The Honda RC162 is a air cooled DOHC inline 4 racing motorcycle that was manufactured by Honda in 1961 to compete in the 250cc World Championship. The machine won all 10 of the GPs it participated in. Rider Mike Hailwood won the World Championship on a RC162 and Honda won the Constructors Championship.

History A new 250 was produced for the 1961 season, the RC162, which was developed from the previous year's RC161. The bikes had new cycle parts and the engine was developed to produce at 14,000 rpm.

Honda had opened a new European Racing Headquarters in Hanover, Germany. They had 6 works racers for the 1961 season: Kunimitsu Takahashi, Sadao Shimazaki, Naomi Taniguchi, , Jim Redman and Tom Phillis. They also lent 'works' bikes to selected dealers. Stan Hailwood of the Kings of Oxford chain of dealerships received one to be used by his son Mike. Another went to English dealer Bill Smith for John Hartle's use. Irish importer former racer Reg Armstrong received a bike for Bob McIntyre to use. Armstrong was also appointed as an adviser to the team.

Kitano won the 250 class in the inaugural non-championship US GP at the Daytona International Speedway in February.

At the championship season opener, the Spanish GP, the engines for the new bikes were not ready and the bikes were fitted with last year's engines. The Hondas were no match for Gary Hocking's MV. Hocking won the race with Phillis second.

In the next race at the fast Hockenheimring in Germany, and with the updated engines fitted, Takahashi won the race with Redman second. Takahashi became the first Japanese rider to win a Grand Prix. The dry sump lubrication system with the oil tank under the seat caused overheating problems and some bikes ran without a front mudguard and others without the belly pan to overcome this.

At the Isle of Man TT Kitano was replaced by Teisuke Tanaka. In the race McIntyre led and set a new lap record of .. On the final circuit his bike seized handing the victory to Hailwood. Honda took the top five places in both the 125cc and 250cc races which won them the Manufacturers’ Team Award.

McIntyre won the Ulster Grand Prix setting new race and lap records. At the following race at Monza McIntyre fell and broke his collarbone.

Soichiro Honda attended the penultimate race of the season in Sweden. Going into the race Hailwood led the championship by six points from Redman. In the race Hailwood initially led but was passed by Redman. Pushing hard Redman slid off. Although he recovered to finish 4th, Hailwood won the race and the championship.

None of the privateers attended the final race of the season in Argentina. Honda lent local racer Benedicto 'Chiche' Caldarella the bike usually used by McIntyre for the race. As McIntyre was tall the bike had been modified with a longer swinging arm to suit his stature. The longer swinging arm caused instabilities in the bike to be during the race. Caldarella pulled into the pits to have the bike checked but was directed into parc fermé by mistake. Having entered parc fermé he could not rejoin the race.

The bike used by Hailwood is on display at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, England.

In 1962 the UK concessionaire Honda UK lent Derek Minter an RC162 for the Isle of Man TT. Minter was reminded before the race that Redman was leading the championship on the works RC163, with the implication that he should not beat Redman in the race. Ignoring this Minter won the race which displeased Honda and affected the chance of a future factory ride.

Technical details Engine The engine was a development of the previous year's RC160. The cylinders of the 249cc inline 4 were less forward inclined than previous engines at 30° and cast in alloy with steel liners. Spur gears between the centre cylinders drove the twin overhead camshafts. 4 valves per cylinder were fitted. Bore and stroke remained at and each cylinder had its own round slide Keihin carburettor. The engine had dry sump lubrication and was narrower than its predecessor.

A new ignition system was fitted using a single coil for each two cylinders which fired on both compression and exhaust strokes.

A Multi-plate dry clutch took power to a 6 speed gearbox. Final drive was by chain.

Cycle parts A completely new frame was used on the RC162, changing from a spine frame to an open double loop with the engine used as a stressed member. Made of chrome-molybdenum steel, various different tube sizes were used, the biggest being around the steering head.

Front forks were now Ceriani-type with internal springs. Rear suspension was a swinging arm with twin shock absorberss.

The drum brakes were larger those fitted to the RC161, the front being double sided. 18 inch wheels were used.

A new three piece fairing was fitted that had a belly pan that enclosed the underside of the engine.

Racing results Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race. Only the best of six races were counted..

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th  Points 8 6 4 3 2 1

Year Rider 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Points Rank Wins Mike Hailwood ESP GER FRA IOM NED BEL DDR ULS NAT SWE ARG 44 1st 4 Tom Phillis ESP2 GERNC FRA1 IOM2 NEDNC BEL2 DDR4 ULS4 NAT3 SWE6 ARG1 38 2nd 2 Jim Redman ESP4 GER2 FRA6 IOM3 NED3 BEL1 DDR2 ULS3 NAT1 SWE4 ARG3 36 3rd 2 Kunimitsu Takahashi ESP GER FRA IOM NED BEL DDR ULS NAT SWE ARG 29 4th 1 Bob McIntyre ESP GER FRA IOMNC NED2 BELNC DDR8 ULS1 NATNC SWE ARG 14 5th 1 Luigi Taveri ESP GER FRA IOM NED BEL DDR ULS NAT SWE2 ARG 6 10th 0 Sadao Shimazaki ESP GER FRA IOM NED BEL4 DDR ULS NAT SWE ARG 3 13th = 0 Naomi Taniguchi ESP GER FRA IOM5 NED BEL DDR ULS NAT SWE ARG 2 16th 0 Teisuke Tanaka ESP GER FRA IOM NED BEL DDR ULS NAT7 SWE ARG 0 NC 0 Jan Huberts ESP GER FRA IOM NEDRet BEL DDR ULS NAT SWE ARG 0 NC 0 John Hartle ESP GER FRA IOM NED BELNC DDR ULSNC NATNC SWE ARG 0 NC 0 Benedicto Caldarella ESP GER FRA IOM NED BEL DDR ULS NAT SWE ARGRet 0 NC 0 Derek Minter ESP FRA IOM NED BEL GER ULS DDR NAT FIN ARG Sources: Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

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