Just Too Addicted
Arm chair racerJust too addicted
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.
Just Too Addicted
Arm chair racerJust too addicted
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.
Just Too Addicted
Arm chair racerJust too addicted
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.Originally Posted by dirtwheels
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!
Power User
The day begins with 3WW
Great thread. Should be a sticky.
Thank you
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Got The Holeshot
Arm chair racerJust too addicted
Thanks for the heads up on this dirtwheels. Great information on this thread!
- 1985 Honda 250SX
- 1985 Honda 350X
- 1985 Honda 350X
- 1986 Honda 250R
“I Love The 350x. It’s So Bad”
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Power User
Catch me if you can
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!!
All our government does is distract us while they steal from us, misspend our tax $ and ruin our country
New to the board
Arm chair racerNew to the board
Great find Dirtwheels. I need one for my 350x.
I also need one for the 250r, wonder if this will work?
85 ATC 250R
85 ATC 350X
87 Quadzilla LT500R
Power User
Catch me if you can
There's a FALKER on EBAY that tries to pass off the newer models as the older, he just scuffs up the labels...
Liar...
All our government does is distract us while they steal from us, misspend our tax $ and ruin our country
Power User
Got the holeshot
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 $40, that's affordable enough to shelf one for a spare.
Thanks for the great post, dirtwheels!!!
Just Too Addicted
Arm chair racerJust too addicted
For the 350x stock masters, the earlier ones mostly on 85's had the hex bolt on the bottom to drain the fluid. Those did not have the HA5 on them. These are also look the same as the ones on 85 250r's. The ones on the 86 350x that say HA5 don't have the hex bolt area on the bottom. I think that is the only difference. I'm not sure the exact point Honda switched to the newer type. In your case, both of your 350x's probably still have their stock masters.
I don't see any reason why it would not work on a 250r. For the money, it's certainly worth picking one up for a spare.
Power User
Got the holeshot
Got these in the mail yesterday. Gonna try one out on the 250R and keep one on the shelf.
I normally cringe when I put kwad parts on my trike, but this is a life saver.
I spend all last summer chasing calipers and the last thing I wanted to do was spend this year hunting masters.
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Power User
Catch me if you can
YUP!! And you DO NOT WANT a 20$ 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!!
All our government does is distract us while they steal from us, misspend our tax $ and ruin our country
Power User
Got the holeshot
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.
Power User
The day begins with 3WW
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
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Registered User
New to the board
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
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