conquest of the Tourist Trophy

Honda was finally ready with a new bike in 1961, the RC142, which was powered by a 125-cc, parallel-twin engine producing 16 PS at 14,000 rpm. The bike was taken to the Isle of Man and a five-man team took part in the races. Bill Hunt, Honda American’s dealer, and four other Japanese riders participated in the race. Although Hunt crashed, the remaining Honda riders managed to finish 6th, 7th, 8th, and 11th. This was also a special moment as the team won the manufacturers’ team prize. Following this success, great racers like Mike Hailwood, Jim Redman, and Luigi Taveri also contributed a lot to Honda’s early racing effort at the TT and other championships.

Honda continued winning the TT races and championships for a long time. There were great riders who joined the top TT ranks racing on Honda machines. One notable name that comes to mind is Joey Dunlop, a legend from Northern Ireland, who spent much of his racing career riding Honda motorcycles at the Isle of Man TT and also other races. He is also the most successful TT racer to date with 26 wins in 24 years. Another great racer who made headlines with his talent and speed is John McGuiness, an English racing rider who is the second most successful racer at the Isle of Man TT. John also set the record for the outright lap of 131.671 mph (211.903 km/h) in 2013 winning his sixth Senior TT.

Conquering the TT was Soichiro’s dream back when he travelled to the Isle. What the old man didn’t anticipate was that dream would actually come true in over six decades. Today Honda has over 250 TT wins, making the company the most successful manufacturer at the Mountain course.