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dirtwheels
06-06-2018, 01:36 AM
For those of you looking for new genuine Honda/Nissin close match front master cylinders for 350x’s, 200x’s, etc…, the part number from Honda that is current and available is 45510-HM8-B41 for the TRX250. They run about $40.00 from Honda and are a good match for replacements on older bikes.

Recently on ebay I've seen late model master cylinders that are being described as NOS 200X “HB5” or 350X “HA5” and sold for $300.00. They are real Nissin cylinders but are not NOS and not vintage. Here is how to tell the difference between real NOS ones and the newer ones:

The quickest way to tell is on the bottom side. The newer ones have a boss and screw hole provision for the rear brake light controller wire. The original ones do not as there were no 3-wire brake lights on the 200x and 350x, only 2-wire taillights.

Other more subtle ways to tell:

The original 1986 master cylinders use a convex sight glass lens while the new late model ones are basically a flat lens. The exception to this is the HB5-670 part number for the 1987 200x only. This part number used a flat site glass. I attached a photo of an original NOS one I used on my 87 200x restoration.

Replacement master cylinders for the 86-87 200x and 85-86 350x were only sold as complete kits with lever and rubber already attached.

On the 350X only, some the original master cylinders that came on the bikes had “HA5” embossed on the back side. The later replacement ones did not have this marking.

The handlebar clamp on the original master cylinders are concave to accept the countersunk screws, while the late model ones are flat and use 6mm flange bolts.

In the 80’s and 90’s most of the master cylinders sold by Honda came in boxes and not bags like they do today. Also, the labels would have been the older style with the circle.

Hope this helps someone out. The late model ones are great for $40.00. I have one on one of my bikes and its great. Only someone with a trained eye would be able to notice it. I don’t want to see someone fork over $300.00 thinking they are getting the real deal when it is essentially a new part with half the part number conveniently missing by someone using a piece of tape on it and pulling it off. Also, look closely at the photo I posted with the complete part number label and the one from ebay (last photo), the barcodes are an exact match bar for bar as well as the VC and CP numbers on the side. The JD numbers are the lot numbers so they may differ.

People are free to do whatever they wish to try to make money on ebay. I get it, it’s a free market. I’m just pointing these things out and people can draw their own conclusions.

dirtwheels
06-06-2018, 02:14 AM
Forgot to mention that the new ones do not come with screws/bolts in the bag but they do come with the clamp as pictured. It looks as if the one on ebay, the clamp was switched after it was removed from the bag to the older style clamp and screws which are still available from Honda.

Arky-X
06-06-2018, 10:26 AM
Hope this helps someone out. The late model ones are great for $40.00. I have one on one of my bikes and its great. Only someone with a trained eye would be able to notice it. I don’t want to see someone fork over $300.00 thinking they are getting the real deal when it is essentially a new part with half the part number conveniently missing by someone using a piece of tape on it and pulling it off. Also, look closely at the photo I posted with the complete part number label and the one from ebay (last photo), the barcodes are an exact match bar for bar as well as the VC and CP numbers on the side. The JD numbers are the lot numbers so they may differ.

People are free to do whatever they wish to try to make money on ebay. I get it, it’s a free market. I’m just pointing these things out and people can draw their own conclusions.

That's the problem with evil-Bay, full of misrepresented items. Covering a part number with tape is not a free market, it is false advertising. That is against their policy and I would hope someone would return the item for "item not as described" if it were advertised as so.

Your research and post makes for informed consumers. I would hope people would research and question a $300 part if they really were looking for NOS but we know that isn't always the case. I put "45510-HM8-B41" in my build notes so I know what to look for on my build.

Try finding this type of info on the Book Face!

Cheers!

ironchop
06-06-2018, 12:51 PM
Great thread. Should be a sticky.

Thank you

Sent from my Z958 using Tapatalk

Aulbaugh
06-06-2018, 01:07 PM
Thanks for the heads up on this dirtwheels. Great information on this thread!

Dirtcrasher
06-07-2018, 01:36 PM
Thank you for this!! I tried to figure this out awhile back. And I got stuck with 2 new SILVER masters, LOL, but they work great.

Now I can get black, awesome share!!!! Thank you again!!

dbtiger
07-03-2018, 11:25 PM
Great find Dirtwheels. I need one for my 350x.

I also need one for the 250r, wonder if this will work?

Dirtcrasher
07-04-2018, 06:56 PM
There's a FALKER on EBAY that tries to pass off the newer models as the older, he just scuffs up the labels...

Liar...

keister
07-12-2018, 12:51 PM
On the 350X only, some the original master cylinders that came on the bikes had “HA5” embossed on the back side. The later replacement ones did not have this marking.

I have two 350X's and I was almost certain that they both still had their stock masters, but one says "HA5" and one does not. I could never account for that and have wondered about it multiple times. Now I can sleep better at night. But that's not why I popped into this thread.

The front master on my race R, just crapped the bed. Here I am 8 days away from Ashtaboooola, OH Nationals once again running the eBay guantlet of crappy overpriced parts. My pattern is mostly to buy a used trike part on eBay only to discover that my "bad" one is in better shape than the one I just bought.

There is no reason this wouldn't work on my '85 250R, right? Uses the same caliper as the 350X anyway. And at $40, that's affordable enough to shelf one for a spare.

Thanks for the great post, dirtwheels!!!

dirtwheels
07-12-2018, 02:23 PM
For the 350x stock masters, the earlier ones mostly on 85's had the hex bolt on the bottom to drain the fluid. Those did not have the HA5 on them. These are also look the same as the ones on 85 250r's. The ones on the 86 350x that say HA5 don't have the hex bolt area on the bottom. I think that is the only difference. I'm not sure the exact point Honda switched to the newer type. In your case, both of your 350x's probably still have their stock masters.

I don't see any reason why it would not work on a 250r. For the money, it's certainly worth picking one up for a spare.

keister
07-26-2018, 12:04 PM
Got these in the mail yesterday. Gonna try one out on the 250R and keep one on the shelf.
I normally cringe when I put kwad parts on my trike, but this is a life saver.
I spend all last summer chasing calipers and the last thing I wanted to do was spend this year hunting masters.

253758

253757

Dirtcrasher
07-29-2018, 04:52 PM
Got these in the mail yesterday. Gonna try one out on the 250R and keep one on the shelf.
I normally cringe when I put kwad parts on my trike, but this is a life saver.
I spend all last summer chasing calipers and the last thing I wanted to do was spend this year hunting masters.



YUP!! And you DO NOT WANT a 20$ NEW master cylinder off EBAY. Brian Ditch has had 2 rear master cylinder pistons break off INSIDE the unit from one of these Chinese copies, one resulted in a bad crash, stay away!!

keister
07-31-2018, 12:56 PM
YUP!! And you DO NOT WANT a 20$ NEW master cylinder off EBAY. Brian Ditch has had 2 rear master cylinder pistons break off INSIDE the unit from one of these Chinese copies, one resulted in a bad crash, stay away!!

I wish I could convince my friends and family of that. They do a rear disc brake conversion on hardtails. It is a really great design and well executed in every way, except.....
They use Chinese masters. These are on either hard core trail trikes or heavily modded ultra-fast track only race trikes. I fear for their safety.

ironchop
07-31-2018, 07:38 PM
Well then I'm glad I've been putting the new seals on the old OEM pistons for a long time now. I don't use the new pistons in the rebuild kits

Sent from my Z958 using Tapatalk

Walterboone
04-14-2022, 05:24 PM
Hey new to the forum and evidently new to this world in general as I actually purchased a front brake kit from the ebay con artist for $299. The kit did include the front brake line and banjo bolts as well. The brake line does look correct, but I don't trust my judgement at this point. Grrrrr

Dirtcrasher
04-27-2022, 07:22 PM
Hey new to the forum and evidently new to this world in general as I actually purchased a front brake kit from the ebay con artist for $299. The kit did include the front brake line and banjo bolts as well. The brake line does look correct, but I don't trust my judgement at this point. Grrrrr

That's no con artist, that's Mike from VMS who has multiple trikes in the Honda museum. Mike is one of the top ATC restorers in the world.

He had those hoses made up to the best replica possible, it took him a long time to track down the right materials, and you also got the reproduced lever cover rubber boot. And don't forget Ebay takes about 20% of the sale and then we are taxed on it as "income" at the end of the year.

So, you had the convenience of buying the whole assembly from an Ebay seller OR buying it in pieces yourself, paying shipping every time and he is one of about 2 guys that have those exact hoses in stock...