Mike Hailwood Honda RC181 isle of Man TT 2014

Mike Hailwoods Honda RC181 running at the isle of Man TT 2014

[@eslermanu47]

David on the masters machine

[@vincentreynolds2127]

MAGIC.

[@MartinKillips]

That looks like Mike Hailwood's son, David, revving that wonderful beast.

[@19EOIN88]

it was

[@xvdd1]

I think this one of the Chapman owned reps based on the CBX550 engine the giveaway is the CR carbs nice example though.

[@nervo6321]

That motor sounds angry.....

[@tripleman100]

Sorry but that bike sounds nothing like the one I saw in 1967

[@eskertoo]

Looking at the engine definitely NOT the genuine article.Cylinder head and cam covers are too small.And carbs are wrong.

[@joepkortekaas8813]

@@eskertoo You're quite right!

[@lesteranddonna]

Knock off !

[@tripleman100]

And to be honest,would you thrash the motor like that if it were one of the original bikes.Honda only made a small number of these bikes.....maybe only two or three.To hear the real thing click on Motegi Honda RC181.That one is from the Honda museum.I believe Hailwood kept one after he retired from racing which was later sold by Pauline after his tragic death.It was bought by a private collector.I would imagine it was worth at least £500,000.

[@paulshelley3264]

I think there is only 3 of these priceless jems and that ain't one of them

[@19EOIN88]

All i know is that's Hailwood's son riding what appeared to be his original bike

[@joepkortekaas8813]

The private collector is Virgil Elings from the USA and he bought not the original RC181, but the Reynolds framed bike.

[@jlinnlinn4241]

Men were men. Period.

[@joepkortekaas8813]

That is absolutely NOT Hailwoods Honda RC181! It's some kind of replica. To name a couple of things: wrong front brake, forks, front mudguard, wrong levers, wrong twist grip, wrong clutch cover, wrong carbs, etc.

[@eskertoo]

It's a replica .One of 15 built by a Hungarian bloke Ronaldo Agoston.Based on a Honda CBX550 engine with some bolt on engine covers that superficially resemble the original RC181 motor.When sold they had a little plaque bearing the inscription,'Honda RC181 Replica as Ridden By MIke Hailwood'.Apparently Sammy Miller bought one.I think they were £30,000 to buy.Jim Redman said they were a good copy of the original bike and sounded about the same.Not sure if I agree with that!I will never forget the deep menacing howl of Hailwood's bike.

[@joepkortekaas8813]

@@eskertoo I don't think it's the Hungarian bike - the frame is different, and so is e.g. the front brake. I have a couple of pictures of the Hungary bike which I got from Jim Redman. Also, the Hungary bike had excenters in the fork legs, which this bike doesn't have. Ah well, we'll probably will never know the truth - everybody and his uncle seems to be making "replicas" these days! By the way, I don't understand why they didn't even get the right throttle with the opening and closing cable, and even I have an original Honda RC181 front brake, which I bought in Japan.

[@jlinnlinn4241]

My sewing machine doesnt compare.