Long Live 3Wheeling Magazine

[Aussieboy1]

Hi mate glad to see yopu on board .. I used tio race trikes for Honda in Aussie back in the day 83-86 I still got all the issues or 3 wheeler mag from aug 81 onwards and all dirt wheels mags as well. Now living in New Zealand but brought my trikes with me

[greenhuman]

Well thats news. I never knew anyone raced trikes for Honda in Australia.

[3WW Star-oldfart]

Dean Sundahl raced for Honda of Australia for a period of time in the mid-eighties. I still have his signed helmet in my office (with Honda of Australia stickers along the chops).

[greenhuman]

I'll rephrase that. I never heard of any Australian racing ATC's for Honda. Dean raced for a shop in Queensland called Peter Rice Honda, which was probably helped out by Honda. But a full Honda ride here did not happen to my recollection. I raced against Dean in the Queensland championships in 1985 and finished second to him. I was the only rider to be drawn to race against him in all the flat track and motocross races that day.
I also saw the Honda ATC team race at Speedway 117 at Chula Vista in May 1982. I have photo's of your 3 Wheeling "ghost" project trike as well.

[3WW Star-oldfart]

Very cool. Thanks for clearing up the Sundahl/Honda deal in Australia. 3Wheeling actually had two ATC 250Rs - both white. The Ghost, which was our first, had the Mystery Link suspension, which I believe was the very first Honda ATC with a rising-link rear suspension. We also had 35mm forks. The second racer was a short-course setup, which Harry McDermit rode at Speedway 117, Saddleback and Riverside. What was interesting about the short-course setup was, Darryl Bassani ported that engine, but Harry never liked the setup. Darryl and I worked on that for days, but it never did well. So, we took the top end off, and used another one for our racer, and in the meantime, Darryl put that same top end on Jimmy White's first Honda (before he rode for Kawasaki), and won San Jose!

[motoman1012002]

so are you done now for good riding the 3 wheelers. I knwo out where you live theres tons of them. You ever goin to get one just to put put around on

[hondatrikesrule22]

Hey dean, did you ever get that dollar I sent you for the sticker?

[kryppy]

Wow, I learned more in an hour than I have in a long time.
Thanks for an awesome thread full of memories and great new info.

It seems like only yesterday when the Honda dealers were full of shiney new ATC's. I wiah I would have bought one years ago.

[3WW Star-oldfart]

Hi gang, I've been out of town a bunch lately, so I haven't had a chance to keep up with this tread (13,000+ hits). The last stickers request I received was from Texas City, TX. They go out today. I have to admit, I haven't rode a 3-wheeler for ten years plus, and a Quad for nearly that long as well. I'm not saying I wouldn't do it again, but it just not a big priority for me these days. My neighbor's kid was riding up and down my street the other day, on his 185S. It had a pipe and cam, etc., and I certainly don't mind the sound of a built 4-stroke! Even up and down my street. Hey, I make enough noise in my gargage! Anyway, I was inside working, and all I could hear was the major flat spot this Honda had at 1/4-throttle. It was driving me nuts, so I went out, and suggested that I play with it for a few minutes to get rid of that horrible stumble. After two needle moves, it was smoother than ever before. I guess I miss that sort of thing.

One thing that I just remember about the "early" days, was that when ATCs were part of a motorcycle show/race, those guys ususually thought of us as some type of outlaws, or wacko/fringe riders. I recall bumping into Jody W. of Motocross Action at one of the major events, and he looked at me like I was the scum of the earth... "Oh, they let THOSE things in here too?" Yes, Jody, and they don't read your mag as well.

[CHAINSAW]

Sad things is.... at most places we are still looked upon the same way. I guess thats why Id rather drive an old trike, instead of the new (not to mention slower) new machines.

[Yardbird]

Thanks for all the great stories about the early days of 3-wheelers. I grew up riding 3-wheelers starting off on a ATC110 all the way up to my '85 ATC350X which I still have today and wouldn't trade it for anything. I always prefered 3-Wheeling mag over Dirt Wheels any day. I still have some of the old issues and was just recently reading the project 350X articles. Two of my favorite riders back then were Marty Hart and Jimmy White. I liked Marty because he was a Honda rider and could flat out haul, but I liked Jimmy because he would give them Honda boys all they could handle and then some.

Didn't ride my first quad until a year ago. I still prefer a 3-wheeler over a quad in the dunes. I think it is easier to transisition fron one dune to the other with just one front wheel. It just stinks when you are getting ed by the newer, bigger CC's quads going up Oldsmobile or China Wall. That's the only reason why I bought a Quad was to have some fun racing up the Hills. I remember when the Quads were first hitting the scene and I looked at them the same way Dirt Bikers would look at us haha. That was until the 250R quad version came out and I knew it was the end of the "glory days" for 3-wheelers. Thanks again for the great stories oldfart.

[hondatrikesrule22]

Hey Dean, I just recieved my stickers today. Thanks.

[mozone22]

HONDA 200X,185S,250R!!! HAD THEM ALL!! YOU DRIVE A THREE WHEELER !!!!!!! ALL WERE A BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BigGreenMachine]

Hey Dean, Caviga question, what gas tank did they use, looks like a KDX tank or old KX tank.

[Dammit!]

I just found this board last night and have now read this entire thread. Thanks to Dean and everyone for sharing their memories. It really brought back a lot of mine. I started riding three wheelers in 1982 on my best friends brand new 110. Two years later in November of 1984 when I was a 11, I got my own first bike. A brand spanking new, red white and blue 1985 ATC 200x. Quite possibly the best day of my life.

This pic was taken a couple of winters later.
http://members.cox.net/dnotter2/200x.jpg

I ended up getting a 1986 250r a few years later that I'm getting ready to restore now. It's been broken down forever but I can't fight the itch anymore.
http://members.cox.net/dnotter2/myba...safacelift.jpg

Even riding from such an early age and getting a bike that was a tad too big for me when I was 11 years old (good thing though, I shot up the next year) I never had a serious injury. I still remember the 20/20 reports (sensationalism at it's worst) and all the BS of the political goings ons at the time.

I don't want to talk about that. I'll just say that those years of my youth were the best of my life. The freedom of off road riding combined with the bonds created with other riders make for some of my fondest memories.

I could tell some stories as well but I'm not sure they'd be viewed in a positive light. My friends and I had multiple run-ins with the Police where I grew up even though to this day I don't think they had any right to harass us most of the time. There were other times later on that we were extremely irresponsible though. I think you can chalk that up to the old saying of, "treat someone like a criminal, they'll become criminal" because we were always pretty respectful until the Police started messing with us for no reason. After that got going in full swing we all became bandits somewhat, and delighted in embarassing the authorities (not to mention a certain farmer that we all thought caused the entire problem just because he was a bitter old a$$hole).

I'll tell a few if anyone is interested. Some of you may get a good laugh out of them. Some of you may think I was just an idiot.