Honda Dealer Won't Work on My Trike....Jerks!

[Dan Tenn]

Dealers / all repair shops can be funny when it comes to older atvs... The guy I goto said he couldn't @ first cause it was older than the early 90s. After I kept talk'n my 85 250R up a few minuits he said bring it down & he'd let me know based on how it looked. I's like WTF!?!? When I showed up with it, he said "OK, I can work on that NO PROBLEM". So I asked what the hold up was. He told me that so many people bring in greasy, grimmy, crusty dirt covered CRAP that as long as its CLEAN he really had no problems with fix'n them. So the key, for me, was that my trike IS almost SPOTLESS. I'm kinda with him on that angle too.

So if I brought my brand spankin new quad in covered in mud, they wouldnt work on it? Shmucks

[RichinMO]

Buy the vacuum pump if you haven't already. MityVac is the one I got at Oreillys and it worked like a champ. I had the same prob you had after replacing my front brake line. Just remember that it will still have little bubbles showing in the line coming off the bleeder screw, its just air thats being sucked from around the bleed screw threads, its not in the line itself.

[Pistonhead]

I love those 85 R pics man....just awesome!!

We need to put those up with the Kearney Yamaha stuff on the main page!!

I agree, I'm absolutely 100% okay with anyone using those pics, thats why I took them, gotta spread the trike love! Its funny how I found those trikes, I was on a trip out to manitoba to visit some family when we pulled up at a gas station next to the Honda shop to fill the truck up, so I decided to go look inside, but it was closed, so I looked through the windows and saw the R, and I knew it was my duty to go in the next day and take some pics. Funny, when I went in there I was thinking just like a mini Kearney!

[hrc85250r]

Here's two options I've always used to bleed brakes and they've never failed me

#1: Open up the bleeder screw, squeeze the lever all the way, close the bleeder, release the lever. Repeat until a steady stream of only fluid comes out.

#2, Gravity bleed. Open the bleeder screw and allow gravity to take the air out of the line.Just let it run through for a while.

Good luck!

option number one works the best, takes 20 or 30 of these reps to start it up, but it works great and when it starts sucking it in its downhill from there....

[grundlegrabber]

A Mityvac hand pump is handy to have when you are installing new brake parts. It helps to suck the lines full of fluid, then you should be able to bleed it regularly. I've had trouble a few times in the past. I let the bike sit overnight and then pumped the lever numerous times with the reservoir cap off.

[PowerTrike]

So if I brought my brand spankin new quad in covered in mud, they wouldnt work on it? Shmucks

Yeah Doesn't seem right to me. For the record my local Artic Cat dealer didn't have any problem working on my crusty old bigred and even made a comment about how well build hondas are (the owner) even though he deals Artic Cat ATVs... I've also seen 2 nice ATC 250RS for sale at a high end local Honda/Ski-doo/Yamaha dealship (only once! and poof they were gone) They charge hefty service fees though... I think its just stupid for any stealership to refuse to work on trike.

[nate b]

none of the dealers around here like trikes or working on them, they dont like my snowmobiles either, they just want to sell new machines. I wouldnt trust them working on any of my stuff anyways.

[Darius1502]

Ok guys. I used the Mityvac and it was awesome. I am convinced that 1) it would have been impossible to bleed those brakes without it, or 2) it would have taken 1 year to finish the job.

I definitely recommend it.

I also put some teflon tape (you know the stuff you use on PVC pipe threads) around the thread of the bleed nipple. That prevents air from getting in through the threads.

The seal was tight and it worked great. I had to recycle the oil through the Mityvac about 5 times using a combination of pumping the brakes and bleeding (with the vac hose on) and then just sucking hte fluid through the system with the bleed valve 1/2 turn open.

It worked!!