Honda RC181

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Honda
Hailwood Honda 500 RC181.JPG
Mike Hailwood's Machine (1966)
RC181
Manufacturer Honda
Production period 1966 to 1967
class motorcycle
design type Racing motorcycle
Motor data
Four cylinder four stroke , four valves per cylinder
Displacement  (cm³) 499.6 cm³
bore × stroke: 57 × 48 mm
Power  (kW / PS ) 85 hp at 12,000 rpm (1966)
Top speed (  km / h) over 260 km / h
transmission 6 courses
Empty weight  (kg) 151 kg

The Honda RC181 is a racing motorcycle from the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Honda , which was used in the 1966 and 1967 motorcycle world championships .

History and technology

After Honda already 1,961 cc classes to 125 and could 250cc win, followed in 1962 the class up to 350 cc and 1965 cc class until the 50th What the "giant of the Grand Prix scene" (eleven world championship titles within five years) was missing was winning the class up to 500 cc. Honda signed the best driver of the day, Mike Hailwood , to win the premier class. Although Hailwood won a few races in which he drove the Honda RC181 (in particular the prestigious Isle of Man TT 1966 and 1967), he was only second in the drivers' championship in 1966 and 1967 behind the young Giacomo Agostini on an MV Agusta 500 three-cylinder . At the end of 1967, Honda withdrew from the World Championship.

The reasons for the failure are seen in the “miserable roadholding” of the Honda, which Hailwood was only able to compensate for at times through “high personal commitment and risk”. Why Honda did not improve the conventional chassis remained unexplained. Nevertheless, Honda achieved the constructors' championship with the RC181 in 1966 thanks to the two victories of second driver Jim Redman .

literature

  • Siegfried Rauch : Famous racing motorcycles - 150 old and new racing machines for Grand Prix use . 2nd Edition. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-87943-590-1 .

Web links

Commons : Honda RC181  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rauch, p. 84.
  2. ↑ honda.com Honda RC181
  3. ^ Rauch, p. 85.
  4. ↑ honda.com Honda RC181