The issue of price comparisons between sleeving and plating are confusing. A few years ago there was an ad in Dirt Rider touting sleeving for $99.95 Most people would think that included a sleeve, the labor to install it, bore and hone, port matching and chamfer, and decking the top surface. However all the $99.95 included was the sleeve. Sleeves vary in price greatly based on the size of the engine and the geometry of the sleeve. Sleeves range in price from $40-120. The labor is the big thing.
I install sleeves and offer plating and honing through US Chrome. There is way more work involved in sleeving but the actual sleeve costs less than plating. My package prices are the same for plating or sleeving but plating is way better for performance. I've heard the friction argument regarding the graphite in the cast iron, and its certainly true that on a dry surface, a cast iron bore will have a lower CF than nickel composite when both surfaces are honed with the same grit stones. But internal combustion engines won't run without lubrication and when you measure the CF of the materials when oil is present, it all comes down to the oil film.
The biggest problem with conventional sleeving techniques is that the cylinder is heated to 450F in order to expand the bore to a clearance fit to the sleeve for installation. The 356 alloy commonly used on water-cooled Japanese cylinders, suffers material properties changes when the temperature is raised above 300F, let alone the stress and warpage that occurs from shoving a cold piece of cast iron in a hot aluminum cylinder:scream:
Thats why I use the same method as the automakers, contract the diameter of the sleeve using liquid nitrogen and press it into the aluminum cylinder at ambient temperature. The properties of the cast iron won't be negatively affected like heating the aluminum cylinder so its the best compromise.
Another trick I use is to turn the top and bottom surfaces of the cylinder on a mandrel centered on the bore, before the bore is finished, that way the bore is set perpendicular to the crankcase and head mounting surfaces.
Some cylinders are manufactured with sleeves originally. Those cylinders are usually cast around the sleeve, like Honda TRX250 and CR500. Thats another excellent technique.
Generally speaking about the overall state of the quality available in the motorcycle aftermarket service industry, plating is less likely to cause problems related to stress and wear than cast iron re-sleeving.