Rarity for Honda, catastrophic engine failure at 35k miles

I've put about 13k miles on my 04' wing this year, all over the smoky mountains and up and down the coast. I went out for a ride with some of the guys this Sunday and I believe that's the last ride the engine will ever make. All was going fine for about an hour in, and then I noticed a lack of power. Looking at my dash for problem signs I noted the temp gauge was all the way up, I had never seen it above the 3 bars and planned on making the next exit off the interstate. The wing decided the exit was not soon enough, as the temp light illuminated and I immediately pulled over and shut it off, with the engine making some sounds of protest as I did so.

Coolant began to leak out of it in a small puddle, I turned the key on to continue to let the fan run and cool the bike back down. After about 15 minutes it had returned to the normal 3 bars, and I attempted to start it. It was unsuccessful at first, but eventually it did so with some coaxing of cracking the throttle open and it made it about a mile while running very rough, but no smoke and it idled perfectly fine and no warning lights so I continued on, or so I thought. As soon I twisted the throttle fully open the bike just died, refusing to start again. The battery showed 12.8 volts but still whenever you hit the start button, nothing.

The following day I got a friend with a truck to pick it up on my bike carrier and got it back home where I started to tear into it. The variator, rollers, and belt all appeared to be in fine condition, as did the radiator cap, hoses, and radiator. There was a layer of oil covering the bottom back half of the engine, but an oil level check would reveal it was still about halfway up the stick, and the bike still had coolant. I had performed a full synthetic oil & filter change almost exactly 3k miles ago so it was up to date on that. I pulled the plugs which appeared white at the top indicating it was running lean which I thought was interesting, but they were dry. I tried to turn the engine by hand it with the plugs out and it proved to require quite a lot of strength, at times turning with no effort at all, at other times barely able to get it to move.

No idea what exactly happened, I had just taken it on a 650 mile trip through the smokies where it performed wonderfully, I'm a Honda guy through & through, and will likely be in the market for either a new engine or new wing depending on what route I end up deciding to go.

Bikeking, sorry to hear this; it is certainly not a common occurrence with a Honda. I don't have any insights on the cause but perhaps someone on here can shed some light? Good luck and keep us posted.

Very rare failure indeed, IME it reads like a cooling system and/or head gasket failure , it could be something as simple as a thermostat failure, unfortunately extreme overheating on "Open Deck" engines with plated piston bores (sleeveless), is usually a complete top end failure, warped head/cylinders and or scored bores, etc., etc., best to R/R engine assy. IME or ...

Bikeking 19.

Sorry to read about your Swings demise, quick question.

"Turning the engine with the plugs out" was that with the CVT disconnected ?

Yes, disconnected the belt, just put the variator back on the splines and turned it with removal tool. Honda makes an incredible machine, earlier this year I pretty much redlined it all day for 10 hours straight. (Training run for a cross-country record), it held up flawlessly. I never would have pegged the engine for being what failed. It was owned by an old lady prior to me who went to the dealership for every little thing on it as well. Very odd.

" It was owned by an old lady prior to me who went to the dealership for every little thing on it as well."

Based on my personal experiences with dealers as a customer and employee, that may not be a good thing

Hi Bikeking 19

I'm intrigued now, are going to do a full strip down to find out why or what failed, if so, I look forward to reading about your findings.

Look here, maybe he's got what you need

https://www.silverwing600.com/t13464-looking-for-info-potentially-selling-2004-silverwing#136313

Bikeking19 wrote:

... earlier this year I pretty much redlined it all day for 10 hours straight ...

That might be the root cause of your problem. How much love did you give the engine after that? Racers overhaul their engines regularly for a reason.
Regardless now is the time to pull the engine out, strip it down and see what went wrong. And pictures too of the autopsy please

as 20 year old bike being used or treated as new bike, whatdo you expect?

I have 100,000 miles experience with 2 new silverwings, they were reliable, left stock, good maint.
WalMart 10-40 oil and changed regular. Old bike you probably do not know maint. history or use.

That was 13k miles ago I highly doubt that was the cause of it. Pretty regular with full fluid changes and maintenance, I have a 99 cbr 1100 with 65k on it that's never given a problem.

To the OP:

https://www.silverwing600.com/t13466-complete-engine-and-transmission-for-sale-in-uk#136318