3000W Chinese Gensets Info.

wuttevr wrote:
But I have yet to completely understand just how much of the engine is cloned.

All of it. (initially, I didn't know either and asked the same question).

Every 6.5 HP 196cc Chinese Generator I have had a chance to examine has the same block casting, sheet metal, carb, etc. I have since learned that inside (piston, rod, crank, cam, etc.) they are all the same as well, with one known exception: Champion now has forged rockers vs. stamped. Still, they are interchangeable with the old rockers and Honda counterparts.

But, Champion states that they have never claimed their engine is a Honda GX200 clone.

I talked with a local gentleman recently who dropped a valve (you gotta keep them adjusted) on a Honda GX200 mated to a water pump he used for irrigation from a pond to his garden. He ruined the piston when the valve dropped. He bought a JD built generator from a "buddy" with a burned out generator head for a few bucks and pulled the engine off thinking he could use it on the water pump. The crank on the generator engine has a taper, the water pump did not. He disassembled both engines and made one from the combination Honda and clone parts. He says it runs perfectly and saved him over $400. I have no reason not to believe him.

I know the owner of local lawn and garden sales and repair shop. He now sells a Chinese Honda GX clone for a replacement engine (we now call them Chonda engines) for about half the price of the GX it copies. He also says the engines are identical and swears by them as a replacement.

Check out some of the go cart forums. Same story, Chonda = Honda.

This should come as no surprise since China has copied just about every part on every make and model of vehicle. They are sold at AutoZone, Advance Auto, etc. at a fraction of the OEM part. They fit, and IMHO, last just as long (or longer) than the OEM parts.

A lot of naysayers claim that even though the parts are interchangeable, there are some differences in the structural aspects of the castings and machining used to make the parts.

Chinese workers make between .50 and .75 US per hour. We (Americans) want cheap goods and high wages. The two don't go together.