Bold new Chinese Racing bid unveiled

Could history be about to repeat itself? In 1959, a small Japanese team of three riders entered the famous Isle of Man (IOM) Tourist Trophy (TT) races on a motorcycle previously unheard of at world championship level - Honda. Though the team all finished, with the best result a courageous sixth place to Naomi Taniguchi, the establishment greeted the newcomers with polite amusement. They did not laugh for long. Last week in Shanghai, a Chinese motorcycle manufacturer announced its intention to follow an almost identical path – exactly a half century later, there’s an eerie similarity.

The expeditionary Japanese riders of 1959 must have wondered what they had encountered. The IOM mountain circuit is a natural road course of 37.7 miles (60.7 km), comprising over 200 corners and is the oldest racing circuit still in use, having been first raced on in 1907 when average speeds were under 40 mph.

By 1959, the winning 125 MV Agusta of Tarquinio Provini was lapping at an average speed of nearly 75 mph amidst the curbs, stone walls, and unique terrain which stretches from sea level to an altitude of over 1,300 ft (396 m). With completely different weather conditions experienced regularly on different parts of the circuit during the same lap, the IOM TT races are the most lethal motor sporting event in modern history having claimed somewhere between 175 and 200 competitors in its 100 year running. It’s not the most dangerous – that dubious honor must go the Dakar Rally which averages two competitor deaths and an unknown number of spectator deaths (thought to be more than one) per event – but the IOM runs a close second and the inexperienced Honda contingent more than upheld its honor.

The company also learned its lessons well. It recognized that to conquer racing at world championship level with the unique cultural, language, experience and skills necessary, it needed faster bikes and seasoned riders and went about providing both for the 1960 season.

Just twelve months later Honda had redesigned many aspects of its machinery, produced a lot more horsepower, and had hired some of the best riders in the world. Suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, Honda machines were beginning to take podiums in both 125 and 250 World Championship events and the Honda name was introduced to the world via the reliability and speed of its machinery at the highest level. Just two years after its debut, it won both the 125 and 250 world titles, and five years later, it swept to victory in ALL classes.

The well-worn motto of “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” proved true for Honda on an entirely new level to that enjoyed by the European marques previously. In 1959 when it first announced itself to the world at the IOM TT, Honda sold 285,000 motorcycles in the entire year. By 1961, it was selling 100,000 units a month, and went on to become the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer in short order.

Though the company’s 1959 race machines were ungainly looking, if engineers had been able to look inside the motors, they wouldn’t have laughed even at that stage. The tiny DOHC twin engine internals were already technologically advanced compared to their 125 rivals of the day and would continue to push the technological edge until they became dominant in all classes.

Take a look at these images of the the internals of the sole remaining machine from the 1959 IOM Honda expedition and you’ll see why – and remember this was 50 years ago.

The technological prowess of Honda well surpassed its rivals over the following years and after winning the 50, 125, 250, 350 and 500 titles in 19966, it had achieved its goals and scaled back its racing program, pulling out of the 50cc and 125cc classes of racing at the end of 1966. Honda’s 125 (model RC148) by then had five-cylinders and produced 38 bhp at 20,500 which isn’t all that bad considering that the current KTM and Aprilia machines, and hence Maxtra’s target horsepower for 2009, is only 46 bhp. To achieve that remarkable figure in 1966, with a four-stroke no less, the five cylinder, eight speed machine was more akin to a Swiss watch than a traditional GP engine. The bore/stroke were 33 x 29 mm and the pistons weighed just 34 grams each.

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