Shinichi Miyakoshi - Spanning engineering generations

Shinichi Myakoshi, lead designer of the iconic Honda Six power unit, will surely go down as one of the most talented motorcycle engineers of all time. Although Japanese culture, with its traits of ...

Terry Murayama - the Japanese connection

Tokyo classic motorcycle collector Terry Murayama was key to the Honda Six replica project for he loaned long-time friend George Beale the ex-Mike Hailwood RC174, unbeatable in the final year of Ho...

A journey of engineering obstacles

After receiving permission to recreate the Honda Six from the Japanese manufacturers, renowned classic restoration expert George Beale was soon to discover that this had been the easy bit! For as ...

So good they built it twice!

George Beale is a self-taught, consummate classic motorcycle restorer and achieved a worldwide reputation for his work on AJS7Rs. As he developed his restoration career, he perfected a dynamic net...

How chasing the dream almost bankrupt Honda

One of the main reasons Gerald Davison joined Honda from a highly promising job at American company Chrysler in 1968 was its glorious racing heritage. He was seduced by the engineering budgets res...

Hailwood returns to deliver the founder’s dream

Invincible in his final world championship campaign Hailwood again heads for victory on the Isle of Man aboard the RC166 Honda Six. Despite investing the biggest in-period budget in the Honda grand...

Stuart Graham - the perfect cameo on the Six

Minutes before his Honda debut at the Sachsenring in 1966, Stuart Graham looks cheerful despite the task ahead. Stuart Graham’s Honda grand prix career lasted only six months when he was drafted in...

Jim Redman - the Honda Six trailblazer

Jim Redman and Mike Hailwood study the time sheets in the pit lane with Michihiko Aika. Jim Redman will go down in history as the rider who introduced the sensational Honda Six to the world when he...

Evolution - nine years from novices to champions

1959 Isle of Man team member Naomi Taniguchi entering Parliament Square on his way to sixth place in the 125ccTT on his twin cylinder RC142. Honda’s racing evolution lasted just nine years from its...

“We are going racing!”

The 1959 Isle of Man TT Honda racing team before its world championship debut which was to become such an important chapter in the company’s history. Soichiro Honda’s vision for engineering excelle...

Soichiro Honda - the maverick genius

Company founder and engineering visionary, Soichiro Honda, in a picture which epitomises his passion for racing. His obsession embraced improvisation, it conquered failure as he learnt hard lessons...

An Historic Day at Monza

An historic moment as Jim Redman guides the Honda Six between the carabinieri and his pitlane audience at Monza in September 1964. With two events remaining in the race for that year’s world champi...