Chinese Parts Review
Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 12:29 pm
Ok then in my quest for cheap replacement parts I have looked into and bought several popular Chinese items from ebay. Now Im not anti-Chinese and realize a lot of every type of consumer goods comes from there these days, heck I even bought a Chinese 125 a couple of years ago and loved it, read about it here http://elvgren1.tripod.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; if your so inclined. But I have got to say spares for the NC29 have mostly not had my seal of approval.
Here is my verdict with pictures from the very sellers but no direct links to the items
Replacement indicators, they looked fine in the picture. When they arrived I found that although they looked ok from a distance they actually looked quite shoddy on close inspection,. The lens did not fit the casing perfectly and left a rather unsightly gap on three of the indicators, the lens itself was very brittle and two of the lens screw holes snapped while checking the interior of the units, despite taking my time and not over tightening. The bulb holders, well three of them were for 3watt size bulbs and one was regulation Honda size so in essence did not work properly with the fitted bulbs I also found it needed some rubber sealant to keep them in place. Finally the wires length is no good for direct replacement. They are only good for spare parts if you accidently break one of your original Honda units and can use the original Honda inner works. On the plus side they came wrapped in a copy of the Hong Kong Times, which was a darn good read, sort of.. My fix, search ebay for some originals..
Mirrors, well what could go wrong? These are a close replacement but do have this skinny aerofoil edge to them so if you have originals and just replacing one its not going to have that balanced look with one fat stemmed mirror and one skinny, hence I put both on, taking my original Honda leftie off. They also appear to be an inch shorter so I can see more of my arms and less of the road but the final problem appears to be with the left mirror, for some reason this mirror does not appear to tilt upwards enough, now looking at it I have come to the conclusion that for what ever reason they appear to have got the position of the tilt of this mirror wrong, perhaps its a right sided stem on a left mirror, dunno? Finally in my quest to see something through this mirror it snapped off the stem! My fix, order a right Honda mirror from David Silver.
Mudguard Stays.. well these are not as good finished due to some mould lines but appear to be fine, originals are only a few quid more, rather get them if you can.
Inlet Carb Rubbers.. did not fit as there was a fat ring of rubber stopping the carbs from slipping into them, possible sent the wrong ones but could not be arsed to find out, My fix, buy a used original from ebay.
REG/ Rectifier, for a tenner, got to be good? well it has not actually arrived, despite waiting 3 weeks, funnily enough the other items were dropped through my letter box within days.. (update: This part arrived a couple of days after I wrote this post. I installed it the same day and it has worked faultlessly up to the 25/6/10 where it then went the way of the dodo.
Finally a screen for 3 quid although there was £14 postage.. well surprise, surprise, this fitted like a glove and looks fine, it's as good as the screen that was previously fitted the only problem is that Im unsure whether to give it a Top Gear cool or uncool award as the abs its made from is about as see through as a welders mask and Im unsure it looks good, plus I cant see my tax disc through it, but at least its a good un overall.
What are your thoughts and experience on these type of items?
Here is my verdict with pictures from the very sellers but no direct links to the items
Replacement indicators, they looked fine in the picture. When they arrived I found that although they looked ok from a distance they actually looked quite shoddy on close inspection,. The lens did not fit the casing perfectly and left a rather unsightly gap on three of the indicators, the lens itself was very brittle and two of the lens screw holes snapped while checking the interior of the units, despite taking my time and not over tightening. The bulb holders, well three of them were for 3watt size bulbs and one was regulation Honda size so in essence did not work properly with the fitted bulbs I also found it needed some rubber sealant to keep them in place. Finally the wires length is no good for direct replacement. They are only good for spare parts if you accidently break one of your original Honda units and can use the original Honda inner works. On the plus side they came wrapped in a copy of the Hong Kong Times, which was a darn good read, sort of.. My fix, search ebay for some originals..
Mirrors, well what could go wrong? These are a close replacement but do have this skinny aerofoil edge to them so if you have originals and just replacing one its not going to have that balanced look with one fat stemmed mirror and one skinny, hence I put both on, taking my original Honda leftie off. They also appear to be an inch shorter so I can see more of my arms and less of the road but the final problem appears to be with the left mirror, for some reason this mirror does not appear to tilt upwards enough, now looking at it I have come to the conclusion that for what ever reason they appear to have got the position of the tilt of this mirror wrong, perhaps its a right sided stem on a left mirror, dunno? Finally in my quest to see something through this mirror it snapped off the stem! My fix, order a right Honda mirror from David Silver.
Mudguard Stays.. well these are not as good finished due to some mould lines but appear to be fine, originals are only a few quid more, rather get them if you can.
Inlet Carb Rubbers.. did not fit as there was a fat ring of rubber stopping the carbs from slipping into them, possible sent the wrong ones but could not be arsed to find out, My fix, buy a used original from ebay.
REG/ Rectifier, for a tenner, got to be good? well it has not actually arrived, despite waiting 3 weeks, funnily enough the other items were dropped through my letter box within days.. (update: This part arrived a couple of days after I wrote this post. I installed it the same day and it has worked faultlessly up to the 25/6/10 where it then went the way of the dodo.
Finally a screen for 3 quid although there was £14 postage.. well surprise, surprise, this fitted like a glove and looks fine, it's as good as the screen that was previously fitted the only problem is that Im unsure whether to give it a Top Gear cool or uncool award as the abs its made from is about as see through as a welders mask and Im unsure it looks good, plus I cant see my tax disc through it, but at least its a good un overall.
What are your thoughts and experience on these type of items?
