Coyote Chris
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Looks at the pics and then click on the vid in the comments. Turn up your stereo.....
Honda's incredible RC166
- Thread starter Coyote Chris
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Coyote Chris
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Coyote Chris
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Honda well understood the physics of Horse power. If you study the various equations on how much HP an engine of a given size can make, you soon see that the faster you can spin that engine, the more HP it will make. And you can spin an engine with tiny cylinders very very fast...18,000 rpm fast.
How to Calculate Horsepower - Power Test, Inc.
The equation to calculate horsepower is simple: Horsepower = Torque x RPM / 5,252. You […]
powertestdyno.com
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....and if you'd like to build one of your very own, here's how (courtesy of the remarkable Alan Millyard and his hacksaw...):
The son of a friend of mine had a 350 Four and a 6 cylinder CBX 1000. At the same time!! He loved multi cylinder bikes and had the money to buy them.
Unfortunately, he and the CBX went straight when he should have turned. On hiway 63, north of Waterloo Iowa, before it was rebuilt as a four lane, there was a section called "the county line curves". The mainly north-south road had a 1 mile east-west section with two 90 degree curves. He was going south and kept going that way when the road made a 90 degree to the right. There was a wooded marshy area at the curve. It was 4 or 5 days before he was found. Too much horsepower, too much speed, that lovely motor at full chat.
The last I knew, MANY years ago, his father still had the 350 Four. It had not been started since his son died on the CBX.
I tried once to buy it, but when I saw his eyes, I didn't press the issue and never asked again. I would guess that he HATED that little bike, but it was a link that he could not give up.
Everything has a good and a bad. Just remembering and typing this post . . . well, I'm getting too old for this s***.
Unfortunately, he and the CBX went straight when he should have turned. On hiway 63, north of Waterloo Iowa, before it was rebuilt as a four lane, there was a section called "the county line curves". The mainly north-south road had a 1 mile east-west section with two 90 degree curves. He was going south and kept going that way when the road made a 90 degree to the right. There was a wooded marshy area at the curve. It was 4 or 5 days before he was found. Too much horsepower, too much speed, that lovely motor at full chat.
The last I knew, MANY years ago, his father still had the 350 Four. It had not been started since his son died on the CBX.
I tried once to buy it, but when I saw his eyes, I didn't press the issue and never asked again. I would guess that he HATED that little bike, but it was a link that he could not give up.
Everything has a good and a bad. Just remembering and typing this post . . . well, I'm getting too old for this s***.
- Joined
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- '83 BMW R100RS & 3 XS650s
Sorry to hear that story @suvcw04 - I think that most of we older riders have a tale of that type somewhere in our memory.
There really aren't words to make the pain of parents and loved ones go away unfortunately.
suvcw04, that was a terrible thing. I'm guessing that most of the counties in the Great Plains have similar curves. I know Colorado and Kansas do.
When I started riding I was 55 and there was an older gentleman in Ft Morgan (maybe 65 or so) who was riding home from Sterling, about 45-55 miles away from us. He had ridden up on US-6 and was coming home on some farm roads between 6 and I-76. There were correction line roads (what you guys in Iowa called county line curves) and he was on one going too fast on a bike with a dim headlight. He mad some of the curve before he went off the road and sideways into a barbed wire fence. He sliced his thigh almost to the bone, made a tourniquet with his belt and rode back to the hospital in Sterling, getting there and walking into the ER before he passed out.
When I started riding I was 55 and there was an older gentleman in Ft Morgan (maybe 65 or so) who was riding home from Sterling, about 45-55 miles away from us. He had ridden up on US-6 and was coming home on some farm roads between 6 and I-76. There were correction line roads (what you guys in Iowa called county line curves) and he was on one going too fast on a bike with a dim headlight. He mad some of the curve before he went off the road and sideways into a barbed wire fence. He sliced his thigh almost to the bone, made a tourniquet with his belt and rode back to the hospital in Sterling, getting there and walking into the ER before he passed out.
DirtFlier
Site Supporter
Before the FIM changed the engine rules for GP bikes, the Japanese companies went crazy with multi-cylinder bikes in every class. Suzuki had a 3-cyl 50 (16 cc per hole!) and Honda had a 125/w 5 cyl (25 cc per hole). My Ryobi string trimmer beats both of those with a HUGE 41 cc single cylinder!
www.bikeexif.com
European companies had no way to keep up with such technology and I'm sure that played a major role in the FIM enforcing cylinder and transmission gear limitations starting in the late-60s. What really amazed me is that within 3-years, tiny Euro race builders such as Jamathi, Derbi, Kreidler, etc., had elipsed all the lap records held by the Japanese bikes in the 50 cc class. These race bikes came from moped & scooter companies that funded a tiny race shop with only a few people, unlike the army of engineers at a Japanese company with nearly unlimited facilities available.
This Suzuki racing motorcycle has 14 gears
By Richard Fowler of Motorsport Retro. This amazing piece of machinery was the last of the purebred 50cc Suzuki racebikes built in 1967. And it’s a technological as well as aesthetic masterpiece: the engine was tuned to an extraordinary 350hp per liter. The RK67 motor was a two-stroke...
www.bikeexif.com
European companies had no way to keep up with such technology and I'm sure that played a major role in the FIM enforcing cylinder and transmission gear limitations starting in the late-60s. What really amazed me is that within 3-years, tiny Euro race builders such as Jamathi, Derbi, Kreidler, etc., had elipsed all the lap records held by the Japanese bikes in the 50 cc class. These race bikes came from moped & scooter companies that funded a tiny race shop with only a few people, unlike the army of engineers at a Japanese company with nearly unlimited facilities available.
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Coyote Chris
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Interesting link...thanks!Before the FIM changed the engine rules for GP bikes, the Japanese companies went crazy with multi-cylinder bikes in every class. Suzuki had a 3-cyl 50 (16 cc per hole!) and Honda had a 125/w 5 cyl (25 cc per hole). My Ryobi string trimmer beats both of those with a HUGE 41 cc single cylinder!
This Suzuki racing motorcycle has 14 gears
By Richard Fowler of Motorsport Retro. This amazing piece of machinery was the last of the purebred 50cc Suzuki racebikes built in 1967. And it’s a technological as well as aesthetic masterpiece: the engine was tuned to an extraordinary 350hp per liter. The RK67 motor was a two-stroke...
European companies had no way to keep up with such technology and I'm sure that played a major role in the FIM enforcing cylinder and transmission gear limitations starting in the late-60s. What really amazed me is that within 3-years, tiny Euro race builders such as Jamathi, Derbi, Kreidler, etc., had elipsed all the lap records held by the Japanese bikes in the 50 cc class. These race bikes came from moped & scooter companies that funded a tiny race shop with only a few people, unlike the army of engineers at a Japanese company with nearly unlimited facilities available.
Every motorcycle should have a Viper V-10 in it, solves that pesky low end torque problem!
Does anyone remember Chrysler's 4-wheel motorcycle built around the Viper engine? It was called "Tomahawk."
Here's a Youtube video: 2017 Dodge Tomahawk Reviews - YouTube
I notice that the front suspension seems pretty soft and that the video does not show the "bike" turning except a slight adjustment in direction a couple of times.
Here's a Youtube video: 2017 Dodge Tomahawk Reviews - YouTube
I notice that the front suspension seems pretty soft and that the video does not show the "bike" turning except a slight adjustment in direction a couple of times.
George Carlin would be proud of you! 
I do believe that Jay Leno has one. He also has a jet bike too. I live about 2 miles from his warehouse near the Burbank Airport. I do see him from time to time driving one one of his cars. Motorcycles it’s a little hard to tell as he’s wearing a helmet. However, I his signature denim shirts give him away on a warm day.
I was caught behind a guy riding a Honda Rune on Kagel Canyon above Sylmar. I was on NaTalie at the time carving the canyon. This guy was all over the road driving slow and crossing over into the opposing traffic lane. I was caught behind him to the end of route where it meets up with Foothill Blvd. I pulled up beside the guy at the light. Low and behold it was Jay Leno. We chatted at the light waiting for it change. It was a really long wait, so much so Jay took off and made his left turn. Just as I was about to go the traffic got pretty heavy.
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Well, much as I enjoy seeing his beautiful cars and bikes, I find his rambling narrative to be just about worthless. He is often condescending to his visitors, his technical knowledge is superficial if not simply wrong and his historical knowledge is sketchy at best.
Oh well - he's richer than me, so I guess he has done something right.
Pete
Oh well - he's richer than me, so I guess he has done something right.
Pete
DirtFlier
Site Supporter
I enjoy the YouTube clips of Leno's Garage I've watched and never felt that Jay was trying to pass himself off as a technical expert, nor an expert rider.
He's an ex-talk show host who now uses all that money to keep & restore cars and motorcycles.
He's an ex-talk show host who now uses all that money to keep & restore cars and motorcycles.
ST1100Y
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Those things do sound like an F1 engine...
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The guy is a genius. The fact he can just cut and paste engines together is insane. Apparently some of his bikes are on display at the Barber Motorsports Museum, including one of the Kawasaki V12s. I may try to swing through on the next cross country ride, will probably be the only reason I would ever have to step foot in Alabama.
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I enjoy the YouTube clips of Leno's Garage I've watched and never felt that Jay was trying to pass himself off as a technical expert, nor an expert rider.
He's an ex-talk show host who now uses all that money to keep & restore cars and motorcycles.
I never got the "expert" vibe from Jay either. He does have a tendency to talk over everybody, but I think that's a learned habit from hosting a talk show for decades and trying to keep the conversation moving. He simply loves cars that are fun to drive. He's had people bring him uber expensive one-off SuperCar trash filled with marketing buzz words trying to get a deposit out of him and he couldn't care less about it (see the de macross epique gt1 episode). Meanwhile Leno sees a guy with a ratty Honda S600 with a CBR1000RR engine dropped in it and he wants nothing more than to head into the mountains and flog the crap out of it so he invites the builder on the show.