spare parts ....
Kamtsa if I remember right you needed a left hand shifter... Well I provided a url where you could have bought a combined shifter for the right side for if I remeber 16 dlr on closeout. If I remember right you wanted a better one than original equipped, which were available from Sram in Europe but no luck over here... but I digress... although at that time it was impossible to find exaclty what you wanted, you were provided a possibility to go with the other shifter ( newer design ) thst would have worked well ( I bought a couple at that time and used one on one mod bike with great success )
meaning... yeah ... the part you wanted was no longer made ( or offered here ) from Sram ( a supplier to Dahon ), but there was a viable source to keep the bike running.
This also clears up a misconception Proprierty parts are not parts made from a supplier and sold all over the place. Just because your local dealer doesnt have their bins filled with them makes doesnt make them a propriety Dahon part ...
There are few real special parts on a Dahon ( most of the bikes anyhow ) and these are in stock, or can be substituted with rideable slightly different parts .... ( mostly )
Now sometimes that makes no sense a all to throw 400 dlrs in parts into a bike which is worth 40 dlr ... than I suggest a new bike instead anyhow, but thats another story.

And than there are the 20 year old Dahon folders where a knob is missing ( Hardware store ) or a pedals cant be found( find a new crankset from your friendly dealer ) ... Those are restore projects, restoring an old bike is a fun adventure, and the more difficult it is the more rewarding it can be. Nothing to do with spare parts availibity for people who are using their bikes to go to work every day though.

Anyhow
I usually challenge folks what parts they need ? That spareparts stuff needs a committed dealer, which most dealers are not.
Its not easy to keep most of it in stock exactly at the time you need it....but we keep trying ..lol

maybe we sell a few more bikes that way ...
thor