Rc149 Had 5 Cylinders

The Honda 125 cc RC 149 Grand Prix is a Japanese made contest motorbike built inwards 1966. It has a four-stroke, five-cylinder 125 cc engine; alongside a hap speed of 130 mph (209.2 km/h).

In the Sixties, the Japanese factories - bent on the conquest of Europe - launched themselves into a crazy technological scramble for the winner's circle inwards the footing racing championship.

Champion of the Four-Stroke

Until the ban inwards 1967 on 50cc in addition to 125cc engines alongside to a greater extent than than ii cylinders in addition to to a greater extent than than 4 cylinders inwards the larger displacements, Honda championed the fourstroke engine, which used extra cylinders to brand upwards for the ability it lost to two-stroke models. The mistake of this approach was apparent inwards the 125cc cast where Honda, footing champion alongside ii in addition to four-cylinder engines, competed against the increasingly strong two-stroke twins of Yamaha in addition to Suzuki. The two-stroke cycles ruled the championships inwards 1965.

Magnesium Marvel

To counter this challenge, Honda engineer Irimajiri - designer of the marques 50cc twins in addition to its six-cylinder 250 - created a five-cylinder four-stroke made solely from magnesium, for 1966. This amazing feat of applied scientific discipline had pistons merely 35 mm inwards diameter in addition to cranked out 23,000 rpm however stalled below 17,000 rpm, forcing the passenger to operate the nine-speed transmission relentlessly to croak on the engine running! The Honda 125 proved unbeatable inwards the hands of the talented Swiss cyclist Luigi Taveri. It would forcefulness Yamaha, Suzuki, in addition to Kawasaki to become to four-cylinder two-strokes for the 1967 season.