Mecum Auctions are offering one of 10, sanctioned by Honda, replica Honda RC174 Grand Prix bikes at their Las Vegas auction on January 31st.
297cc, 6 cylinder, 24 valves, 6 carburetors and an 18000 rpm red line and built using the original blue prints by George Beale.
Once you've heard one, which I have a few times, there's not another bike like it, other than Honda's 247cc RC166 6 cylinder machine.
The first two short videos are of the original bikes, the second maybe an RC166. The constant revving? It won't idle due to the lightweight flywheel.
GQ's 2021 article quotes Beale “We put cameras into the fuel tank to see how it had been welded together. We had the frame tubing made because standard tubing was 0.5mm too wide and on the original some was tapered. You can’t buy it. Harris Performance made the tubing and frames for us – a fantastic job. They recognised the importance of detail.
“What we did learn was it was a truly amazing bike. When I received the original RC174 and removed the engine, it was so light we thought it had no insides. But not only was it complete, it had been rebuilt for Mike to race in 1968 but was never fired up.
“There was so much finesse in it. The RC174 was way ahead of its time. One hundred and eighteen kilos, 66bhp, 297cc, around 223bhp per litre – that’s more per litre than some recent Moto GP bikes. I once asked Hailwood what was the best bike he’d ever ridden, he said without doubt the RC174.”
#honda #hondarc174 #rc174 #georgebeale #hondarc166 #sixcylinderhonda
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