new production trikes???

[redsox]

is there any REAL reason nobody is producing new three wheelers??? technically, it is possible, right?

[Big Mike]

While we all here love 3 wheelers, the problem is just that, it is just us here with a small number of other who love 3 wheelers that are probably not on the net. It would be a very very very niche market for new production trikes. While there are a couple builders making trikes out of quads (TPC, Tionesta), the market is so limited for them, that there is no money in going into full blown out production. The term "3-wheeler" still to this day leaves a very sore taste in some people's mouths, not people here, but the rest of the country and probably the world.

Would I love to be able to say I have a "brand-new" 3 wheeler, HELLS YEAH, but will it every happen, "HELLS NO" because it just doesnt make fiscal sense to do so in this day and age. So that is my "OPINION" as to why there is nobody making new production trikes, take it as you may.

[4x4van]

Because it's against the law.

[airhog1391]

Check out www.tpctrike.com

[Kenny_smallz]

I thought they were only banned for ten years til 97?

[Kenny_smallz]

I thought they were only banned for 10 years

[gus]

Thats correct a 10 year banned and there where suppose to continue production but from all the law suits honda had just cause people didn't know how to ride them they didn't continue the production

[redsox]

airhog, i checked out those TPC's. AWESOME!! Really seems like a sick toy, i'd love to be in a cash position to grab one of those. i also read on that site about H.R.4040. i was bored, and curious, so i downloaded the bill and read it. there is a consumer product safety board report referenced in the bill that outlines the rules for production ATV's. there are definitions, and three-wheeled atv's are covered. there are pages and pages of content regarding safety of four wheelers. there are statistics and statistics and statistics. Pitch, roll, weight-to-brakeing ratio, lateral stability, etc. etc. etc. Typical government pissing through our cash to find out that if you get crazy, you can flip stuff over. anyway, after all the stats and studies and guidelines, they get to trikes. There is about a paragraph of content that says that they are unsafe, and nobody wants them. Period. No testing, no stats, no fair! its a boring read, but the conclusion is comical. google ‘Standards for All Terrain Vehicles and Ban of Three-wheeled All Terrain Vehicles’. You can actually tell there is a bias by how the tone of the writing changes. "THEY ARE BAD, END OF STORY." To borrow a quote from i-don't-know-who, "The problem with idiots is that they are so damn sure of themselves, while the wise move forward with uncertainty."

[4x4van]

Yeah, there really wouldn't be much of a market for trikes today; people today want "easy". That's exactly why I don't like riding quads; they're too easy.

I know that if I come into a section of whoops on my '85 250R and do things right, I'll cook. If I do things wrong; I'll eat s__t. In other words, it depends on MY abilities as a rider to go fast. On the other hand, on a quad, it doesn't matter nearly as much whether I do everything right or not; I'm likely still gonna cook through that same section of whoops. Riding ability is a much smaller piece of the overall result. I actually find myself thinking about other things when I ride my quad (2007 TRX400EX, bought mainly for the kids and other people I take out to the dunes) because I don't really have to put all my attention into riding it. Boring! My wife is the same; prefers her '85 250R over the quad.

Those who can ride, ride (2 or 3 wheels). Those who can't, drive (4 wheels)!!!! :)

[rodeofan5656]

i think honda should try again. they're makin plentya money now, they should at least try. maybe make a license you need to get to buy new trikes! there's ways around the lawsuit crap, they just need to suck it up and try

[Jon Boy]

from what i can figure out and understand. they can try all they want, but it won't matter if our government doesn't come up with a safety standard for them. this is basicly the main thing that is holding them back unless i'm mistaken?

[4x4van]

It would be asking for lawsuits if they tried. In today's society, anyone can and will sue for anything under the sun. The fact that Honda (and others) were banned from producing 3-wheelers due to safety reasons in the past (regardless of whether the ban was "justified" by actual facts or not) would just give the lawyers the ammunition needed to immediately sue for huge sums of money. It would be a dumb move for ANY company, IMO.

The only way possible would be to produce a "3-wheeled vehicle" that bears absolutely no resemblence to the ATCs of the past, and that had completely different characteristics (mechanically forced lean, differential rear end, roll cage) so as to effectively be a completely new vehicle that you drive rather than ride, completely unrelated to the ATC's we know and love.

On the plus side, I can rest comfortable knowing that I still have the most technologically advanced 3-wheeler ever mass-produced, even though it is over 25 years old!!!!

[atctim]

i think honda should try again. they're makin plentya money now, they should at least try.

Not sure where you got this info, but look at Honda's 2012 Sport ATV Line Up - TRX250EX is the only new sport quad. Honda's ATV market is cut way back - mostly utility bikes, no 450, no 400EX, no sport quads, except the beginner model. They still support dirtbikes, and have a race team, but let me ask you this. You own Honda: lawsuits dang near run your company under in the 80's (CPSC and 10 year ban) - wouldn't that leave a sour taste in your mouth? Honda would never EVER build 3 wheelers again.

EDIT: I just looked at their site - yes, there are 450Rs and 400EXs, but look at the production year up top "2012 / 2009". This means they still have 09 leftovers that they will sell you - but they have not been in production since then.