URBANDEPOK.COM - The Honda RC166 is a motorcycle made by the Honda manufacturer.Honda RC 166 is a motorcycle with a capacity of 250 CC but it became a legend because it turns out that there are 6 cylinders. Why does the Honda RC166 have so many cylinders?Let's discuss this motorbike that made people at that time even until now can't understand its uniqueness.When the Indonesian market is spoiled by products of 1/4 liter single cylinder, twin cylinder, some even use the Inline-Four engine, the original is still even more ridiculous.Yep, what we will discuss this time is Honda's 250cc masterpiece whose power-to-weight ratio can only be matched by the Prototype Moto3 racing motorbike that was born half a century later!Also Read: HONDA RC 149, 125 CC Motorcycle That Has Terrible Power, How Can the Engine Be So Fast In Racing At That Time?Loh, 250cc 6 Cylinder?Isn't the pinnacle of 250cc engine development on 4-cylinder motorcycles in the 80-90's with motorcycles like the CBR250RR, ZXR-250, FZR250, and the GSX-R250, right?Yes, it is true.And it was this motorbike that inspired Kawasaki to develop the latest ZX-25R.A 250cc motorcycle with an inline 4 cylinder engine that is not only an idol for true motorcycle enthusiasts, but also a content-able motorcycle in today's digital era.However, if we take a deeper look at the history of motorcycle development… It turns out that there are more 250cc motorcycles that are far-uh-uh-uhhh even crazier.So here's the history.The Honda RC166 was the answer taken by Soichiro Honda – the founder of Honda – who didn't want to be involved in making 2-stroke motorcycles that were currently being loved.Thanks for the booming Exhaust Expansion Chamber & Rotary Disc Valve technology that makes the performance of 2-stroke racing motorbikes soar drastically!Because of Honda-san's idealism, wing manufacturers were forced to make 4-stroke motorcycles that could compete with 4-stroke motorcycles… Which is impossible.Because basically a 2-stroke engine does have a power ratio that is 1.5 to 2 times that of a 4-stroke engine at the same engine capacity & technology.The path taken by Honda-san and the Honda engineers at that time was to drastically increase the RPM of the 4-stroke engine.The hope is that by making the RPM double, the power can also be equivalent to a 2-stroke engine.The method?Is to increase the number of cylinders!If the RC162, RC163 and RC164 use a 250cc 4-cylinder engine, Honda's new hero is projected to use a 6-cylinder engine!However, this idea is also not without its problems.First, the design of this multi-cylinder 250cc motorcycle requires super duper high engineering skills & precision.Previously, Honda used the millimeter limit as a manufacturing reference, now they have to use the micron or 1/1000 millimeter units.Metal Clearance that can only be seen using X-Ray!Fortunately, Soichiro Honda is renowned as one of the world's best natural engineers.So, there should be no problem with this problem.The second problem, as well as the most complicated one… This project will require a super massive budget which may not make sense for a new manufacturer like Honda.But the surprise, fortunately Honda's financial condition at that time was also skyrocketing thanks to the explosion of sales of the Super Cub in Japan and the global market.Also Read: HONDA NS 500, The Motor That Finally Forced HONDA To Make 2-Stroke Motorized Racing Motors, Let's Discuss This Bike!Ironically, this most exotic motorcycle project from Honda, will be financed by the most basic motorcycle they sell on the market.And this is still true today, thanks to all of you who buy millions of units of Honda automatic scooters per year.Long story short, at the end of the 1964 GP250 racing season, the Honda 3RC164… Honda's first 6-cylinder 250cc motorcycle was born.The Honda 3RC164 is surprisingly able to compete with the Yamaha RD56 with a 2-stroke twin cylinder engine that previously dominated the 250cc class!Plus it can bloat the Suzuki RZ64 (250cc 2-Stroke Square Four) and MZ RE250 (250cc 2-Stroke Tandem Twin).Unfortunately, because of the complexity of this 6-cylinder engine, the Honda 3RC164 is plagued by very poor reliability problems.After bloating 2-stroke competitors at the Italian GP, ​​the 3RC164 slowly started to slow down due to overheating problems and braking devices that were not strong enough to withstand the power.It took a full season for Honda-san to perfect this 250cc 6-cylinder engine, before finally arriving in the 1966 season with the final form version named Honda RC166.Although it still maintains the 250cc 6-cylinder engine configuration, the Honda RC166 engine is reworked from ZERO.Using a 250cc 6-cylinder, DOHC engine configuration with up to 24 valves, the Honda RC166 uses a piston with a diameter of only 41mm, plus a stroke of 31.5mm.Thanks to the short stroke, the RC166 automatically can be launched up to 20,000 RPM with a piston speed of 21.0 m/s!The soaring RPM increase is also offset by super-duper lightweight engine parts.Plus, some of the parts have also been made using exotic metals that at that time only existed in the space shuttle program… Call it a Magnesium Alloy crankcase, a high grade Aluminum Alloy engine block.Because Honda wants to make the RC166's weight as light as possible, this 6-cylinder motorbike even uses an exhaust made of aluminum sheet, you know!The weight of a megaphone exhaust is not up to 500 grams!Also Read: Honda CB 100 Legendary Motorcycle, Why The CB 100 Motorcycle Becomes Legendary, Let's Look at the Story of This Motorcycle!And it's not just the specs that are cool, the Honda RC166 is claimed to be able to spit out a maximum power of up to 62 HP at 18,000 RPM!Coupled with its weight of only 112 kg – in theory – the Honda RC166 has a power-to-weight ratio (PtWR) which is 2 times larger than the Ninja ZX-25R as a benchmark for modern 250cc motorcycles!If the numbers didn't surprise you...The PtWR ratio of the Honda RC166 is even equivalent to the Moto3 prototype racing motorbike that was born half a century later!And remember, this is a 1966 motorcycle, you know… At that time there was no such thing as a CNC, let alone sophisticated computer analysis software like now.This of course can be a lesson for all of us, even with these limitations, Honda was able to create a masterpiece as exotic as this!The Honda RC166 ridden by a British rider, Mike Hailwood, was able to win 10 series champions out of 11 series that Honda participated in in the 1966 season. Not only did they win the Rider & Constructor World Champion title, the Honda RC166 even managed to embarrass a sophisticated 2-stroke motorbike in the same class as the Yamaha RD05. and the Suzuki RZ66 which uses a 2-stroke V4 and Square Four engine!And the funny thing is, all the ideas and development of the Honda RC166 only started from the founder's dream to win the GrandPrix racing championship using his own philosophy.***Bumi Sawangan Indah 2 Pengasinan Village, Sawangan District, Depok City, West Java 0851-5603-9115 urbandepokcom@gmail.com