Honda RC149 (1966) - 5-Cylinder 125cc GP Racer

[@quietknight8250]

I heard a great story about these things from a guy who went on to become a mechanic with Suzuki GB in later years. The engine was so miniaturised and access so difficult that changing jets required dropping the engine out of the frame but even then changing jets was so time consuming (and of course at race meetings time is a precious commodity) that Honda provided five engines for each bike and each one differently jetted so the tuning process involved selecting your "best guess" engine, fitting that to the bike and firing it up; the one that was able to free rev to 20,000 rpm was the one you ran with! Now that's what I call FACTORY BACKING!!

[@ageispolis6960]

That's amazing

[@鯨丸]

素敵です😍

[@alansmilealot]

鯨丸 what did u say?

[@robertsykes6309]

Yes, I've read that too.

[@joepkortekaas8813]

Absolutely UNtrue! The bike that required taking the engine out of the frame for changing jets was the infamous NR500. The RC149 had no such problems! Lately I hear more stories like these, I've no clue where they came from, but they're all nonsense!

[@punk105]

gives me goosebumps...can't imagine what red line sounds like...

[@jozsefnagy281]

Only dogs can hear that...

[@frenchboxer4ever]

4 strokes 5 cylindres 20k rpm vs 2 strokes 2 cylindres 11k Rpm! What a race !!

[@daytona955joop]

Heard Jim Redman talking about riding these little beasts. Apparently below 10,000 rpm the engine would stop, he was sling off the bike and through a hedge on the island when he misjudged a gear change and let the revs drop! Incredible bikes and men of a very high calibre who could ride and race them!!

[@joepkortekaas8813]

Jim Redman never raced the RC149 on Man - he stopped racing after his accident on Francorchamps, and Man came much later, so this story, as so many of these stories, is nonsense!

[@daytona955joop]

Joep Kortekaas Might have been Jim Davidson, I’ve done no research😀

[@joepkortekaas8813]

@@daytona955joop Nobody except the Honda factory racers has ever ridden an RC149. The only once who have ridden the RC149 were Luigi Taveri, Ralph Bryans, and on a couple of occasions Mike Hailwood, that's all.

[@martinhambleton5076]

Honda, I personally feel have actually lived the dream. They have dreamt about something and made it reality. The 6 cylinder 250cc and later the 297cc that competed in the 350cc class, I believe, must have status of the greatest grand prix bike ever to be produced, closely followed by the 125 5 cylinder. Honda Engineering must be very proud of the unbelievable achievements that they have made in a relatively short space of time. Complements to Honda from the UK.

[@gazzaboo8461]

25 cc per cylinder, that's crazy business!

[@laureanosanchez5265]

thats nothing, just imagine the valves

[@Chinhnguyen0497]

and it runs faster than a 2 stroke 125cc bike

[@adrianomondini8795]

FAVOLOLOSA !!!! 125 cc, 5 cilindri 4 valvole per cilindro, 2 alberi a camne in testa, 4 tempi, girava a 24.000 giri !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GIOIELLO !!!!

[@herbertprzybilla8594]

Diese Maschine hab ich in Hohenstein Ernsthal und in Brno erlebt . Bei knapp 20 000 U/Min war mit dem Klang Neudeutsch Sound Gänsehaut uaf dem Rücken angesagt 😁😁. Mit dieser Maschine ist Luigi Taveri Weltmeister geworden. Ja lang lang ist's her Es war meine Jugend . 😊😊😊

[@joepkortekaas8813]

20,500 rpm, not 24,000.

[@MgBaggg]

An amazing piece of engineering

[@richardraby6266]

What an incredible piece of engineering, what a shame that bikes like this aren't around any more. These were exciting days but those riders must have been superhuman to have kept them on the boil and not just made them competitive but won world championships with them. I'm assuming that this was a derivative of the Honda 50cc RC116 works twin?

[@dabrula]

1:15 shivers! Greatest sound I've ever heard from anything with 2 wheels...

[@frenchboxer4ever]

It sounds like 2 strokes cause it's so well done!!!

[@1946nimrod]

FOUR stroke!!!

[@josiashb]

Antigamente as máquinas eras muito mais legais do que as de agora... Que som lindo!!!

[@franktechmaniac7488]

Assembling that engine required a watchmaker rather than an a mechanic.

[@joepkortekaas8813]

Nobby Clark said that they used tweezers to assemble the valves!

[@村山照雄-r5r]

250の166に比べて、扱い難いんでしょうね。50の116とかも誰でも乗れるレーサーって感じじゃ無いですね。１気筒25cc位ですから精密機械ですょね。これを60年代に作ったホンダは凄いですね。今のレーサーよりも良い音してますね。

[@KG-hzj76v]

1気筒30ccちょいじゃね

[@bousouzuki7631]

​@@KG-hzj76v それだと150ccオーバーじゃんwww

[@R5P205]

Each valve is operating at 250 times a second at 18k rpm!

[@DiegoRuiz1991]

At that pace it's almost a good idea to just keep them opened, hahaha.

[@turboboxer6spd]

Divided by 4 = 75 times per second.

[@joepkortekaas8813]

The RC149 had maximum power at 20,500 rpm. 18,000 rpm is 300 rps. Each valve has to be opened once per two revolutions (four stroke), so 150 times per second, not 250 times.

[@joepkortekaas8813]

@@turboboxer6spd On what is your calculation based?.

[@robertcoldham6849]

18000 rpm for crankshaft equals 300 revolutions per second, camshafts run at half crank speed so each valve is opening/closing at 150 per second, not 250.

[@quattro4468]

Sounds like a v10 f1. Sounds better than current f1 engines. And its a Honda!

[@dylanharris7273]

It's all got to do with rpm...you can take any combustion engine in the world and it may sound horrible at normal rpm but magically give it the durability to go above 12000 rpm and it all starts to sound amazing....the high rpm creates a harmonious sound possible in any engine if only they all could go that high.

[@mememanfresh]

wrong its not "all" rpm​@@dylanharris7273

[@キリン-i9k]

出来れば、集合エキゾｰストで、この音を聞きたかった。

[@キリン-i9k]

バイク界では、唯一無二の並列5気筒マシン。

[@portervan360]

宮城光 曰く、ホンダで最もエキサイティングなマシーンって言っていた。 125ccのDOHC5気筒！ エキサイティングだろうなぁ。

[@gerthaverkamp]

amazing machine and sound; i remember Luigi Taveri drove such a bike

[@richardraby6266]

Boys toys! Imagine having one of these (plus spares) in the garage! Looks difficult to keep on song though.

[@keen0515]

OMG 25cc cylinders would be super small.

[@ysubmarine435]

やっぱり125か　この車格で五発って夢の夢のマシンですね

[@Maryuko-e9q]

Saya salut dengan engineer engineer terdahulu.

[@Xenro66]

Hooooly shit, that's amazing....

[@szymon6207]

rev limiter 22,700 ?

[@colindoyle5778]

he is takin this nowhre near the redline out of respect , its smoking a little

[@yzerbeat]

could it be that they mixed oil in the gasoline like with 2 stroke engines for even more lubrication ?

[@colindoyle5778]

you may be onto something there Y Beat find it hard to believe the Honda guys wouldnt have the bike tip top

[@saulocpp]

HAHAHAHAHA! Dude, please, tell me you didn't write this shit, please! Are you creating a new engine now, a 3 stroke? A 4 stroke that takes oil in the gasoline like a 2 stroke?!?! What the hell were you thinking when you wrote this, dude?!?! Do you have a 4 stroke motorcycle? Then go mix oil in the gasoline to see what happens. Damn, and you still managed to have 2 idiots who agreed with this! HAHAHA

[@colindoyle5778]

UCL (upper cylinder Lubricant) hahaha not upper case dude am probably wrong , we were only speculating , or maybe doing it to annoy a fukkin shithead like you doode lol 4 quite a while

[@saulocpp]

Dude, at least try to find some reasoning to back your speculation before writing the first shit comes to your mind! Don't tell me you find great the idea of using water instead of air in your tires, since it provides better cooling to the rubber. It is a 4 stroke engine like any other, the only thing it wants to drink is gasoline.

[@LucasSouza023]

Sounds exactly a v10 F1 And is 24k redline. Sadly in this video he dont pass the 10k probably. But its for a preservation cause.

[@kieronwheeler3087]

The RC149 will stall at less than 17krpm. You can hear it bogging and spluttering at the lower revs in the video.

[@identiticrisis]

Well it screams, but nothing like the V10 - there's no 5:4 warble characteristic of even-firing 5 cylinders. That's because it's basically a straight six with a cylinder removed, so it's not an even-firing engine - think of it like a triple and a weird twin coupled together. This is genius, because a 144° 5-cylinder crank would twist itself to pieces at those speeds (less of an issue for V-engines due to the shared pistons per crank throw), whereas the 6-cylinder crank is mirrored end to end, even if you remove one of the middle throws. The occasional screaming comes from the moments the exhausts of the remaining even firing triple line up, and at other times it comes faintly from the "suggestion" of the inherited 120° intervals (120-120-120-120-240) "implying" six cylinders. Compare to the six cylinder RC166 etc. to see what I mean. This is definitely revving very high, certainly close to 20 000 rpm.

[@BrokenSmokinSpokes]

@@identiticrisis This. Couldn't have said it better myself. It is definitely revving to 20k in this video.

[@JotaV2502]

@@identiticrisis kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKPQdHl7r655aK8 Listen to this, this bike sounds absolutely almost identical to an F1 V10

[@Billswiftgti]

@@BrokenSmokinSpokes no, I never heard 20k on this vid. 20k sounds ridiculous. We may have heard 15k here.

[@Nick-dz4ml]

it does have a low hp output compared to a 50cc racer (around 21-22 hp)

[@1frameatthetime]

Jammapellefrikandelle This 1966 5 cylinder 125cc cranked out 36 hp at 20500 rpm.

[@akasakakv9523]

same as modern day 250cc

[@Nick-dz4ml]

1frameatthetime yeah but a van veen kreidler already had 20+HP ( thats a 2 stroke though..)

[@kieronwheeler3087]

A 2t will generally produce roughly double the power output of a 4t of the same size. It's because a 2t fires every cylinder, every rotation of the crank, and a 4t fires every cylinder every other rotation of the crank.

[@joepkortekaas8813]

@@1frameatthetime No, 38 horses.

[@mhabrothers2673]

The mini monster of 125cc motocycle ever...

[@metalinside666]

VisioRacer brought me here. Nice Bike.

[@donbrashsux]

Who

[@bikerbisht110]

How about "popping down the shops" on that beauty

[@GoldenGrenadier]

Gotta love the straight 5.

[@tonypate9174]

in a transverse way ?

[@staticcorvette5998]

Was it a straight five or a v5?

[@connorssmallengines6663]

@@staticcorvette5998 straight 5.

[@twizzlestickx7]

I saw one of these go round donnington park a proper screemer i was told that there is only 3 of them in the world

[@watchyMCFCwatchy]

It looks like a 2 stroke with all that smoke.

[@trackie1957]

Until it warmed up it sounded like a 5 cylinder running on 3. It must have been glorious when it was running well.

[@kerimca98]

​@@trackie1957 I guess it's because of odd-firing sequence instead of even-firing, kinda like why Huracan or Viper doesn't make F1 sounds like LFA or Porsche Carrera GT, all cars with V10

[@atomic9183]

It Sounds amazing!

[@bhagasasi425]

No pilot jet?

[@frenchboxer4ever]

Those engines are insane!!

[@andrewjowsey1333]

I sure Ralph Bryans rode one at the IOM TT in 1966...

[@gt1man931]

He is not even getting close to redline, but there aren't many parts around for it unless they make them, so no need to wear on it. Nice to see it preserved.

[@windingspirit5430]

Love the bike. People were smaller then.

[@joepkortekaas8813]

No, people were selected for size to ride those bikes. Redman, e.g., was considered much too big to race a 125cc.

[@HubertusHeler]

Klingt wie ganzer Schwarm. Wo gibt's noch den Combi?

[@whalesong999]

Imagine the smell of Castrol R 30 fumes here.

[@orangepekoe7096]

I was waiting for them to fire-up that Mclaren-Honda.

[@trackie1957]

The rider looks like the largest person they could find to put on a motorcycle that has tires the size of my mountain bike’s.

[@sandroadami5869]

Ma come si fa a guidare in questo inaccettabile modo.. ma chi ha dato in mano la moto a questo?

[@nazimelon6653]

Is there any similar engine you can actually buy?

[@Twinspinner]

Nazimelonhamster a 5 cylinder 125? No lol There is no major manufacturer that makes anything like that today. The closest thing to that you might find is a 125 twin, or a 250cc inline 4. But if you want an engine with 25cc cylinders today, you might want to just buy a few leaf blowers and find someone to attach the engines together lol because that is the only way you will find cylinders that small

[@JethroRose]

about the closest you'll get is one of the old 4 cylinder 250 japanese sports bikes from the 90s. they'll do about 18,000 rpm for 45 horsepower.

[@GoldenGrenadier]

Volvo used to make inline 5 cylinder engines for their cars but the straight 5 is still a rarity in the automotive industry.

[@twizzlestickx7]

i think theres only 3 of them in the world lol

[@whalesong999]

There are 20 - 25cc four cycle model aircraft engines you can buy, about the closest you'd get to this. It takes miniaturized tools to work on them, the valves retained by E clips and less than 10mm head diameter. They run with oil mixed in the methanol fuel though there have been some spark ignition versions that run on gasoline with oil mix. They are push rod valve actuation but rev easily to about 12k rpm.

[@madnotbad44]

Omg its tiny !!! Beautiful bike.

[@tonypate9174]

Small, far away, tiny on it's way to St Ninian's !

[@madnotbad44]

Tony Pate brilliant lol

[@timwright8785]

Amazing technology

[@gitaneVYS491R]

That sounds amazing.

[@misterjones7929]

"5-cylinder 125cc" incredible! - what diameter was each piston ? - 10mm or less ?! Fantastic technology at a time when British road racing was still dominated by 500cc singles.

[@lawrencebond8371]

35.5mm bore and 25.14mm stroke. Same as the RC116 50cc twin of the same year.

[@misterjones7929]

Great info! - thanks

[@DiegoRuiz1991]

You're talking about 25cc per cylinder. A soda can is usually 33cc! So tiny!

[@ghettobikelife8833]

Diego Ruiz 335cc* (ml=cc)

[@adri593]

@@misterjones7929 no, man

[@markmezo]

Sounds like a Britten V twin @ 1:00 ?

[@VTLIFE-so4dc]

Odd cylinder glory. RC211 V was no slouch either.

[@markwaldron1679]

Beautiful

[@poasei]

by the way....the title says it al.DOHC!

[@ardykhoiruddin2898]

Red line RPM overkill F1 V10 👏👏

[@LunringNassar]

Got Torque?

[@russetwolf13]

Imagine thinking anything less than a 600cc is small and slow and watching this blitz by.

[@Tech-s-gika]

こういう動画で聞こえてくる、近くの人の声ってのがマジでエモい

[@TheHarryMann]

Superb machine.. 22,000 rpm?

[@utente445588]

Cambio a 7 marcie ?

[@ガスグリソム]

ドライダー宮城カッコいい❗

[@landonlockau2214]

Anyone know the gear ratios of this bike ??? I'm doing a school project

[@joepkortekaas8813]

Number of gears was 8. The exact gear ratios are not known.

[@marionegro407]

Ha corso con Taveri a Ospedaletti e vinto !

[@lh5943]

Back when they made real race bikes!

[@mattwilson3244]

Thought Honda ,Only built , 4 cycles ,but looks (smoke ) like 2 Cycle ?

[@monsieurcommissaire1628]

Oh, it's a four stroke all right.

[@marmac567]

valves must be like 1inch roofers nails

[@danw1955]

Actually roofing nails are a little large compared to the valves in the RC149! The stems are pretty long but the valves were almost microscopic. The cylinder bore is only 34mm (1.33 in), and they still managed to stuff 4 valves and a centrally located spark plug in there!😮 The cylinders were essentially the same size as the RC119 50cc twin.

[@maxalfredjoelasemoule3993]

avec des frains à tambour...C'est toujours mieux que des patins, remarque.

[@oscardanielvespa1419]

El mejor sonido del mundo 🎵🎵

[@livebyreason]

Epic!

[@mattbod]

Seems a bit choked up.

[@Terraceview]

It is; to run it cooler.

[@timcolledge3732]

Luigi Taveri RIP

[@colindoyle5778]

bless you 2.. 49

[@KW-le2ze]

2:16 what is that sound :O

[@kes01523]

The engine is spinning and failing to ignite

[@The1mybuddy1]

Video ends just as he is wicking it up.

[@riskakurniawan1892]

sound like 2 stroke @,@

[@aldilavokrid37]

yes m8, their opponent was 2 stroke at the time

[@鈴木土下座衛門-g7p]

もうに度と、高回転高出力のみを追求したレーサーをホンダが造ることはない。だから、もう二度とつくられない人類の宝、‼

[@arleigh-burkekio1761]

気づいたのですが、エンジンをかけてからふかし続けるのには何の意味があるのですか？

[@marikon1981]

低回転でアイドリングできないんですよ。

[@arleigh-burkekio1761]

そうなんですね、アパートにバイク乗りの方が何人もいるのですが、ｃｂｒ250の方とｚｘｒ250の方が動画と同じ暖気方法をとっているんですよ、どちらも丸目二灯のデザインをした古いバイクなので、昔のレーサーバイクはこういう暖気が主流だったのかな？と疑問に思っていました。

[@デッカ-l6n]

確かRCについているキャブがRCキャブと言ってエンジンをある程度の回転数回しておかないとエンジンが止まる作りになっているって聞いたことがあります

[@lh5943]

There were no idle circuits in the carburetor. Reving also kept the engine cooler.

[@Dan-mi7hn]

Honda rules

[@ramonfimbres2971]

Sounds like 2 stroke

[@rodrigomirones4117]

How can i put 4 cylinder on my 125

[@bubunbubun5124]

Honda 👍

[@GGDaDaDer]

👍

[@Deckay_F]

👍

[@strolchi73kevin93]

It's music......

[@Thewolf_3000]

It's a toy but exhaust sound good

[@suomenpresidentti]

As far from toy as you can get.

[@arnaldomendes143]

Musica......

[@mh-yp6po]

Sounds like a srt tomahawk x lmfao

[@kerimca98]

That makes a lot sense The Tomahawk has V10, but exhaust headers split in 2, basically double inline-5s Old comment I know

[@davidmcgarry1403]

Bliss

[@anoukvaneijck3333]

it’s like a 2 stroke motorcycle

[@angelmanuelcrisostomo5106]

I think yes

[@joepkortekaas8813]

Where did you get that notion?

[@mobilturuguys2045]

Sounds like an f1 engine

[@mattbod]

Like a BRM v16 sounds great but can never seem to run well.

[@lesteranddonna]

Ok ! Find a better sound ? Oops 6 Cyl Honda

[@tonypate9174]

Tubes of You hole of rabbits......CLASSIC TT LAP OF HONOUR START UP GATE 2013..... enter stage left @1-10 ish a prewar DEEK (Dkw) ???

[@dougrogers835]

Riders over 105 lbs need not apply.

[@juschu67]

Five

[@ryanalvito]

roda jamet

[@revistres5842]

Ngga bisa basa jepang:v

[@user-cl1vx7ft3y]

ktm vie

[@dougwillett27]

I don't care what this says that is a 2 stroke, listen to it.

[@SilentRazor1uk]

+Doug Willett It is a four stroke, but since it only makes usable power from above 15,000rpm to 20,000+rpm (I am sure its real '(racing) power band' was more like 19,500 to 21,900 rpm with some space for over-rev); although in this they are reving it lower, say to 18,000-ish. It sounds like a two stroke, because for a 4s, it is having to rev twice as much for similar power and sound.

[@SyedadilAdil-my5jm]

Doug Willett and the rest

[@twizzlestickx7]

its a 4 stroke yah muppet lol

[@papajoey4384]

its a four stroke with a smoke.