Honda RC143 - RC145 125

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!

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.

Honda RC145  1962

It had been known for several years that the Japanese intended to go into the field of world championship speed racing. For some years Japanese observers had visited European circuits, armed with cameras for photographing the latest racing motorcycles. In 1959 Honda arrived on the European racing scene. It made a rapid and unlucky appearance at the Tourist Trophy with a two-cylinder 125, then retreated to its home base.

Honda went back to Europe early in 1960 with a 125 two-cylinder and a 250 four-cylinder. The 125 had been modified in several ways since its appearance at the Tourist Trophy the year before. Most of the changes affected the chassis, which was more streamlined for lower air resistance and had a lower center of gravity. The Honda did not win in 1960 either, although it came in just behind the Italians.

In 1961 the strong Honda team overtook the Italians. The two-cylinder Honda 125 won the 1961 and 1962 world championships without further modification of the engine. Honda had also selected its drivers with great wisdom. Tom Phillis and Luigi Taveri raced the two-cylinder model with near-perfect mastery, while Mike Hailwood and Jim Redman did the same with the larger two-wheelers.

Motorcycle: Honda 125 RC 145 Manufacturer: Honda Motor Co. Ltd.,
Tokyo Type: Racing Year: 1962
Engine: Honda two-cylinder, four-stroke, with overhead double-shaft geared distribution and four valves per cylinder. Displacement 124.6 cc. (44 mm. x 41 mm.)
Cooling: Air
Transmission: Six-speed block Power: 24 h.p. at 14,000 r.p.m. Maximum speed: Over 110 m.p.h. Chassis: Double cradle, tubular. Front
and rear, telescopic suspension Brakes: Front, central drum, four shoes;
rear, central drum