![]() ![]() You probably also know, that on the OEM 250R cylinders, the product code for the year, and the model is casted into the sleeve at the bottom. Most people familiar with 250R parts know that the Honda product code (Used for ordering parts, and identifying specific year models by a 3 place code utilizing numbers and letters) for the late model 250Rs is HA2. Or is it an actual 1987 year model seat that came to some un-suspecting guy wanting a replacement for his 1986? It certainly did generate a firestorm of interest at the time. The differences in the seat covers from the 87 had in fact remained relatively un-noticed until this one showed up for auction. Is is an aftermarket cover? The attention to detail required to do it would have to be pretty keen. There have been no others since it was on eBay back in 2003. This is the only seat of this design known to ever exist. ![]() Notice the difference? The A logo is different from all other previous years and designs, exclusive to the 87 only. Compare it with the seat on the machine in the photo shoots above. What your looking at here, appears to be the seat off of an '87 year model 250R. This is great piece of evidence, probably the best that there is towards proving an entire machine existed once. ![]() The decision of the existence, or non existence of the machines will be left up to the reader to make. Lets review a few things that lend credibility to the possibility, but don't necessarily concrete them. While there have been countless claims of a "Friend" or "Cousin" that had one, there has never been anything substantial to back it up. Over the years, the physical evidence to back up all these statements and claims has been hard to track down. A small caption under a picture of the 1986 ATC250R on page 67 states Along these same lines, in the November 1987 issue of DirtWheels magazine, there is an evaluation of all the high performance models. So was this a publicity shot that was taken in Canada, or Japan, or possibly even here at American Honda, before the Consent Decree took place? Its hard to say and that question my never be answered. You can click on it to read it yourself, but it says that the 87 models WERE available in Canada after all! You'll notice that this looks to be a studio shot, probably for a brochure or some other type of literature, but the background is definitely different from the original 1987 model line up brochure we have above. It is a small blurb from the January 1987 edition of 3Wheeling magazine. What your looking at here is one of those long forgotten pieces of the puzzle. However, as the fervor built, some additional sources of information came to us that had been over looked during the years. Prior to that, no one in the online 3wheeler community even knew that there was a potential for those models to exist. That original brochure is what ignited the interest and controversy for years to come. A French-Canadian member of the message board at the time that went by the user name of "xmen" had contacted 3WW and sent a scan of the same above brochure, but in French. Questioning the existence of the 250R and 350X models originally came to play back around 1999. What about the big boy models though? The highest performance models that Honda had ever offered? The ATC250R and the ATC350X are missing from the Identification Guide, and pretty much history itself. The Honda of America Motorcycle Identification Guide, released for purchase through Honda dealer networks in the year 2000, confirms the existence of these models in the American market as well. As years went by though, slowly but surely 1987 year model ATC250ES "Big Red"s, ATC200Xs, ATC250SXs, ATC125Ms, were all located and verified by forum members. Originally, we were led to believe that ALL the 1987 year models were impossible to find. From the earliest days of 3WW, the "Quest for the '87s" has captured the imagination of readers. No other piece of vintage literature posted on this site has ever caused such interest, speculation, controversy, bewilderment, and a gold rush like fever among three-wheeler enthusiasts.
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