Good News! Taurus 650

[MattDragontamer]

So today was a big day. As some of you might know about the passing of Ken Sills on June 27, 2014. He was the main suplier of Taurus 650 parts the last 30 years. Ken took it uppon himself to ensure the Taurus Trikes Lived on.

His wife Edith contacted me a short while after his passing to inform me that she was told to give me a call and ask me if I would like to buy the lot of parts. We spoke back and forth a few times and came to an agreement.

So I am proud to announce that I will be the next supplier of parts for the Taurus trikes! :)

Now I just need to buy a nice looong trailer.

[jeswinehart]

Congratulations Matt !

john

[fabiodriven]

Very sorry to hear of his passing, but obviously the parts are going to the right place Matt.

[Ghostv2]

I don't believe there is anyone better out there. If there is, he sure didn't make himself known on here.

So do you plan to document any of this and share it on here? A.k.a :pics:
So is it NOS, just hoards of useable parts, what?

Does this also mean your fleet will grow a little since you now have the parts to finish bikes? (Hopefully all you need)

[MattDragontamer]

Well, the parts are all NOS... There is about 90% of all the parts there to build a Taurus from scratch. Minus the engine. B&S still provides most of the parts to fix the engines.
I tool some pics, but you can't really tell what you are looking at under all the dust and crap.
It will be a couple of months before I pick the parts up, but alter I get them and sort it out I will post some better pics.

Here are some to keep you at bay...lol

197666197667197669197668

[Ghostv2]

So how did he come about all of these? An old dealer?

And you should know by now if you don't post pics you get yelled at.

[danbur55]

you must feel like you have gone to heaven!!! we all know it is in the best hands around for proper usage would love to find a taurus down this way but they seem to have landed up north congrats and best of luck

[MattDragontamer]

Yea... Pics or shut it...lol.... Ken was an argo dealer. His son took over the business.
Ken was the main supplier, so took it upon himself to provide the service of parts.

As explained by Ken, thebpRts won't sell too kick. Hes had these for 30 years... It use to be twice as much... But many of the plastics melted when the barn caught fire a few years back. They were stored in the old horse stalls upstairs.

I hope to be able to get a contact that would be able to reproduce the fenders if not track down the originals from argo and get some made.

As time goes on, I might find another taurus here and there. Maybe take the time to fix them up and sell them off. Only time will tell. Maybe raffle one off at trikefest... :)

My main concern atm is getting a trailer.. or two... I can finance a 8x25 foot trailer of get two small 7x14 or 7x16. I would prefer everything in one trailer, but I don't know if my f150 4.6L can handle a fully loaded 8x25 foot trailer. :s

[robertc]

Just hook it up to the Taurus.

[MattDragontamer]

Just hook it up to the Taurus.

Yea... I wish.

Anywho... I have been scouring the web looking for a deal on some enclosed trailers to put all the Taurus parts in.
After spending plenty of useful time online, I found a guy that sells trailers on the side of his regular job to make a few extra bucks.
It turns out to be cheaper to buy new from him than any other dealer or even from the used community in reference of my location and distance vs cost.

So here is the trailer I am saving for... total cost after taxes $6770.

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um.. so a slight correction to the statement above... I am saving for two.
Why? Well as you can see above in the stock pictures, there is a lot.
I started to draw on paper the best layouts for all the parts. The two trailers combined will be enough to
hold all the parts and two Taurus. (The space for the Taurus is for any I might find and need to store until I fix them up)

Now it's just a matter of saving and selling anything I don't really need or want in order to buy the trailers. $13540
An option that I am leaning to follow is saving as much as possible and getting a loan for the last bit if I don't make my
goal by October. Here is to Effort!

[jakep53]

pics no workie

[MattDragontamer]

pics no workie

re-uploaded them

[90guy]

My word that is awesome! sorry about the passing... Yeah I dont know how the 4.6 would handle the trailer fully loaded. I know I would buy it and try it out haha. If worst thing comes a new truck would be in my future after the trip.

[MattDragontamer]

My word that is awesome! sorry about the passing... Yeah I dont know how the 4.6 would handle the trailer fully loaded. I know I would buy it and try it out haha. If worst thing comes a new truck would be in my future after the trip.

Yea... we will see. The new 2015 f150 looks sweet... might have to trade in. :)
But ya never know. The trip from cold lake to meadow lake was a test run with my truck with a fully loaded trailer full of trikes. That trailer is 25ft long and it handled ok without even having the
trailer brake system working yet... so things should be ok.

[coolpool]

Been thinking Matt, is it an option to buy a large 40' + sea can and have it dropped where you want it then shuttle parts back and forth with the trailer you have. Or make one trip with the largest u-Haul you can get with your licence?

[MattDragontamer]

Been thinking Matt, is it an option to buy a large 40' + sea can and have it dropped where you want it then shuttle parts back and forth with the trailer you have. Or make one trip with the largest u-Haul you can get with your licence?

Yea, I was leaning to that idea at first.. but having the convenience of just hitching up and moving enclosed trailers is worth it.
Which happens a lot at my dad's property... work in progress.
Plus I would have to empty it every time I move it. Even using a flatbed roll on/off trailer will shake the hell of the contents.
But, it's not out of the question.

[Daddio]

All I can say is WOW!!! I just saw this thread and I must say, you've hit the mother lode of Taurus parts. They definitely went to the right person. Congratulations.

[MattDragontamer]

Time for some more good news.

I finally got fed up with the generic email replies I have been getting from ARGO and decided to call in and try and speak with
the CEO.

Well of course we wasn't available. But, the assistant was. After speaking with her for a bit I didn't get very far. She how ever
suggested I speak to their procurement manager. Which I did.

After speaking with Dave (the procurement Manager) for a good while, we seem to have hit an interesting turn of events.
I was telling him how I am the new supplier of the Taurus parts and I would like to track down the original molds to make new plastics.
Unfortunately, they outsourced the production of the plastics back in the day. And the molds are probably destroyed.
He how ever suggested I make contact with a certain company next week to see about getting wooden molds done.
Yes, wooden. The wood molds are still used today to make demo and test models. It is rather cheap and you
can get a good run out of them before they break down. He figures I could get about 30 pieces before the mold breaks.
If this works out, I can get 10 sets of each of the three colors done. That should be enough extra parts for a while.

What makes this all possible and cheap is the fact that luckily enough the molding company can easily use the original
drawings or original pieces to make the copies. The molds are then made out of a hardwood via a CNC machine milling them
to the exact specs.

I will know more later this week and I will update as things progress.