Why did they stop making 3 wheelers?

[guidi]

I can't find the whole story, I've looked everywhere. Does anyone know officially why they stopped making the best atv's ever created?

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Can I answer with a true and candid answer?

Basically the tree hugging liberal/socialist (mostly democrat) types of people that hate cars/3 wheelers/4 wheelers/ motorcycles etc. and they look for reasons to get rid of them. Everything from stiff emissions standards to forcing high insurance rates to stop people from being able to own what they love most.

To make a long story short, they were able to convince the government and a lot of people in general that 3 wheelers were very unstable and prone to wreck easily and they claimed 3 wheelers are dangerous enough that they should be banned and illegal to sell.

After a handful of exaggerated claims, phony testimonies and stories from people who were hurt because of careless riding, they convinced the government to outlaw them.

Originally the government put a 10 year ban (correct me if I'm wrong anybody) on the sale of NEW 3 wheel atv's. But it was enough to make companies give up making them and now the companies simply haven't looked back.

Now we get to battle the same crowd to try to be able to keep our 2 strokes. We seem to be losing this one too.

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Here is an article from Time Magazine from Jan 11 1988. It is titled "Outlawing a Three-Wheeler'


On countless occasions the Government has ordered defective autos and trucks recalled. But last week the Justice Department, backed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, went a long step beyond that. In an unprecedented action, it outlawed future sales of an entire mode of transportation: three-wheel all- terrain vehicles.

The rugged gasoline-powered machines, which also come in four-wheel models, look something like a cross between a motorcycle and a dune buggy. Costing an average of $2,000, they can cruise up to 50 m.p.h. and negotiate some of the toughest terrain around, from sand dunes and rock-strewn hills to marshy lowlands. They are also exceedingly dangerous. Nearly 7,000 people are injured in ATV accidents each month, and an estimated 900 people have been killed over the past five years. Many of the victims are young children, who do not need a license to drive ATVs because they are designed for off-road use. The ATV manufacturers, which include Honda and Kawasaki, agreed to the ban but continue to insist that the bikes are safe if ridden properly.

As stern as the Government's action was, ATV critics are not satisfied. Consumer groups and some Congressmen contend that Washington should recall all of the 1.5 million three-wheel ATVs still in use in the U.S. and force manufacturers to give purchasers a refund. Says James Florio, Democratic Congressman from New Jersey: "How can anyone truly concerned with safety in effect say 'Tough luck' to people who currently own these unsafe vehicles?" Government officials defend their action, maintaining that a recall would cause a lengthy court battle.

May I go on record to say that I don't need some socialist A-hole like James Florio telling me what is good for me and what isn't. Plus, when it talks about children who were getting hurt, WHY WERE UNTRAINED CHILDREN RIDING 3 WHEELERS??????

I better stop before I get on an "I hate democrats" rant. lol

[WaimakRydah]

It is such a shame they outlawed them. Its the riders choice of what they purchase. Just like smoking which is way more dangerous then riding a 3 wheeler but yet the government still allow them to be sold in convinience stores next to essential items like food

[oscarmayer]

word............

[SWIGIN]

It is such a shame they outlawed them. Its the riders choice of what they purchase. Just like smoking which is way more dangerous then riding a 3 wheeler but yet the government still allow them to be sold in convinience stores next to essential items like food



the part that no one talks about is the fact that trikes were on the way out anyway, quads were the new thing and trike only had a few years at best before dieing off.

if you were old enough back then to remeber all this, think about it..... even quads wernt selling that great.

oh...and that last part of that time magazine artical.....you have no idea how close we were to them coming to our homes and taking them by force!'

my uncle actualy got his recall papers in the mail.....think about that.....the government coming and taking your trike.

you all can say '' i wouldnt give it up'' or whatever but it was a real thing with real jail time or whatever if you didnt comply....the truth is you dont know what you would do till its time to do it.

[oscarmayer]

i can promsie you i woudl not give something up because some maker or anyone tells me too. it's not liek your a criminal. they will have a hard time wanting to send you to jail with a trial by jury over not turnign in your trike you paid for and own.

[SWIGIN]

it wasnt a ''maker'' it was the government that sent out the papers and by not complying you are now a criminal....so jail could be a real thing

like i said you dont know till you know

[Hoosier_Daddy]

the part that no one talks about is the fact that trikes were on the way out anyway, quads were the new thing and trike only had a few years at best before dieing off.

if you were old enough back then to remeber all this, think about it..... even quads wernt selling that great.

oh...and that last part of that time magazine artical.....you have no idea how close we were to them coming to our homes and taking them by force!'

my uncle actualy got his recall papers in the mail.....think about that.....the government coming and taking your trike.

you all can say '' i wouldnt give it up'' or whatever but it was a real thing with real jail time or whatever if you didnt comply....the truth is you dont know what you would do till its time to do it.
Yes, I lived through it. I was a teenager through all that crap. And the government wasn't going to force us to give up our trikes with a punishment if we didn't do it. The government was simply trying to force the companies to recall them. Meaning anybody who decided to take their "dangerous" 3 wheeler back to get their money back could do so. We weren't going to be "forced" to give them back. The government could never get away with such a thing. And as you see they didn't.

[SWIGIN]

you have it all wrong

the gov DID send out papers for a complete recall....but that idea got shot down before it realy got started....fact

[SWIGIN]

look........every now and then someone brings this subject up and of course since we all think alike we all say things like .... not me ...or... i wouldnt have gave mine up.


but how many would of realy gone through with it?

at the time i was in the same frame of mind as you all, but now that im older that whole thing COULD have became real ugly and most people dont know how close we realy came to a totale recall

and the statement that the ''ban'' killed trikes is false...the handwriteing was on the wall already

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Yes, they sent papers for a recall. The government was stopped short of forcing the recall. But a recall only means that the company has to repair/replace/or refund money for a faulty part or component. In this case the entire bike.

Anybody who didn't want to participate in the recall would not have HAD to. They could simply ignore it and keep their trikes.

Same with any auto manufacture recall. If Ford issues a recall for a faulty fuel pump, the customer can go get it replaced or fixed at no charge. If the customer chooses not to get it fixed, they don't go to jail, they just simply miss out on getting the part fixed for free.

The recall for the trikes was for anybody who feared their trike was dangerous and wanted to get a refund, the companies would have been forced to refund the customers money and take back the trike. Anybody who chose to keep their trikes would not have been punished or put in jail. They would only have missed out on the refund for their trike.

[SWIGIN]

are you sure?

this is why it didnt happen.....the paper had a date of when they were coming to take his atc200...TAKE, not take if you will let us

you can read into it all you want but back just over 20 years ago i seen this paper and it was no joke.

the plan was to get all trikes and destroy them and pay the owner a fraction of what they were worth...beleive it or not, it almost happend

this is way it didnt happen.....to big of a problem and not worth the fight on there end


edit.... the papers were not from honda or any of the big 4...it was from the feds

[Hoosier_Daddy]

are you sure?

this is why it didnt happen.....the paper had a date of when they were coming to take his atc200...TAKE, not take if you will let us

you can read into it all you want but back just over 20 years ago i seen this paper and it was no joke.

the plan was to get all trikes and destroy them and pay the owner a fraction of what they were worth...beleive it or not, it almost happend

this is way it didnt happen.....to big of a problem and not worth the fight on there end


edit.... the papers were not from honda or any of the big 4...it was from the fedsIf the democrats were planning on trying to take trikes away from citizens their is no way they could have gotten away with it. That is unconstitutional ( I know the government does unconstitutional things all the time) and that would have been waaaaay over their boundries. That's why they tried to issue the recall instead. But the citizens would not have put up with that sort of thing and it never got passed. That is why it never happened.

I don't recall anything about the governemnt forcing us to give back the trikes or be punished but I do remember them trying the recall and as far as i know, it was just a recall for people who wanted to participate. If I'm wrong someone can correct me but I remember it all pretty well.

[Bad Karma]

Can I answer with a true and candid answer?

Basically the tree hugging liberal/socialist (mostly democrat) types of people that hate cars/3 wheelers/4 wheelers/ motorcycles etc. and they look for reasons to get rid of them. Everything from stiff emissions standards to forcing high insurance rates to stop people from being able to own what they love most.



Amen, brother! That's why gas prices are so high. The libs won't allow new drilling, new refineries, and new nuclear plants.

They are forcing us to do what they want, because they are SOOOO much smarter than us dumb rubes...


I was there in the '80s, a teenager then, and I don't remember 3-wheelers being on the way out at all. It was all good until the signs of what was coming became clearer. Race tracks couldn't get insurance for trike races, so the races dried up fast.

Without racing to push the development of new products, everything just kind of ground to a halt. Why would Honda have the ATC500R in development if trikes were on the way out anyway?

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Also, you are right that trikes were losing interest quickly and quads were gaining popularity. That is only because of all this crap that was going on. If the feds would have kept their noses out of it, quads would not have gained so quickly. But all the bad reputation made people afraid to buy trikes so they stalled out. And the ATV's in general were losing popularity because of all the bad press. Most of which was unwarranted.

[SWIGIN]

If the democrats were planning on trying to take trikes away from citizens their is no way they could have gotten away with it. That is unconstitutional ( I know the government does unconstitutional things all the time) and that would have been waaaaay over their boundries. That's why they tried to issue the recall instead. But the citizens would not have put up with that sort of thing and it never got passed. That is why it never happened.

I don't recall anything about the governemnt forcing us to give back the trikes or be punished but I do remember them trying the recall and as far as i know, it was just a recall for people who wanted to participate. If I'm wrong someone can correct me but I remember it all pretty well.




thats what im saying...we are both on the same page as to why they didnt go through with a recall.

all im saying is we were alot closer then most people think...iv seen the papers

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Amen, brother! That's why gas prices are so high. The libs won't allow new drilling, new refineries, and new nuclear plants.

They are forcing us to do what they want, because they are SOOOO much smarter than us dumb rubes...


I was there in the '80s, a teenager then, and I don't remember 3-wheelers being on the way out at all. It was all good until the signs of what was coming became clearer. Race tracks couldn't get insurance for trike races, so the races dried up fast.

Without racing to push the development of new products, everything just kind of ground to a halt. Why would Honda have the ATC500R in development if trikes were on the way out anyway?I totally Agree.

[Hoosier_Daddy]

thats what im saying...we are both on the same page as to why they didnt go through with a recall.

all im saying is we were alot closer then most people think...iv seen the papersWell, then I'm glad they didn't get away with it. We just need to revolt!!! lol

[SWIGIN]

Also, you are right that trikes were losing interest quickly and quads were gaining popularity. That is only because of all this crap that was going on. If the feds would have kept their noses out of it, quads would not have gained so quickly. But all the bad reputation made people afraid to buy trikes so they stalled out. And the ATV's in general were losing popularity because of all the bad press. Most of which was unwarranted.

very true

add to that the fact that by 1989 honda killed off the trx 250r and didnt make a ''race'' quad till 05 says alot

trikes never had a chance

[SWIGIN]

Well, then I'm glad they didn't get away with it. We just need to revolt!!! lol

now your talking!!!

[SWIGIN]

Amen, brother! That's why gas prices are so high. The libs won't allow new drilling, new refineries, and new nuclear plants.

They are forcing us to do what they want, because they are SOOOO much smarter than us dumb rubes...


I was there in the '80s, a teenager then, and I don't remember 3-wheelers being on the way out at all. It was all good until the signs of what was coming became clearer. Race tracks couldn't get insurance for trike races, so the races dried up fast.

Without racing to push the development of new products, everything just kind of ground to a halt. Why would Honda have the ATC500R in development if trikes were on the way out anyway?


you are 100% right about drilling and refineries

people ask why suzuki didnt make a sport/race trike...well IMO unlike honda they saw that quads were the future and ran with it while honda was beating a dead horse...or trying to. then for the most part they stoped makeing race quads since the sport was dead.

no factory will build a product they cant sell

[guidi]

I was just thinking about it. I love three wheelers. I've always loved things that aren't around anymore. I have a a couple old f-body cars (camaro's and trans am's) Because they aren't around anymore. I went to the badlands last year and the only people I saw on three wheelers were me and my buddy. I just wish makers would consider making them again. Because I could only imagine how much fun they'd be with todays motors.

[Havoxx]

You know I've read these things over and over, and I haven't figured out why they chose 3-wheelers as the "dangerous" ORV's, while a 2-wheeled bike falls over on it's own, and you can go flying sideways if you turn too hard. My dad rode his for years and never had a single accident, unless you call getting stuck in the mud an accident ;).

I agree quads are fun, but I have to tell you, from my trail-riding, the 3 wheeler seems to do it better, the quads are just so heavy they have a tendency to get stuck everywhere.

As for "dangerous" if they keep making the engines bigger and bigger, they might as well make miniature jeeps instead of ATV's, because at this rate, they're gonna have a 1 liter engine, and that's not far off.

[WaimakRydah]

What brought this ban on anyway? Was there an extremely high number of people being killed by trike accidents at the time or something?

[oscarmayer]

i can see it now.
"What are you in for?" asks the guy who jsut stabbed the convienent store clerk with a spoon till he was dead.

"I'm i for trike hording." me

"Who dude that's Horrible, your bad!" (runnign to the cell door) "Guards, let me out of here this dude is completely insane!!! HALPS!!"

:lol:
:D

[oscarmayer]

I personally have doen a lot of research as to why it even happened. and it was NOT emmissions or anything. Here's what i discovered why.
Back then, people didn't udnerstand the safety factor of ruding something with more than 2 wheels. they were used to dirtbike riding. when you ride a dirtbike, you tend to put your foot down on the turns. Well what happens if you do that on a trike or even a quad? (bye bye leg of rider)

also people were too LAXED with them because they thoguth hey, it's more stable that a 2 wheeler. well they rode them woth flipflops, shorts, tanktops and also no helmets. now that's about the WORST combo one could think of when riding one of these.

so what does this mean? IDIOTS ruined it for us. people NOT taking the time or thinking about what they are doing before doing it. so then some woomb bearing dudes with some tree humping org decides to use it as an excuse to get noticed by the gov. so guess what? our trikes were really a ploy tactic for that org to get noticed and nothing more. they enver interviewed the people who didn;t have issues, and they only talked to the oens that got badly hurt, but never asked about what they were wearing and if they had been trained to ride it. so they did everythig nthey coudl to hide the truth and get noticed.

[topless]

Say what you want, but riding a 3 wheeler is trickier than riding 2 wheels.
I'm old, these were around when my kids were young. People I know, have told me everytime they got on a 3 wheeler they crashed. That's called being stupid. It's different than 2 wheels or 4 wheels and if you try to ride a trike like you ride those others, you are going to crash, every time.
I was told, just last week that in Virginia, you cannot ride a 3 wheeler in State parks where you can ride motorcycles or 4 wheelers. How stupid is that?
We have owned every kind of off-road motorsport vehicle made or had close friends that did, and we go places and do things that really are difficult on 2 or 4 wheels, and make it look easy.
3 wheelers got a bum rap 20 years ago, and now people just believe they're deathmobiles.

[Tri-Z 250]

I believe the invention of the hand held video cam put the 3 wheeler on the hit list. It seems alot people found the no helmet wipe outs made for great laughs. The fact that a drunk fool like Uncle Joe could wheelie any three wheeler on the planet (mouse trap). Plus the fact that you can't put your foot down sucked in alot of frist time riders too( just ask the passenger, where'd they go). This made for great laughs but goverment type saftey groups had a feild day. Plus the invention of the sue happy lawyers were just getting out of college in the late 70's early 80's looking to cash in.

[SWIGIN]

I personally have doen a lot of research as to why it even happened. and it was NOT emmissions or anything. Here's what i discovered why.
Back then, people didn't udnerstand the safety factor of ruding something with more than 2 wheels. they were used to dirtbike riding. when you ride a dirtbike, you tend to put your foot down on the turns. Well what happens if you do that on a trike or even a quad? (bye bye leg of rider)

also people were too LAXED with them because they thoguth hey, it's more stable that a 2 wheeler. well they rode them woth flipflops, shorts, tanktops and also no helmets. now that's about the WORST combo one could think of when riding one of these.

so what does this mean? IDIOTS ruined it for us. people NOT taking the time or thinking about what they are doing before doing it. so then some woomb bearing dudes with some tree humping org decides to use it as an excuse to get noticed by the gov. so guess what? our trikes were really a ploy tactic for that org to get noticed and nothing more. they enver interviewed the people who didn;t have issues, and they only talked to the oens that got badly hurt, but never asked about what they were wearing and if they had been trained to ride it. so they did everythig nthey coudl to hide the truth and get noticed.



your right on the money, the only thing you left out is drunk rideing.

back in the 80s i remeber LOTS of drunks on there trikes everyware we rode

[WaimakRydah]

I guess if they did decide to produce the ATC500R it probably would have caused more accidents and more reason for the ban as alot of people wouldnt be able to handle that kind of power

[roger86200x]

Dirtbikes, bicycles, fast cars, roller blades, and scooters are all just as dangerous as a 3wheeler....it all depends on the operator.

I still can't believe they would outlaw trikes and not dirtbikes.... yah yah ome people claim that dirtbikes are safer blah blah... its still 2 wheels and lot less stable- you rely on balance instead of 2 wheels side by side in the back....

There are so many things in life that CAN be dangerous, and that CAN be proven not to be 100% safe (walking across the street for example)... but that doesnt get banned.... its the government lowly tring to take away freedom and giving into special interest groups and people bitching and cauing bad publicity....

If Honda were to remake the 250r 3wheeler now that the 10 year ban is up, you bet your ass I'd be one of the owners... if they were to make a "limited" number it would boost sales tremendously and they would see that people still want them....

Insurance companies, atv trail parks/tracks, and the government need to realize that by denying people the right to ride trikes caues THEM to loe business.... If I COULD Id take my 200x everywhere and ride....but all the damn parks say no trikes...etc or its they must be registered and insured and then you cant get insurance.... its all BS

[usmcgunnerm4]

An easy solution? No...but, it can be worked out. Making people take a 3 wheel operators course before allowing them to buy a trike? Hey, it really would only be about 3 hours long.....why not? Include it in the sales price. There is a company making 3 wheelers, and for the life of me I cant remember. But I think they are chinese, and a little cheesy.

[WaimakRydah]

i wonder if quads will be around for ages or if those big atvs like the yamaha rhino will take over

[SWIGIN]

i wonder if quads will be around for ages or if those big atvs like the yamaha rhino will take over

quads have already bin around for over 20 years and still selling like nuts...the rhino will be the next thing they try to ban

[leokendall]

let me ask 1 question here, they band atc but there makes the sypders now, they have 3 wheels and alot faster.
i don't thinks it fair


http://www.ama-cycle.org/news/2007/Can-Am/top.jpg

[WaimakRydah]

on trademe i saw a V12 jaguar (i think it was) trike now that would be extremely fast so if they keep making road trikes i dont c why honda wont make atv trikes

[guidi]

i wonder if we'll ever see another production 3 wheeler? I sure hope so anyway. with todays designs i bet it would be badass...maybe an ATC 400ex or ATC 450r?

[factoryX]

you know they tried banning the spyder right? And there main reason is that it does not have traction control. They are kinda fugly though.

[Blown 331]

They don't make 3-wheelers anymore because they are dangerous and kill poeple. :lol:

[edog]

They don't make 3-wheelers anymore because they are dangerous and kill poeple. :lol:
I second that........:lol:

[Blown 331]

I second that........:lol:

I heard about this ATC70 that stole a guys wallet then shot him 3 times! He died at the scene, damn 3-wheelers.

[edog]

I heard about this ATC70 that stole a guys wallet then shot him 3 times! He died at the scene, damn 3-wheelers.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[firehart]

My three wheelers formed an outlaw gang and roam the streets of North Nampa.

[BEEBOPPeR]

CAN AM IS THE TRIKE in your pic SO ROTAX BOMBARDIER WOULD BE WHAT IM THINKING

[factoryX]

CAN AM IS THE TRIKE in your pic SO ROTAX BOMBARDIER WOULD BE WHAT IM THINKING

that made no since.

[POS 250sx]

Yea, i remember first time i met my 3wheeler, swingarm bearings gone, wont move, and Im all., ill fix you up lil guy, then he socked me in the face. And then killed a kitten. And then pushed drugs on small children.

Seriously tho, Ive been riding my SX for like 4 years now, and ive rolled it several times, but everytime was in 1st rear or reverse usually dumping manure over this hill or crossing deep mirky water with 4 wheeler ruts in the bottom. Never been hurt in a roll over. worst 3 wheeler accident i had was when my foot slipped off kickstart and hit me in kneecap(limped for a week). I got a similar condition dirtbike and i have a motorcycle and kno how to ride, but that thing was dangerous. every time i hit a small log in the grass BAAM! DOWN I GO!. That fornicater plussed me off which is why its forks went on my trike :D.

TRIKE > DIRTBIKE

[300rman]

CAN AM IS THE TRIKE in your pic SO ROTAX BOMBARDIER WOULD BE WHAT IM THINKING

because CAN-AM made trikes.......

[duplechin]

if they would have stepped back and thought about it. dirt bikes are way more unstable than three wheelers.

[shortbus]

What is with everyone bringing back 88year old threads?

[sugarhead]

Because of stupid people wearing flip flops and backwards baseball caps instead of proper gear.lack of common sense on the judges part for not throwing these ludicrous cases out w the bathwater and awarding these jackwagons money and lack of common sense on riders who didnt belong on a trike no less a pedal powered one.

[Itrike]

Realy! I think you are unwise

[pmktm]

I asked a Kaw-Suz [in 87]dealer about the 3-wheelers being banned. And was told that the manufacturers said they would not build any more
trikes if they didn't pass any regs/laws on them. If they were banned wouldn't one think that they could be kept out of the riding areas? The
greenies would be all over keeping them out if they could. .05 fwiw

[bcredneck]

you know why they dont make em because retards that are not capable of understanding basic physics cant figer out why the trike rolls over when they yank the bars at high speed or why there 7 year old dont have enough weight to balance a bigred in a corner hmmm wonder if its safe to put a car seat on the luggage rake for the new born

[tri again]

What is with everyone bringing back 88year old threads?

I actually read the rules and they prefer us to add to threads even if they are old.

Gas tanks that rusted years ago or carbs that needed rebuilding are really the same stories and it adds continuity to the threads.
But the way things are going, there would only be 10 or 15 different threads total.

Maybe to save space and bandwidth?

May be a throwback from the days when big harddrives were expensive.?

Maybe to see if anyone cares about the rules?

I kinda like long, drawn out threads that explore the zillion possibilities of whatever problems we encounter. At lest enough to fix them or give up.