I have a 400/4 and 8 months ago I read Mike Nixon's
http://www.motorcycleproject.com/motorcycle/text/sohcign.html and decided to try it. Part of the deal is to get OEM points (either tec or nd) and for my bike - they only made it with nd points as OE.
It makes sense to me - the nd's are better made. I think they have some sort of carbide material in the contacts, and that makes them more durable than most.
Anyway, I just watched ebay. After a while (a month or so) it seemed there were three main alternatives on ebay - old nd tune up kits, individual nd points (usually only the right one, if sold separately) and (the best alternative, I think) the entire OEM points plate - condensers and all. I was surprised how many of those came up over the past half a year. About two weeks ago I bought one from a guy who was offering 8 of them for sale. About 3 months ago I bought an old ND tune up kit which came with nd plugs and condensers as well. ($17 for the tune up kit and roughly the same for the OEM plate. And before that I bought two nd points by themselves, from one of those tune up kits.
I know the points for my bike are different than for a 550 (at least I think they are - or maybe the points are the same but if you're buying the OEM/NOS points plate complete - it's just the plate itself that's different.
(My 400F parts numbers are:
cylinders 1 & 4 -- 30204-333-004
cylinders 2 & 3 -- 30203-333-004)
If they're the same for a 550 - well, you could include 400's (at least) in your searches.
Anyway, good luck. I've been running mine double sprung and with GL1000 coils for some months now and they don't appear to be wearing much at all.
Oh yeah - in all the looking I did (and still do) I have yet to come across a TEC point. Maybe Honda used them around the same time, but I don't think they were ever used stock on the 400/4. Maybe Mike knows....
