Maybe its just me but when I read about the new redesigned GW and in their effort to reduce weight they now used aluminum cylinder sleeves I thought they will drastically lessen the life of an engine that was good for 200,000 miles. There are many ways to reduce weight but this was not a good choice IMO. I'd steer clear of these new wings until I see how this one particular change effects the life of these engines.

Was it not the Chevy Vega that has aluminum block with aluminium piston sleeves too? if I recall one fix was to install steel sleeves...?

Something tells me if Honda did this, all will be ok. I don't think they are going to step back to Chevy Vega day's. Just my opinion. I guess only time will tell. All in all I think that sucker is sweet. Real nice long distance bike with all kinds of comfort. Only three things hold me back from owning one, 1. To damn old, 2. Not enough money, and 3. Like my Road Star.
John

smokescreens wrote:
I like it but i still am clinging onto my outdated and underpowered v twins. A single pin V twins sound move my soul and that v6 would move my body.

It would be nice to have all that power on tap however.


+ 1000

RemZac wrote:
Was it not the Chevy Vega that has aluminum block with aluminium piston sleeves too? if I recall one fix was to install steel sleeves...?

Yes....When they cast the Vega 140 cu in blocks they were made of aluminum alloy with about 17% silicone added to the mix. The silicone was supposed to add a harder surface to the bores. They used forged alum pistons that were plated with iron and then the standard rings. The early Vega's problems were two fold because they used a cast iron head and not enough water jackets to effectively keep the engine cool. The results were engine over heating and that caused the alum cylinders to warp and distort. Oil consumption on a brand new Vega was about 1 quart every 3800 miles. It was really a shame that it was so poorly designed because America seemed to love the styling of the car, and Chevy sold a ton of them, but it turned out the alum L4 140 cu in engine was only good for about 50,000 miles.
Interesting that the 140 cu in motor only averaged 18.5 MPG and was packed with 90 HP. The Vega nearly killed GM back in the day.

valkyguy wrote:
Something tells me if Honda did this, all will be ok. I don't think they are going to step back to Chevy Vega day's. Just my opinion. I guess only time will tell. All in all I think that sucker is sweet. Real nice long distance bike with all kinds of comfort. Only three things hold me back from owning one, 1. To damn old, 2. Not enough money, and 3. Like my Road Star.
John

I used to feel that same way about Honda that whatever they produce seemed to run forever. I had recently been looking to pick up a used civic or accord figuring it would be a huge fuel savings over my truck until I started researching them. lots of problems with their automatic trans. for many many years. That changed my mind about the car and Honda's not so always perfect engineering.

Porsche has been using Aluminum cylinders with a Nikasil coating for many years. I pull apart a lot of these engines and one part that never seems to wear out is the pistons and cylinders.