I have a 1985 Honda Goldwing LTD before I bought the bike I figured that Honda being a large company would supply parts for ever like Harley for their bikes especially the Goldwing line as far as parts boy was I fooled . They have left us high and dry there has got to be a market world wide for parts for these old bikes. You can get parts for most Honda cars but bikes nope nada .This really pisses me off as far as a owner of a older Goldwing Honda doesn't care about keeping their product going 25 or 30 years down the road all they are interested in selling bikes not parts. You people that have the 1500 and the 1800 if you keep these bikes look out 25 years you are going to catch it getting parts you are going to have to hunt cycle salavage yards and pay out the butt for parts or wear out Ebay or Craigslist Look at this you can buy parts for a 1935 Harley nuckel head but not a 1975 Goldwing someone needs to start making parts for these bikes he would do well I think and make congress put pressure and let them know there is a market for parts for these old parts. Let me know your opinion something needs to be done.
Before you give up hope, talk to another dealer. Twice now I have been told by the local dealer that a part is no longer available for my '96 Goldwing. In each case I called another dealer about 50 miles from me, hoping they might have one left on the shelf, only to find the parts are still available and they could get them for me overnight. The second dealer even offered to have them drop shipped to my home.
Once is a parts guy making a mistake. Twice is a dealer who doesn't want my business.
When I win the lottery and order my new Goldwing, it will be from the dealer down the road a piece.
BTW, for anyone in my area, the good dealer, who has been with Honda since 1965, is
Gtc Motor Parts Corp.
18529 Blair St
Whitehall WI 54773.
Yup, it's an auto parts house that took on a motorcycle franchise 50 years ago and still runs it the way dealerships used to be run.
Im not sure what parts you requested from Honda that they don't have, but in my experience they still have alot of parts.
Theprices of the parts from HONDA isa little crazy, so I am happy I can get stuff off ebay or Craigs list or more importantly, the folks on this forum.
I will tell you what... You buy all those parts for that 1935 knuckle head and I will trade you straight upall the obsolete 1985 Honda Goldwing parts.
No manufacturer is required to continue to supply parts for anything forever. When the stock runs out it's over. In reality there is not enough demand for parts on these older bikes to make it worthwhile to continue to make them even though we may think there are a lot of them still on the road, it is still a very small market. So you may need a TPS or pulse generator for your LTD and so do 20 other people, it is just not worth the trouble to produce them. You may be able to get a part for a 35 knucle head but I'll bet ya they are not still being made by HD, except for those parts that they still use today.
Welcome to the forum. Can't say i share as much of a neg.outlook on the supply of OEM parts as you. Having my 86 since it was new i have to presume it's a supply and demand issue for Honda, after all it's a 25+ year old machine and i'm sure if Honda had enough demand for the parts to make a profit they would. I sure there are a lot of 1200's out there and maybe i'm wrong about Honda,and the parts I'v needed recently i have gotten on E Bay used, much,much cheaped than from mother Honda (when available ) and with the help of this forum i'm sure you will find the parts you need.
Again Welcome :waving: Jim
lots of body parts are very rare new... but it depends what part you need and your connections for them...i think most engine rebuild parts are available rings and such
I was told that Honda no longer carried caliper pistons for 1100's, but in doing some research, I found a supplier that had them, but not for the 1200's?????...It all depends on what you want and how bad you need it....I have seen several good looking Goldwings parted out on this forum in my almost 4 years now...Brokewinger found a supplier that sells the front master cylinder in either chrome or powder coated even came with stop light switch, banjo bolt, crush washers, and lever for less than $80.00 brand new.....So there are some dealers that do carry parts....Good luck on your search....
The '87parts arerare too, it seems. We can't expect Honda to supply parts forever. When they build a machine, they have enough extra parts made to supply customers for at least 10 years. Once the run is done, that's it.And if it was your business, you'd do the same.
Besides, they want the people riding the 25 year old bikes to man-up and buy a new GL18.
now the standard is 30yrs manufactures carry and produce parts now if say the machine is outdated and just to expensive to produce parts
some aftermarket company will pick up the patent and make the parts at a higher price no less
i wouldnt worry about parts as listed above ive gone to the local honda house and been denied why you may ask its because they dont have all the parts on a computer in their system they have to manually go into a book and look heaven forbit..
anyway i go to the kawasaki dealer and they can get me any part for my 1980 honda go figure why you may ask its because they want the sale and will do anything to get it my kinda people
The only reason harley still has parts for the old bikes is because their technology has not changed.
As for ending support for old products, it's just good business. Just like Microsoft, GM, Ford, Sony and every other manufacturer on the planet. Eventually you have to cut the old stuff loose in order to get people to move ahead and buy a new product.
It would be nice if parts were always available, but we need to be realistic. The gl1200Ltd and SEI were only made for a year each and some of the computer and FI parts are sure to be discontinued. It sucks if you own a Goldwing that parts are not made for now, but there isn't anything we can do about it in the throwaway world we live in.
It would be nice if parts were always available, but we need to be realistic. The gl1200Ltd and SEI were only made for a year each and some of the computer and FI parts are sure to be discontinued. It sucks if you own a Goldwing that parts are not made for now, but there isn't anything we can do about it in the throwaway world we live in.
It's supply v demand.
I am quite sure Honda enjoys selling parts as much as they enjoy selling bikes. Profit is profit. In my opinion the issue IS the Knuckleheads out there. Not talking about the motorcyclye itself, but rather the Knuckleheads that revere Harley Davidson as the end all of motorcycle creation and who drive the demand keeping parts in production. I'm pretty sure the Knuckleheads are'nt getting any bargains either.
I have an SEI so I feel your pain, but, in a way looking for parts on Ebay etc. is kind of fun (also sometimes a drag).
Here's a solution - Fire up your Google Machine & do some research for the parts you need. There are several places that carry genuine Honda parts or very good replacements. It takes some time & effort on your part but the end result is you'll have a listing of places to get parts. A couple I can remember are CycleMax of Ohio; Bike Bandit; Cheap Cycle Parts; Honda Direct Line Parts to name a few. Block off a few hours for research & see what you can find.
There are maybe two bits of mine that are really discontinued and one is the badge in the centre of the tank doors. Like I need to replace that any day soon.
Having said that I like many older goldie owners and riders are masters at fabricating or getting bits made from patterns. You just get used to dealing with machine shops and welders as time goes on.
Mentioning getting some parts is like getting updates for windows 96. That's not even ten years old and as for thirty years ago well even the internet was unknown to all but a few.
Worked in the automotive and motorcycle industry for 23 years. The usual rule written into the supplier contract is 10 years of parts after mass production ends.
Of course, a lot of times the same part gets used even though the model of the vehicle changes, so some parts have years and years worth of interchangeable parts, or can be slightly modified to work on another model.
If there is a lot of demand the supplier may continue production for the aftermarket once the primary mass production / spare parts contract ends. Usually the supplier can't afford to have a major piece of equipment (stamping press, injection molder, machining line) tied up with small lot production. By the time you shut down the main line, swap out the tooling, make the small handful of spares, shut down again, restore mass production, and fight with the machine for week to get back into a smooth "groove" you've lost a lot of time and money. The tooling for obsolete production gets regulated to a warehouse somewhere until accounting finally gets tired of paying the rent and tells engineering to dump it at the scrap yard.
If you are planning on keeping a vehicle as a historic entity, you really have to start buying up the stock you might realistically need and store it yourself. Not nice to hear, but it's just the reality. A good machine shop becomes a necessity for recovering some parts eventually.
I have looked at most of these sites. I know that most automobile companies make or supply replacement parts for at least 10 years but Honda is a very large company a whole lot bigger than Harley and you can get parts or aftermarket parts for a Harley I alos know that some of the automobile parts will interchange with their bikes Honda ain't stupid as far as keeping cost down a engine is a engine to them all a Goldwing is a car engine or car on two wheels but someone needs to get on board and manufacture parts for these old a bikes someone did as far as Harley something you people didn't know Harley made a boxer engine during world war two that looked something like a BMW look back in your archives but they did.Yes the Harley engine has not changed much over the years but someone had to start making parts or aftermaket parts for these bikes or Harley wouldn't still be in business and American Chopper wouldn't be on tv so you couldn't watch Paul SR and Paul JR fight lol.
Light up the flamethrower - Maybe there are so many aftermarket parts for the H-D because they break so much. When an item is designed to last a lifetime the need for a lot of replacement stuff is not felt to be needed. In the meantime utilize Ebay, Craigslist & your local paper to find what is needed. There a re a lot of 1200's out there, maybe a donor cycle would come in handy? I ride/own a '83 & when stuff is needed the search is part of the fun of keeping an old warhorse on the road.
As a maker of automotive parts, I know we maintain stock for 10 years as part of our contract. Some of these dies can cost over $150K and go into machines that can cost $1M - $2Million dollars. This doesn't count any type of machining and assembly equipment. A single machining center can cost $400K by the time you tool them up. Depending on the part and volume, there are multiples of all this equipment. It is very capital intensive. Sometimes we will produce what we expect the orders will be over the 10 years and just inventory. The equipment takes up expensive floor space needed to run high volumes of new product. So it is removed and disassembled as well. After 10 years, sometimes we are directed to destroy the dies by the OEM. As an owner of a bike that is 11 years old, I know it just comes with the territory. These bikes just seem to run forever! Maybe longer than they expected.
Well I started a Topic at least it has gotten the forum thinking. My feeling is why do I have to fabicate a item for my bike or hunt the world over for a certain part. I know I bought a older bike but keeping them running and looking new and not junking them and selling them on Ebay or Craiglist I want to enjoy them as far as Congress helping us heck will freeze over before that happens that is for sure. You people have a Blessed Day
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