History Question - What did they do with all the recalled Three Wheelers

[afdfirefighter]

I am aware of the ban and that it has expired but I am curious to some of the details. It says they were made illegal for new and used sales and they recalled the unsold ones. Where did all of these go? Did the manufactures have to destroy them? I have been searching for some time for some photos of things such as: old Honda warehouse, production line, old Honda showrooms, etc. I love old pictures and like to see how they manufactured and warehoused these back in the day. Has anyone came across that recently that know where I could take a look. Thanks guys, just want to learn a little more about these back when they were new. Was 15-20 years before my time...

[BOB MARLIN]

I don't think it was ever "Illegal" to sell a 3 wheeler. It was more of a volentary thing. I do know someone that claims to have found some of the fender molds, but honda won't release them.

[afdfirefighter]

I don't think it was ever "Illegal" to sell a 3 wheeler. It was more of a volentary thing. I do know someone that claims to have found some of the fender molds, but honda won't release them.

Well you know what I mean. The industry agreed to not produce them. Fender molds as in already made fenders? Where did he come across this? This is the type of stuff that interests me big time.

[kb0nly]

They put a ban on the Manufacturing of them, they didnt put a ban on selling them. A lot of dealers pulled their stock though, i remember the Honda dealer we used to have here pulled the last of them off the showroom floor because they were just bad for business at that time.

I know the dealer here eventually sold them though. I have heard stories and seen ones that were chopped up after the manufacturing ban. Motors and main components removed and shelfed, and the frame junked. One old dealer told me once they would cut off the front downtube with the VIN stamped in it to send to Honda as proof of destruction, they would then get credited for it, etc.

The Honda production lines just regeared to quads and stopped making them.

What Bob is talking about, Molds, is the large metal Molds that were used to produce the plastic parts, fenders, etc. There was big talk about that a while back, evidently Honda shelved the molds because they were a large investment to make in the first place. I suppose they figured they could make replacement parts for a while to recoup costs. After all making the fenders is not manufacturing of a three wheeler so the law wouldnt have stopped that.

[afdfirefighter]

They put a ban on the Manufacturing of them, they didnt put a ban on selling them. A lot of dealers pulled their stock though, i remember the Honda dealer we used to have here pulled the last of them off the showroom floor because they were just bad for business at that time.

I know the dealer here eventually sold them though. I have heard stories and seen ones that were chopped up after the manufacturing ban. Motors and main components removed and shelfed, and the frame junked. One old dealer told me once they would cut off the front downtube with the VIN stamped in it to send to Honda as proof of destruction, they would then get credited for it, etc.

The Honda production lines just regeared to quads and stopped making them.

What Bob is talking about, Molds, is the large metal Molds that were used to produce the plastic parts, fenders, etc. There was big talk about that a while back, evidently Honda shelved the molds because they were a large investment to make in the first place. I suppose they figured they could make replacement parts for a while to recoup costs. After all making the fenders is not manufacturing of a three wheeler so the law wouldnt have stopped that.

I can't believe Honda hasn't pulled those molds out and started reproducing plastics. I would think they would sell plastics like hot cakes and beat all the aftermarket prices.

Has anyone ever seen any old pics from Honda when these were being built on the line or a warehouse of crates of ATCs.

Wish I could have purchased one of these brand new back in the day and put it together from the crate.

[Larry T Moore]

we purchased a 110 new in 1980....it was the gateway drug for my addiction....then we sold it in an estate auction and went straight to the dealer and bought a new 200s in 85.....I still have all the brochures from every dream trip..when they sold the Honda dealership in town to NAPA i was supposed to get all the vcr tapes of the promotion for the trikes...never happened...but I do remember the dealer had pics from the shows of new trikes on the bulletin board and he was as excited to get them in..then all the crap happened and they never came..now..the story of whether there was this last 250r sold in Canada gets a heated discussion like NASCAR or religon...

[El Camexican]

I fall into the “I was there when” category and my recollection is that the agreement to stop offering three wheelers to the public was a long drawn out process, it wasn’t like everyone woke up one morning and couldn’t buy or sell a trike. During that period there was plenty of time to ramp down production and sell what they had on the water.

Case in point, Yamaha and Honda stopped selling their 250 racers in 1986, but other trikes keep selling in 1987. The damming data and legal problems were well publicized long before this report came out in 1987 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1I5DweHlnQ I remember my parents discussing the media reports of the dangers as far back as 1984 while debating if it was safe for me to continue riding ours (I won that argument by the way).

The idea that large cargos of trikes were dumped into the ocean, or sold for scrap is intriguing, but I suspect it is more urban legend that fact. Look at it this way; if Honda was selling Big Reds in 1987 and Kawasaki was still selling Tecates why would Honda have scrapped any leftover 1986 250R trikes? It would make no sense.

There is one thing I would like to know that perhaps someone (Mr. Dunlop?) could tell us and this is; did the AMA ever ban three wheelers from its events and if so what year did they do it? Maybe that is why most of the 250 racers stopped being sold in 86? I think production of the Tigers and Tricky Dick’s trikes were all but done in 85/86, but I don’t know if that was because there was nowhere to race, or if they were looking to steer clear of legal problems.

[fabiodriven]

I do know someone that claims to have found some of the fender molds, but honda won't release them.

This statement makes absolutely no sense.

I can't believe Honda hasn't pulled those molds out and started reproducing plastics. I would think they would sell plastics like hot cakes and beat all the aftermarket prices.

I understand you are young and you have a lot to learn. Just because all of us in here are nuts about trikes, that doesn't mean the rest of the world is. The whole reason they stop producing this stuff is because it gets to the point that profit is questionable, not because they're big doody heads. Watch a group fender buy on here go down. It's hard enough to track down 15 people who will put the money up for a buy.

[HairyJR]

Back in the late 80's the owner of Hy-Tech when it was a motorcycle salvage business in Fontana, CA. had a boat load of 350x suspension parts from the disassembled trikes. I also believe that's when Honda donated all the motors to schools auto shops.

[DohcBikes]

Isn't it possible that Honda Kawi etc. just pulled as much stock as they could, and sold what was left in countries other than the U.S.... I mean, why would they just throw their money away when they could just go ahead and sell them somewhere else?

[fabiodriven]

Because it isn't that much money to them. Add a wheel to the machine and continue selling. It was a speed bump at best.

[atc007]

Your core question will be answered by reading the consent decree. Set aside a LOT of time. 3 wheelers were VOLUNTARILY suspended form being sold. There was also a TON of lawyer talk in there that halted technology from being thrown into Quads. Hence Honda doing nothing race wise for over a decade. It ran out in 1999,and by all laws. I THINK you can legally produce a 3 wheeler now. I don't think there is enough insurance in the world for that to happen though. Honda wants absolutely NOTHING to do with ANY conversation about a ATC. It is stupid. They made them more money collectively than anything else they have ever sold. But the taste in their mouth is THAT bad. When they chopped the bikes. All the Honda dealer had to send back to American Honda was the Frame cut with the VIN # on it. That's it. ALL the other parts were to be donated. What was in crates was parted, wheels and tires at the time were $25 dealer cost for dealers,while they lasted. I and another member on here stumbled into,,,well,,, maybe not the holy grail.But a ass ton of nos stuff piled as high as the eye could see last year. Nope,no pics Some of it was dry rotted,some as new. As far as Honda reselling plastics. Never gonna happen. And yes El, 3 wheelers were banned from tracks almost overnight. There wasn't a insurance company on Earth that would write a policy to a race track catering to a 3 wheeler. That is solely what shut down our local track. Even though they ran, 3,4 and 6 wheelers. Buggies,Odysseys,2wd trucks and 4x4 trucks. Our 3 wheel classes were THAT strong .

[bkm]

Several new parts from chopped up bikes have been born again and now call my bike home. It seems that every year a new stash of take off parts are discovered. I wonder what the real production numbers were for the 85-86 250r including the bikes that were cut up?

[afdfirefighter]

Yes I do have a lot to learn lol. I love the history behind them. I wonder where we would be today with them if the "ban" never happened...

I fall into the “I was there when” category and my recollection is that the agreement to stop offering three wheelers to the public was a long drawn out process, it wasn’t like everyone woke up one morning and couldn’t buy or sell a trike. During that period there was plenty of time to ramp down production and sell what they had on the water.

Case in point, Yamaha and Honda stopped selling their 250 racers in 1986, but other trikes keep selling in 1987. The damming data and legal problems were well publicized long before this report came out in 1987 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1I5DweHlnQ I remember my parents discussing the media reports of the dangers as far back as 1984 while debating if it was safe for me to continue riding ours (I won that argument by the way).

The idea that large cargos of trikes were dumped into the ocean, or sold for scrap is intriguing, but I suspect it is more urban legend that fact. Look at it this way; if Honda was selling Big Reds in 1987 and Kawasaki was still selling Tecates why would Honda have scrapped any leftover 1986 250R trikes? It would make no sense.

There is one thing I would like to know that perhaps someone (Mr. Dunlop?) could tell us and this is; did the AMA ever ban three wheelers from its events and if so what year did they do it? Maybe that is why most of the 250 racers stopped being sold in 86? I think production of the Tigers and Tricky Dick’s trikes were all but done in 85/86, but I don’t know if that was because there was nowhere to race, or if they were looking to steer clear of legal problems.

So people say some of these were dumped into the ocean? I have never heard that before. That is very interesting.

[wonderboy]

Just like 007 says, back in the day, they were voluntarily pulled from the dealer showrooms. Officially, there was no ban for several years. That was up until the Bush administration (Bush Junior). Remember when there was all the uproar about lead paint in kids toys from China? Well, there was a bill sent through congress enacting tougher laws on things like lead paint and a bunch of other kids toy related issues. But guess what? They snuck the OFFICIAL BAN of sale and manufacture of 3 wheeled ATV's into that same bill. It was right at the tail end of the Bush administration, so not that long ago.

EDIT: in case you are really bored, check out Section 232 at the following link:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bil...hr4040#summary

This is the "Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008" in which 3 wheelers were finally (officially) restricted.