Topic: Fake parts from Asia?

[Raul CB750K1]

Probably many of you had noticed that, for a while, there seems to be a lot of new SOHC parts from Singapore, Thailand etc. At the beginning I just thought it was some warehouse realizing how much they could get for the parts from the western countries. I'm starting to think now that, in the same way that they copy Rolex watches, they are copying old bike parts. Check this picture out and notice the low quality of the paint in the lettering, the rough casting, and the absence of lettering for the kill switch -if memory serves me-. What do you think?

[BobbyR]

It was bound to happen. Maybe they will come out with some decent parts.

[narcoticrex]

It was bound to happen. Maybe they will come out with some decent parts.

I wouldnt bet on it - they make these parts for literally as cheaply as possible, and most of it breaks quickly.  Sometimes you can find a good deal, or a part that will hold up for a couple months, but generally they are a waste of time money.

Disclaimer:  I speak from experience not with cheap import motorcycle parts, just cheap imports in general, mostly computer/electronics.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

The quality on that item is not up to par.

2 points:

If the quality is good why not?!

Honda isn't taking care of us on some of the items (tell them to make the left controls too!)

[Ichiban 4]

The quality on that item is not up to par.

2 points:

If the quality is good why not?!

Honda isn't taking care of us on some of the items (tell them to make the left controls too!)

Yeah..

Even if the quality's not great..if some of this stuff can be refined, reworked a little..maybe it's not altogether a bad thing.  [I just know I'm going to get some comments about my posts on Cheng Shen tires here]

Don't know that I'd want to be buying Chinese knockoffs of cranks, rods or internals..unless tested/magnafluxed, etc. first..but overall seems like with decreasing availability of parts for these old beaters..having refinable subs may be better than nothing.

I'd like to see what else becomes available.  And of course..they can be either extolled or excoriated on these Forums..as they usually are.

Ichi

[Terry in Australia]

I don't know, they look like ultra-rare "Sandcast" parts to my expert eye........... 

[bill440cars]

I don't know, they look like ultra-rare "Sandcast" parts to my expert eye........... 

           Which eye was that Terry? How many drinks did you have, when you made that statement? Ha!Ha!Ha! Had to have some fun with you on THAT one Terry.    


           I've seen hose kind of parts for "Other" Vintage Hondas Too! Can't say too much cause they weren't for SOHC4s (SOHC2s)


           

[ttr400]

I have also noticed these parts and other, couple of weeks ago i was looking at Brembo parts for Ducati's and came across these Radial master cyl's and radial brake callipers with the Brembo name on and even the Logo. the master cyl's had a start price of $9.99 and I saw some sell for not much more than that. now a real brembo radial master is around $300 +. I wonder when Brembo will start to nail them for this. plus I would never buy such inferior parts that my life depends on.
Also what about the Yoshimura knock off rear sets.....logo and all.

In South Africa the customs just recently has had a big clamp down and have banned all knockoff Chinese Brake parts and head/tail light type of parts (Car parts) as they are of inferior quality. they seized container loads of the stuff.....all was destroyed.

Kevin

[Blueridgerunner]

Getting harder (And more expensive) to find parts, seems more so for 650's 
Cheap asian parts vs. no parts??

[lordmoonpie]

My experience of parts from Thailand, particularly for smaller bikes is that if you ask for a "left hand widget" you get the cheapest possible thing they would sell to the locals. If you tell them over email what you want, they will sell you a better quality or even NOS part if they have it. Best thing to do is to state up front what your expectations are and 9 times out of ten the result is a good one. Even so - poor quality parts got to be better than no parts?

WHat happened to the day when Honda weere prod of the fact that they would stock every spare part for every bike made by them? Sadly long gone...

[Raul CB750K1]

I'm pretty sure that you can buy original switches from your Honda dealer, at $50 or $60 apiece. Now, if you want to save money, go buy a reproduction, but the parts are there. The parts that are being copied are, in most cases, still available. Obviously, if some thai manufacturer comes up with repro sidecovers I would buy a set if the price is right, because I know that Honda doesn't have them. But I wouldn't want a light switch coming into pieces in the middle of the night. I would rather buy an original, either new or used, because I know they are up to the job.

The key of all these is that before, they used to copy commodities as watches, purses, clothes etc. Now they have realized there are lots of people willing to spend their money on parts bike and they have considered worth it to make molds for those parts. That would send us a warning signal about what are we spending our money into.

[Terry in Australia]

One reason that China has made billions of dollars from manufacturing cheap stuff, (prior to "First World" companies having their products made there) is that the Chinese government does not recognize patent laws. That kinda makes it hard for Honda or Brembo to sue them.

Like Lord Moony says, if you take something to Asia and ask them to faithfully copy it, they'll do a good job and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. My wife's brother in law made a fortune when he designed a "bed wetting alarm" and had it made in Taiwan, because none of the companies in Oz would do "limited runs" while he was tring to build interest in his product.

His alarm became the most popular in Oz, Britain, and the US at the time, and even though he sold the company and retired to the Gold coast years ago, they were still still manufactured in Taiwan, even though  Australian companies tried to force him to have them manufactured here once they realized their potential. Cheers, Terry.      

[charlevoix418]

I wish they would produce replica mufflers:  we would not see rusted mufflers with holes sold for hundreds of dollars on Ebay!

Raynald from Canada

1973 CB350F

[OldSchool_IsCool]

+1 Raynald!

[phactory]

Actually I wouldn't mind if someone started re-popping rubber parts as I hate buying almost 40 year old rubber. As I have been going through my 71 K1, the rubber parts have taken the worst toll out of anything else on the bike.

I just started a new thread looking for an $8.50 rubber part that I "found" an NOS one of for $75.00! Now that is silly!

Phil

[BobbyR]

There is a difference in counterfeit and outsourced parts. That switch looks like a "make do" spare for local consumption. It does look like a sand casting.

David Silver sells pattern parts and they very well may be made in Asia. My friend sells a lot of lighting and parts for vintage European cars. His impossible to get NOS pistons for some of these cars are made in Israel by a company that make engine parts for the Israeli military. The guy has slack time so he keeps the men working on these short run jobs.

He has been having Lamps made in China. He sent over a sample of what he wanted. A sample came back to him perfect in every detail including the age discolorations on the back of the lamp!

[gregk]

I remember a time when we would laugh at the thought of a transistor radio being made in Japan.  The standing joke was  "made by J. A. Pan and company"  
Somehow the quality was improved over a relatively short time and you know the rest of the story.  
I see alot of Indian  motocycle parts(the original ones) for sale on e-bay.  They are making everything from cylinders, crank pins, pistons etc and advertising them for about half the made in America price.  I have no idea about the quality of these pieces and I am not sure where they are made.  But the market is there.

Greg

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Raul,

I'm pretty sure that you can buy original switches from your Honda dealer, at $50 or $60 apiece.

The left hand switch is the rare unobtainable one in most cases ie 75/76 750F. The ones Honda still has are more so the right ones at $100 + or -. If anyone can find the left one at their dealer for my 75 750F please purchase it and let me know what I owe you! Seriously.  part number 35200-390-671

[kayaker43]

I've seen the asian repro seats but they are around $300. I will occassionally buy a chinese part but not if they're going to gouge. A place here is selling the SV650 clones for just a little less than a real Suzuki. They actually look pretty decent too. In my mind a chinese copy of something should be no more than half price since they didn't have to engineer it.

It looks like Honda will occassionally make new batches of vintage parts? I noticed a lot of "New" muffler sets on ebay for $800 or so then found out you can order them from ServiceHonda.com for a couple hundred less. The ebayers want you to think they found some ultra rare old stock parts but they were probably made last month?

Honda would score big points with their customer base if they would recognize the resurgence of interest in vintage bikes and support us with more old parts!! I absolutely despise a company that won't show some pride and support its old products. I think Honda does better than most, but they could turn it into a real marketing opportunity!

[754]

Kayaker, re your last paragraph.
Honda,s view may be this. They want to sell bikes (as does everyone else). Why should they make replacement parts to keep even more people off new bikes. CB 750,s keep more folks off new bikes than any bike ever built in Japan.

As far as aftermarket parts, they were around a long time, look at EMGO.. where is that stuff made I bought an ignition switch on the road in Texas, in 77  and I think at that time there was a choice of OEM or aftermarket..

I think a lot of the Indian parts are not Asian in origin. Crankpins..Jims ..Cylinders and heads.. Sweden..frames eastern Europe.. and so on..

As far as replacement pipes Honda did offer, when they are out, they are out.. so sometimes pipes in hand are worth more than pipes that are backordered. That and our culture has changed.. many rider go to ebay as their first try, not the dealer... moreso them that call them the stealer..

[onesickrace]

ive got a good buddy who is an indonesian political science major...therefore he goes to indo quite often, twice a year sometimes and for months at a time.  hes always told me that they repoduce everything there just because more people ride bikes there.. and i dont mean vintage collectors, i mean just poor people who cant afford cars.   just my two cents...  and stuff is cheap... cb seat coves  come in boxes 5 for 20 dollars...  i know , ive got three of them.  haha

[smccloud]

i'd love to find a set of left and right controls for my '72 cb750k

[Jonesy]

What happened to the day when Honda weere prod of the fact that they would stock every spare part for every bike made by them? Sadly long gone...

I'm afraid those days died along with Soichiro Honda...

[Raul CB750K1]

What happened to the day when Honda weere prod of the fact that they would stock every spare part for every bike made by them? Sadly long gone...

I'm afraid those days died along with Soichiro Honda...

We must realize that no company in the world will ever keep inventory of every spare part for every model they have produced. Years ago, when parts were interchangeable along the range and used during a considerable long amount of time, it would make sense. But nowadays, when bikes are revamped every other year, there wouldn't be space in the whole Japan to keep such a huge inventory. We should be glad that they keep spares of vital parts, such as rings, pistons, etc, because you can always keep the bike running with an aftermarket switch or without a sidecover.

Does BMW or Mercedes keep spare parts for old models? Yes they do, but if I'm not wrong, it is a satellite company (BMW Tradition), and they doesn't need to keep inventory of everything. Just keep the castings, and if you get an order, make it to order and get the money. BMW owners know that parts doesn't come cheap. And BMW tradition need to charge a decent amount for it; there aren't many owners in need of an R27 crankshaft...

[mazingerzeca]

Most of the parts I'm using for rebuilding my Honda cb 125s came from e-bay sellers from Thailand. I enclose a picture of the sidecovers. In the diamond the Honda wings are painted, but I think that in the original ones it had a better quality. The price was 13 euro for the pair. The price at cmsnl was 22 euro for each, and they are not available, and I didn't want to pay 50 euro for a used cover on e-bay.
I wouldn't buy a vital part of the bike like pistons, or camshafts, or camchains from a thai seller if they are still available from Honda, but probably this is just a superstition. Some of the parts I bought from cmsnl had a holographic logo on the bag, maybe to guarantee their authenticity, but some others don't have the holographic image, so maybe I've been paying 4 euro for an inch of rubber made in Thailand, and well packed in a bag with a fake Honda stick on it.