the tooling (which I doubt) and enough of us in demand; why can't they make our parts again!!

[Twilight]

Call up someone at the headquarters and ask them. Its just like Maier.

[CoeShow]

Folks,

Here's some information concerning recreational "Sport Oriented" 3 wheelers. They were produced AND sold in very low numbers compared to work or industrial and agricultural use 3 wheelers like "Big Red" and other like models.

The only places that sport models had significant sales numbers were So.Cal, and if memory serves, the state of Florida. The reality is that all of the Sport models like the ATC250R, ATC200 and 350X had MUCH lower volumes than the other models that some on this site could care less about.

To be honest, I can't believe there would be ANY parts available for any of ATVs produced in the eighties! Are there really parts still available?

[Fuzzy8766]

Well yeah there are still parts available. I just ordered and got a NOS rear fender for my 85 250ES. I know this does nothing for you Gents that ride the hot rod models but yes you can still get some parts for mid 80's ATC's.

[stealthduner]

To be honest with you, I would love to pay the Higher amount for the OEM ATC250SX rear fenders. IMHO the Maier 250SX fenders SUCK! I love that trunk, that is why i have a set of Decent cracked rears

[Mosh]

DC,
While I agree,with what you are saying,I also find that hard to believe.

Some of the TRX 250R Tranny gears are discontinued as well as counterbalancers,At least that is what I am told..The problem is,that there are many guys out there running TRX's yet.So there is High demand for those.That is just an Example.

It is probably a marketing tactic.
Especailly with the Trikes.
With them being banned,the Companies are probably careful to not try to keep them running.WHY?

If you were Honda,selling $6000 quads,You want people to buy new stuff.
The only way to make that happen is by limiting the time that you can keep that old machine running.What better way to do that than discontinue parts?

For instance,There was a gajillion Banshee's made.I am sure that 5 years from now,some factory parts will be gone.And you cant blame that on lack of demand,with the amount of Banshee's sold over the last 20 years.

The funny thing is,is how cheap new stuff is from the dealer.You can buy a Brand new complete 400ex seat from Honda, with the cover ,pan, and foam ready to go for 68 bucks.Needless to say,when someone wants a 400ex seat recovered to stock,I sell em a new one.

[SWIGIN]

DC..... your thinking to hard about this

you said about grab bars....back in late 85 my dad got me a 200x and guess what...the grab bar was missing. we went right to the honda shop and ordered one.... it was $70! this is the mid 80s
thats why no one bought honda grab bars (not to mention they are weak)

350x heads going bad....... there was no demand

other then my neighbor i never saw a 350x out rideing till the mid 90s when my buddy got one.

it seems most just sat around till the 2nd ownwers used them....no demand till it was to late

and the reason say only 1/2 a tranny is avalibale is honda is still useing some of the grears for something else......or in something that is no longer made but they do need to make parts for.

like in cars ...... say ford stops making the focus...they need buy law to make parts for something like 10 years. after that its all on demand and if its worth it to them

[edog]

Folks,

Here's some information concerning recreational "Sport Oriented" 3 wheelers. They were produced AND sold in very low numbers compared to work or industrial and agricultural use 3 wheelers like "Big Red" and other like models.

The only places that sport models had significant sales numbers were So.Cal, and if memory serves, the state of Florida. The reality is that all of the Sport models like the ATC250R, ATC200 and 350X had MUCH lower volumes than the other models that some on this site could care less about.

To be honest, I can't believe there would be ANY parts available for any of ATVs produced in the eighties! Are there really parts still available?

I just bought all new NOS plastic for my 1985 250R.

[rich250rracer]

One time when I called Western Honda, I said to the kid on the phone "If you can find out whats near being discontinued, we can make some money...." When he got back to me, he told me he couldn't find out how many of a particular part# were left. I thought he could order 100 clutch covers, have Honda come back and say that they only have 23 of them and that would disclose the actual quantity still available. Then I'd buy them up, sounded like a good plan to me anyhow!!



That's not true, any dealer who knows what they're doing can check availability of a part number. I've had the place I buy my OEM parts from check the availability of front and rear fenders for a TRX250R numerous times and they always give me an exact count as to whats available. In fact they check availability of every part I order when I call it in.

[84 ATC 200M]

It Makes Sence To Me Becuase If They Have A Part That Is Rarely Bought Well They Will Drop That Part And Replace That Part Somthing They Know Will Sell Basically Wasted Space Or Wasted Money Cuase They Aint Making Any Or Hardly And Money.

Sad But True...

Looking Back At CoeShows Comment
I Have A 84 ATC 200M And Just About If Not All Parts Are Avaiable At My Local Dealer 15Mins Away.
And 200M Is Not A Very Common Trike In My Mind Only Made For 2 Years!

[jaykup]

I wonder if we can get a list of parts that will be discontinued soon. I also wonder how long it takes for a part to get discontinued.

[Dirtcrasher]

I have a hard time believing that someone knows how many pieces are left before they are discontinued. Anyone with any brain would buy every single one left and sell them off one by one.

Lets take the 87 200X seat, surely they should be discontinued... But, I believe it was Cuda or some other NH member that bought one and found they were 200$ brand new complete soup to nuts. Recently another member here sold that same 200$ seat for 355$ on EBAY because everyone ASSUMES they are discontinued.

Guess who bought a "few" of those seats? :cool: I'm just pissed I can't get the "ATC" logo seat but I'm gonna make a stencil and practice on some marine vinyl, just gotta figure out the best paint to buy for that application.

But, seems to me that if every few months a few of those seats get ordered, they will continue to make it. Who knows for how long but in years to come, I'm sure the seat will be gone also.

I've also bought a bunch of decompression cables for the 350X and numerous models chain slides or guides that are still available.

It's actually amazing how many parts are NOT discontinued. And if it weren't for the members of this board constantly restoring these machines, according to the person I met, everything would be discontinued.

[Twilight]

Thats exactly it. But who needed restorations that long ago? lol

[jaykup]

I have a hard time believing that someone knows how many pieces are left before they are discontinued. Anyone with any brain would buy every single one left and sell them off one by one.

Their "system" must throw up a flag when the part has not been purchased for X amount of time, and based on that, the part is discontinued (from what you said on the first post). This means they are able to monitor the time since the last order. It would make sense to me, they would be able to generate a report showing part numbers that are nearing that time limit. Based on that list, it would give us a priority of parts to save. Unless, of course, that time limit is 5 or 10 years, then it wouldn't be such a big deal (my second statement).


Lets take the 87 200X seat, surely they should be discontinued... But, I believe it was Cuda or some other NH member that bought one and found they were 200$ brand new complete soup to nuts. Recently another member here sold that same 200$ seat for 355$ on EBAY because everyone ASSUMES they are discontinued.

Guess who bought a "few" of those seats? :cool: I'm just pissed I can't get the "ATC" logo seat but I'm gonna make a stencil and practice on some marine vinyl, just gotta figure out the best paint to buy for that application.

You probably already know this, but check out www.cosmicquads.com, Moshman here on 3WW runs it, and makes some awesome custom seat covers, for a great price. The ATC could be stitched in.


But, seems to me that if every few months a few of those seats get ordered, they will continue to make it. Who knows for how long but in years to come, I'm sure the seat will be gone also.

I've also bought a bunch of decompression cables for the 350X and numerous models chain slides or guides that are still available.

It's actually amazing how many parts are NOT discontinued. And if it weren't for the members of this board constantly restoring these machines, according to the person I met, everything would be discontinued.

I agree