Are they knock off Hondas? I have a tiller I bought at a yard sale with a 6 HP HF motor. The dogs broke in the starter recoil. I found Honda part that fit been using it for 5 years since.
And that is the prime reason why they are so cheap.
Not only did they STEAL some one elses had hard design work & expensive developement they then bludge like a filthy parrasite on the company they STOLE from to provide all of the very expensive after sales services for their illigitmate engines.
We like to whine like the 4 year old who did not get a lolly bought for him at the checkout about the price of parts.
However no one ever bothers to take into consideration the astronomical cost of maintaining & updating parts listings, stocking them in warehouses knowing full well they might be in there for the next 20 years accumulating massive storeage & warehousing costs then distribution to the retailer who also needs to make a profit.
These filthy scumbags do not do any of this relying on the good will of Honda to cover the LOSS they make selling parts for an engine they never made to the thieving morons who are undercutting their reasonable retail sales.
Even worse, if you went to your friendly Honda dealer and got asked for an engine number or they would not sell you parts you would scream your heads off as if some one was removing your testicles with a blunt knife.
However, Honda is not obliged to supply parts to fix engines that were STOLEN from them, and would be perfectly within their rights to do so, but no one would see it that way.
How the importers get away with this makes one wonder who in your government is on the take,
Down here a wholesaler has to prove they have adequate parts supplies and maintian them for a prescribed number of years before the importation of any engine can happen and AFAIK the same (or similar ) applies in the USA. ( we copy most of this from California )
If I bumped into most of you in the street and offered you an engine you knew was stolen from your neighbour, most of you would decline, no matter how cheap the engine was but the said same people will happily buy an engine that they know was STOLEN from a company.
Now if Honda decided that it was going to exit the USA small engine market because sales had dropped to an unsustainable level caused by of all the cheap foreign knock offs and only supply spare to owners who had registered products each & every one of you would be furious thinking Honda was doing you wrong when all the time you are aiding & abeting crimes against Honda.
Or can all of your morals be bought off for a few hundred dollars ?