Honda RC166

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Honda
Honda RC166.jpg
Mike Hailwood's machine from 1967
RC166
Manufacturer Honda
Production period 1966 to 1967
class motorcycle
design type Racing motorcycle
Motor data
Six cylinder four stroke, DOHC, four valves
Displacement  (cm³) 249.42
Power  (kW / PS ) 62 hp at 18,000 rpm
Top speed (  km / h) 245
transmission 7 courses
Empty weight  (kg) 112

The Honda RC166 is a racing motorcycle from the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Honda from 1966.

Racing use

The best-known driver of the RC166 was Mike Hailwood , who won the world title in the class up to 250 cm³ in 1961 with the Honda RC162 and in 1966 and 1967 with the RC166. The superiority of the machine was also demonstrated by the fact that Hailwood won ten of the twelve 250cc races with the RC166 in 1966 and defended his world title - albeit just barely - against Phil Read ( Yamaha ) in 1967 .

At that time, the number of cylinders was not yet limited by the regulations, so that high performance could also be generated from four-stroke engines . In this way, Honda was able to prevail against the strong competition from two-stroke machines at the time . When the number of cylinders was limited by the regulations at the end of the 1960s, Honda could no longer keep up with the competing two-stroke engines and withdrew from this class by 1985.

In 1966 and 1967, before the regulations were changed, the RC166 achieved 17 victories in 26 starts, making it one of the most successful motorcycles in the history of the motorcycle world championship. In these two years, Honda won both the drivers ' and the constructors' world championships with the model .

Technical specifications

The machine was powered by a four-stroke engine with six cylinders , which had a displacement of 249.42  cm³ and an output of 44  kW (60  hp ) at a speed of up to 18,000 rpm - a technical novelty for its time.

The engine with a bore of 39 mm and a stroke of 34.8 mm produced a cylinder volume of 41 cm³ per combustion chamber and discharged its exhaust gases via a six-in-six exhaust system. Since these machines are individual small series, the specified output varies from time to time.

variants

The 250cc Honda with six-cylinder engine made its debut in 1964 with the model name 3RC164 and an output of 40 kW (54 hp) with 247.3 cm³ and 7-speed gearbox at the Grand Prix of Nations in Monza . After three missions in 1964, a revised model with the designation RC165 was used in 1965 , which produced an output of 41 kW (56 hp) at 16,500 rpm. It was 249.4 cm³ and had an 8-speed gearbox. The last development of this series was the model RC166 in 1966 , which came up with an output of over 44 kW (60 hp) and speeds of over 18,000 rpm. A transmission with seven gears was built into this last model.

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