HONDA CELEBRATING 60

This year’s Classic TT will see the appearance of one of the most iconic racing machines in motorcycling history, as Honda celebrates its 60th year on the Mountain Course and in racing. Mike Buttinger, founder and owner of the leading global supplier of Japanese motorcycle parts CMSNL, has recreated a Honda RC142 – the first Honda motorcycle to compete in the TT Races back in 1959. Working with his good friends and motorcycle builders Marnix Deibert and Sebas Van De Broek, Buttinger has rebuilt a complete RC142 from only an engine, fuel tank, swingarm, wheel hubs, and an assortment of smaller components. Combining their craftsmanship with fastidious research, the team has produced a 17.4hp, four-valve, 125cc racer that’s not a ‘replica’, but a recreation. Entered in the 1959 125cc Lightweight TT race, the nine-man team featured four Japanese riders and one from America, with the group from the little-known company staying at the Nursery Hotel in Onchan. The race was to be held over 10 laps of the 10.79 mile Clypse Course, which the riders learned by riding around on borrowed Benly CB92S. A number of the Japanese riders had never ridden on Tarmac before, only dirt, while their helmets failed to meet the standards set by the ACU. Tarquinio Provini won the race on the MV Agusta, but it was a landmark day for Honda. Naomi Taniguchi won a Silver Replica with a sixth place finish, and with Giichi Suzuki seventh, Teisuke Tanaka eighth and Junzo Suzuki in 10th, the team won the Constructor’s Prize.