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Honda 125 1959
1959 HONDA 125 TWIN. In 1959 the T.T. series' international
status was augmented by a bevy of 125 c.c. racers from Japan—a country which,
until that date, had not been regarded by European factories as of much
importance in the motorcycle sphere and certainly not a force to be reckoned
with in road-racing.
Honda was the factory that spent what must have amounted to a
small fortune in flying five race machines and riders and several "hack" mounts
from Japan to the Island, together with full workshop equipment, tools,
mechanics and spares. The machines were no copy of a successful European racer,
but showed considerable original thought—even if the factory's claimed power
output of 185 b.h.p. at 14,000 r.p.m. hardly seemed to be substantiated by the
race results.
The power unit employed was a parallel twin with shaft and
bevel drive to the twin overhead camshafts. The crankcase was split
horizontally, as in a car, and had a six-speed gearbox in unit with it. Carbura-tion
was by two Keihin instruments which were unusual in employing flat slides. Oil
was carried in a large finned sump bolted under the crankcase.
A spine-type frame, with a large-diameter tube main member, carried the unit by
a box-like structure at the steering head and normal plates at the rear. The
leading link forks carried a lot of weight around the hub and, coupled with the
poor frame design in the steering head area, must have contributed to the
not-too-good handling of the machine.
However, the models proved reliable, and the factory must have
been well satisfied with its sixth, seventh, eighth and eleventh places, which
secured the manufacturers' team prize. Anyway, they made use of the experience
for the machines were soon revamped—and augmented by a 250 c.c. four-cylinder!
The first Japanese machine ever to appear in the T.T. races was a 125 c.c. He
without its dolphin fairing. The close-up shows the magneto driven from camshaft
and the remote float chamber mounting. Cooling air for the clutc through an
aperture in the front of the clutch cover.
SPECIFICATION
Engine: parallel-twin 125 c.c. d.o.h.c; shaft and bevel
drive to camshaft gear train. Ignition: magneto driven from inlet camshaft.
Transmission: gear primary drive to six-speed gearbox
in unit with engine; final drive by chain. Frame: "tubular-spine" type with
box-girder attachment
between cylinder and steering heads; swinging-fork
rear suspension. Forks: bottom leading-link type.
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