NOS - New Old Stock?

NOS - short for New Old Stock, or so I thought. It took me a little while to figure out this little 'scam'. When restoring a bike to its original condition it is always best to use as many original parts as possible. If the part is missing or damaged beyong reasonable repair then either a second-hand one or a NOS one should be used to keep things authentic. Believe it or not Honda still make the majority of spares for these bikes, but the new parts aren't always exactly the same as the parts made back in 1969. Often they have been improved, but that is missing the point. We are trying to restore the bike to original. So NOS parts command an often significant premium to plain New stock. One case in point is NOS brake cables. Honda still produce these today, but only supply them in black, whereas the original bike had them in grey. They are almost impossible to find as NOS, and a rear brake cable with brake light sensor cost me £75, a huge premium over the new item in black. Similarly it took me 3 months of looking to source a NOS Rear light and number plate holder, something that is no longer produced, and almost always damaged when kids used to wheelie these little bikes over the top. I couldn't believe it when I found it, however a fierce bidding war meant I had to pay £198.19 for it! However the restorer has to be careful when buying NOS on eBay. Several times I have questioned the seller about the use of the term NOS, and it seems now it is also an acronym for New Original Stock, ie just new parts from Honda. Not the same thing at all! So I reference every part offered for sale as NOS with the original parts numbers, as new stock is always 1 or so digits different. Aslo genuine NOS sellers always photograph their products next to or still in the original wrapping with the original Honda packing code visible.