Honda part numbers
Everyone is aware of how Honda's part numbering system works: The first five-character section denotes the area of the bike, the middle three-character section reflects on the model, and the final three numbers indicate minor changes such as surface finish and similar improvements. Some variation from this is found on screws and bolts, in which the diameter and length are often conveniently coded into the part number. But overall this is Honda's system. Interestingly, the part number's center section which is well-known as the Honda vehicle "model code", has an interesting and less understood property. Rather than simply identifying the motorcycle model the part is supposed to bolt onto, it actually communicates the model the part originated on, which is not necessarily the same thing. This for example resulted in the innaugural 1975 GL1000 having a lot of part numbers from Honda's automotive division, who played a major role in its development. And of course we find fasteners, o-rings, oil seals and other consumable parts with very modern model codes being specified for fifty-year-old products--they have been superseded through the years to later parts for inventory efficiency reasons.

Honda’s parts supercession problem
But not always successfully. Honda is to be commended for supporting vintage. Of the Big Four, they have demonstrated more effort at supporting older models than the others. Generally. And it does not take much to be the best, as the other three Japanese manufacturers have shown almost no interest in vintage. But Honda's vintage ethos, however well-meaning, does have a fault. In too many instances Honda is substituting part numbers seemingly without sufficient analysis. Most of the non-original part numbers Honda wants you to put on your vintage bike work fine. But many--too many in my mind--are just not appropriate. Not mind you from a concours, "correctness" standpoint, but from a practical, usefulness viewpoint. Clutch pushrods that were over several model years developed from their original one-material design to a superior two-metal type that effectively retained clutch adjustment as the engine warmed up, have been reverse-specd to the earlier single-material part that does not offer that benefit. Valves that were originally a unique part number for their engine due to very special dimensions have likewise been superseded to a later engine's valves having different dimensions. And it gets worse. Honda is even putting third-party aftermarket ignition and engine parts in Honda wappers. How about cam chains whose pins are smaller in diameter than the stock part? Or ignition points not made by TEC, ND or Hitachi, the originators of those parts, but by Daiichi, an aftermarket company infamously known for their inferior product? Many other parts have been seemingly blindly superseded by someone at Honda who did not take the trouble to make sure they would actually work as well as the original. This is of special concern to the vintage Honda owner.

Mechanics' pay
In the early 1970s when I started in shops, a Honda dealer mechanic was paid exactly half of the labor the customer paid for the job. Fifty percent may sound great, but the mechanic of that era had no health insurance, he didn't take vacations, and there was no such thing as sick days (in my day he often got fired for being sick!). He even paid for his (required) uniforms. And on rainy days, he didn't make any money. In the 1980s shops began reducing that commission percentage to 40% then 30% and even less, and eventually the straight commission system was abandoned because it constituted a built-in raise for the mechanic when the dealership raised its labor rate every few years, as many do, and dealers decided they didn't like that. The most common system today is the "X amount per billed hour" system. In this automotive-derived system, the mechanic is hired at, say, $35 per billed hour. For every billable hour he produces, he is paid that $35, regardless of what the actual billed labor total is, or what the shop rate is, or anything else.

Incentive pay would seem to be a good idea, and it would be in a perfect world. However, mechanics are at the bottom of the shop's food chain. All the people above them affect their actual pay on a moment-by-moment basis. In this case, time is indeed money. If the right parts aren't in stock or the customer can't be reached for approval, doesn't this affect the incentively-paid mechanic's income? Sure it does. Then there is human nature. When a little extra effort is required for a repair or service to be really effective, the incentive-paid mechanic is tempted to not make that effort, because it will cost him money. Lots of gray lines like this have to be crossed multiple times every day. Thus the job can potentially suffer.

Warranty
Then there’s warranty work, in which the incentive pay system throws the dealer mechanic under the bus even more. A third of all dealership service work is warranty related. You may have heard the term, "flat rate". It is generally misunderstood by those outside the industry. Dealer flat rate is a schedule of time the manufacturer reimburses the dealer for when warranty repairs are performed--nothing more than that. Exactly like a medical insurance provider's, it is discounted, i.e., less than what the dealer would get from a retail customer for the same work. You can already see the problem. And although outside companies have come up with their own versions of flat rate for retail application, no sensible person at any level within the industry accepts factory warranty flat rate as realistic, to be used for retail. Not even Honda who orginated it and who allows the dealers to petition for exceptions, which are often granted. Dealer flat rate is exclusive to warranty work. It is not used for retail work. However, some people think it is, and motorcycle insurance companies also often pretend that it is valid, insisting on its use, furthering the fallacy and the abuse of the dealer line mechanic.