Honda Motorcycle Aftermarket Parts

Ford's Building Its Tiniest Engine Yet

Ford is developing its smallest engine ever, a wee little three-cylinder mill with the displacement of a soda bottle.

The tiny engine is part of the automaker’s push to increase the fuel efficiency of its lineup by building smaller, but more powerful, engines. Despite its itty-bitty size, Ford says the turbocharged 1.0-liter Ecoboost engine will provide the torque and power of a 1.6-liter four-cylinder.

“The 1.0-liter engine is a little dynamo,” Derrick Kuzak, Ford group vice president of Global Product Development, said in a statement.

Engineers at the Dunton Technical Centre in the United Kingdom have been working on the engine for a couple of years, and it first appeared in the Start concept car (pictured avove) at the 2010 Beijing auto show. We’ve seen it more recently in the B-Max at the Geneva auto show earlier this year.

The biggest goal was, of course, reducing fuel consumption without sacrificing power. Engineers focused on increasing thermal efficiency and reducing friction, especially when the engine is warming up.

A “split cooling” system allows the cylinder block to warm before the cylinder head, something Ford says saves fuel and cuts emissions by allowing the engine to get up to operating temperature faster. The exhaust manifold is cast into the cylinder head, a one-piece design that reduces the temperature of exhaust gases. Ford says this lets the engine run in a wider power band with an optimum air-fuel ratio. It also cuts weight.

The engine also has direct injection and variable camshaft timing.

“Not only is it one of the most technically advanced and efficient engines we’ve ever designed, but it will introduce a number of new technologies to the Ford engine lineup,” Joe Bakaj, Ford vice president of Global Powertrain Engineering, said in a statement.

Ford plans to offer the engine worldwide in its small cars. It didn’t offer any specs on the engine and says it will provide more info in September at the Frankfurt auto show.

The 1.0-liter mill is small for an American automaker, but not unheard of in Europe. Fiat, for example, is offering the adorable Fiat 500 with a tiny 875-cc, two-cylinder engine said to be good for 57.4 mpg.

In addition to the new engine, Ford is developing an eight-speed automatic transmission it claims will increase fuel economy between 2 and 4 percent. The automaker also will begin building transmissions for its hybrid vehicles at its Van Dyke assembly plant in December. Ford has spent $135 million to design, engineer and manufacture the gearbox, which will replace a unit it has been buying from Japanese supplier Aisin.

Aftermaket Or OEM Motorcycle Parts – Which one? | carmen-sanchez.com

This is always a difficult question to answer when shopping for motorcycle parts. I firmly believe that each one of us must decide what’s best for our bikes after carefully evaluating each of the possibilities.

A lot depends on the availability of the part from a Honda motorcycle parts , my budget and other things. Sometimes I buy OEM, at times the aftermarket motorcycle parts is a better choice.

What are OEM parts?

OEM parts stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer parts which not necessarily mean the OM (Original Manufacturer) actually produced them.Most motorcycle and car manufacturers do not usually manufacture each of the parts used in their vehicles. They usually have motorcycle parts designed and produced by outside manufacturers and companies. Then, they install them in their machines or put them in their own boxes to be sold as OEM parts.

When to buy an OEM Motorcycle Parts?

You buy an OEM Motorcycle Parts when you are buying the exact same original part the manufacturer use to build your motorcycle.

I will use OEM parts if I want the same performance for my motorcycle. The part is not better or worse than the original part that you want to replace.

Normally OEM parts are more expensive (in some cases MUCH more) than aftermarket parts.

Most of the time you will be sold that OEM parts are better and higher quality and the best option for motorcycle part replacements. As with most things, sometimes it is, and sometimes it is not.

Normally after a certain period of time, the manufacturer will allow the company that originally produced the part to sell it in their own box at a considerably lower cost, making it an Aftermarket OEM part.

Be careful if your bike is still in its guarantee period make sure you use only OEM parts and have them installed by authorized mechanics. If you don’t do so, you would probably void the warranty.

What about Aftermarket parts?

Aftermarket parts should perform as well as OEM parts but are produced by companies other than the original manufacturer.

Please ensure that you warranty period is over.In most cases, your warranty will be void if you have an aftermarket part installed in your machine and by an unauthorized mechanic.

The equivalent aftermarket Honda motorcycle parts are normally cheaper than OEM Honda motorcycle parts. Sometimes up to 70% cheaper!

Aftermarket parts can have lower, same or even higher quality than the original.

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