what is your opinion on Honda clones,

[Swabbster]

let us know your experience with a Honda clone on a go kart or mini bike, me personally i have never had an issue with a Honda clone, have you guys ever had one blow up spin a bearing ect.?

[Blazkowiez]

**When reading this consider that we typically only see karts when something is broken**

From a shop standpoint, we get to see more failure than the normal individual.

The gas tanks are inferior quality and rust quickly.

Recoil assemblies seem to break much quicker due to the quality of the plastic.

The plugs burn quickly and need replacing to the NGK version.

On the gas tank the caps often time are trash and throw gas around, this happens on the blue clone quite often, this was a gasket problem, replacement caps fix this.

Power packs fail on clones where we've never seen one fail on a Honda.

Seals on the oil plugs go bad randomly.

The carbs often times fail and are inconsistent on the size of their needles and the construction of the seat area. Honda carbs are almost always rebuildable versus the clones.

Linkage is inconsistently assembled at the factory, on several occasions we've had these engines right out of the box where the linkage was grinding the tank bottom and refused to return properly. To an individual setting these up, they would never think to look there and perhaps get someone hurt.

This all being said not all clones are created equal. Yamakoyo seems to be higher quality than any other clone we have seen, the Predator clones have been far better than the Grayhound clones.

In the end, I still suggest a predator over buying a newer Briggs, the warranty is insane from Harbor Freight and the price is unstoppable. The engines are still fantastic overall and if stored correctly and maintained can last quite a long time.

[r_chez_08]

IMO clones are great value for money. However they lack quality with plastic and rubber parts such as some gaskets, recoil parts etc.

I have had to replace the following on my clone due to low quality-
Recoil,
Rocker cover gasket
Spark plug wire
Ignition coil (partly my fault)

Obviously they are not as good as hondas but they are about 1/4 of the cost (when on sale)

[Blazkowiez]

Originally Posted by r_chez_08

Obviously they are not as good as hondas but they are about 1/4 of the cost (when on sale)

A great deal of people need to remember that the GX200 was used on nearly every commercial pressure washer with a standard 3/4" shaft.

When the pump dies people sell those engines CHEAP.

[r_chez_08]

Originally Posted by Blazkowiez

A great deal of people need to remember that the GX200 was used on nearly every commercial pressure washer with a standard 3/4" shaft.

When the pump dies people sell those engines CHEAP.

True, never seen them too often though.
When I bought my 6.5 clone for £70 I coulda got a brand new Honda gx160 for £140. had that been a gx200 I think I woulda snapped it up, after all I have spent over £30 in spares for my clone (and let's not go into upgrade costs!)
But standard prices for a gx200 are around £3-400. clones are just over £100 (both new)

[spyder1968]

i have had good luck ( especially for the price) with the harbor freight "greyhound" clones but they are getting harder to find. however i am VERY IMPRESSED with the engines i have gotten from http://www.carrollstream.com/Default.asp
they have all taken some serious beatings with NO failures so far !

[r_chez_08]

They seem reasonably priced.
However, clones of better quality than the HF greyhound motors can be found on ebay and here for well under $150