I was surfing the interwebs for BIG RED information and I found some production numbers for the Honda BIG REDS. Here is what I found:
1982 ATC200E Big Red – 40,969 1984 ATC200ES Big Red – 208,427
1985 ATC250ES Big Red – 109,842 1986 ATC250ES Big Red – 28,674 1987 ATC250ES Big Red – 4,889
I am not sure if the numbers are correct but they do seem right to me. These numbers give you a glimpse of three wheeler history. 1982 was the first model BIG RED and I don't think the three wheelers were catching on just yet. I imagine a lot of people were still riding dirt bike back then. I could not find data on the 1983 model but I have to assume it was slightly larger than the 82 model. According to the data the 1984 Honda BIG RED 200ES was the most popular. I believe this to be true for two reasons. There are many older people that I talked to about BIG REDS and many of them mention the having the year with low gears and reverse which would be the 84 model. The other reason is that I tend to find more 1984 200ES models for sale as compared to any other model year BIG RED. Remember the first four wheelers were coming out in 1983 and 1984. In 1984 the TRX 200 four wheeler was on the same showroom floor as the BIG RED. The interwebs say the 1984 TRX 200 sold 370,000 units. In 1985 the BIG RED went through some great design changes and they sold over 100,000 units but again I'm sure the TRX, Kawasaki Bayou, and Yamaha YFM 400 were taking a piece of the pie. Looking at the change from 1985 to 1986 I am sure most were noticing that the three wheeler was on it's way out. Towards the end of 1986 the three wheelers were about to be outlawed. Very few 1987 BIG REDS were made - I have only seen a few. I like to look back into history on things like this. Even though I was 10 years old when the last BIG RED was made I still remember wanting one.