All enough for the three-strong works team of Hans-Georg Anscheidt, Yoshimi Katayama and Brit Stuart Graham to dominate the championship, placing 1-2-3.īut if the RK67 50cc twin was impressive enough, Suzuki had a tiddler up its sleeve that promised to be even better yet. It revved to a maximum of 17,500rpm and, through its mind-boggling 14-speed transmission, was capable of a maximum speed of 170kph. The RK version was a similarly liquid-cooled two-stroke, but this time a parallel twin instead of a square four. If the RS67 125 was sophisticated, so too was its 50cc little brother. It produced 42bhp at 16,500rpm had a 12-speed gearbox and became the template for the RG500 of the ‘70s and ‘80s. By 1967, however, Suzuki’s singles and twins had been discarded for ever more sophisticated multis, culminating with the liquid-cooled, square-four two-stroke 125, the RS67. In 1961 East German MZ works rider Ernst Degner had defected to the west and joined the Suzuki team taking the German two-stroke technology with him to such an extent that, with Suzuki, he immediately won the 50cc world title in 1962. In fact, Hailwood’ is reported of saying of it: ‘It was so fast I could have won with one arm tied behind my back.’ Unfortunately, it was also the ‘Six’s last hurrah as Honda pulled out of GPs the following year. It was so successful it won seven out of the eight rounds in the hands of Mike Hailwood who, inevitably, also was crowned world champion that year. Inspired by the success of the 250 in 1966, for 1967 Honda produced an enlarged, 297cc version designated the RC174, which was produced to compete in the 350cc class. The famous RC166 wasn’t Honda’s only racing six. Swiss works rider Luigi Taveri did just that in 1966 to win that year’s 125cc world championship, prompting Suzuki and Yamaha to respond with new four-cylinder 125s. Big H’s 1966 RC149 was an exquisite in-line five-cylinder machine – the smallest five ever built in fact – that was made entirely from magnesium, revved to a massive 23,000rpm and yet would stall if it fell below 17,000rpm which is why it had a nine-speed gearbox that had to be worked continuously. Thought the RCV211V was Honda’s first ‘five’? Think again. The pair retained the title the following year. In 1966, Mike Hailwood didn’t just win the 250cc world title, he won all 10 races. A four-stroke DOHC, 24-valve six it revved to 20,000 screaming rpm and produced 65bhp which, through a 7-speed gearbox, propelled it to over 150mph. The RC166 or, perhaps as it’s better known, Honda’s 250-6, is arguably the most iconic racing motorcycle of all time, not just for its technology but for its racing success. Here’s our 10 of the most extreme and wonderful bikes of that golden era.
That all came to an end in 1969 when the FIM, in a bid to reduce costs for non-works teams, brought in new rules restricting all classes to six gears, 350 and 500s to four cylinders and all others to two, which prompted a walk-out by the Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha teams – although MV soldiered on with their magnificent four-stroke triples and fours. The mid-late ‘60s with its carte blanche on technical specifications was arguably the last ‘golden age’ for motorcycle GP machinery, leading to such wonders as not just Honda’s legendary RC166 250-6 but also a Suzuki 50cc triple and Yamaha’s RD05A.