The Honda RC166 - 250cc Six-Cylinder Racer
Honda is well known of experimenting with 6-cylinder motorcycles, and even though the mighty Honda CBX1000 is probably the first Honda that comes to mind, be prepared to be amazed by the 250cc Honda RC166 racer. Having won the Grand-Prix championships in 1966 and 1967 with Mike Hailwood in the saddle, the Honda RC166 is truly an impressive machine.There is so much more to the Honda RC166 than meets the eye, and despite being what is now called a small-displacement machine, the Honda RC166 is a marvel of engineering. Packing enough engine combustion size for that era to make it a wild beast, the engine of this jewel revved close to 20,000 rpm, a feature that is still hard to match nowadays.
If you think that the modern-day motorcycles sound aggressive when revved hard, take your time to listen to the amazing sound of this glorious motorcycle. The Honda RC166 had a seven-speed gearbox, and could easily go faster than 240km/h
With a maximum speed well above 240 km/h, and again, a feature that is still impressive today in 2016. The small 250cc engine produced a whopping 65 horsepower, a figure that rivals what motorcycles three times the size of this amazing racer can deliver in the present.
To make things even crazier, we remind you that this machine was engineered and built in the early '60s, without the use of CAD and computer modelling. Everything was done using tools, technologies and processes that now are regarded as almost primitive (stone age), yet the result is a spectacular one that is hard to match even with the current high-end technologies, including robots, lasers, or computer-controlled machines.
It's maybe useless to try and compare this quarter-liter demon to what 250cc bikes are today, but it would definitely be funny to see Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo or Marc Marquez putting something like the Honda RC166 through its paces. Or, for what's worth, having it compete on the track with a modern Moto3 machine, despite the significantly poorer brake system of the retro racer.Tag: Honda RC166 Mike Hailwood Grand-Prix Racing Championship 250cc Moto3 6-cylinder Valentino Rossi Jorge Lorenzo Marc Marquez 60s CBX1000
Flying Squirrel
"If you think that the modern-day motorcycles sound aggressive when revved hard, take your time to listen to the amazing sound of this glorious motorcycle."
Ok it is not a 6 but a CB250F Hornet sounds quite good at 16,000 and there are a few in Thailand.
"Everything was done using tools, technologies and processes that now are regarded as almost primitive (stone age)"
Everything was done with tools, technologies and processes that are considered to be craftsmanship. A quality that is sadly losing its value in the days of CAD and CNC machines Everything is now considered easy when in actuality it is not.