Racing. Since for ever people wanted to know which is faster let it be on a horse a car or in this case a motorcycle, we always had a need to go faster than the guy next to us. The year is 1962 and a new grand prix series for 50cc motorcycles is being launched. Honda just like other Japanese manufactures joined in. The difference between Honda and the others is that instead of choosing a 2-stroke engine they stick with the faithful 4-stroke engine. Even though it ended up behind its 2-stroke rivals, their set up of using a DOHC valvetrain on a 50cc resulted in a revving crazy machine that was capable of 10 horsepower at 14.400 rpm! And don’t forget the drive train. After lacking in acceleration, they increased the number of gears. At the begging of the season they started with a 5 speed then to a 6 speed then switched to an 8 speed and by the end of the season they managed to put a 9-speed gearbox! Can you imagine that?
This was the 1962 RC110 model, after it other variations followed with fairings and even a two cylinder 50cc. The model that we feature today is an AC15 or Dream 50 .It is a tribute to the original racing machine produced in a two year run by Honda between 1997 and 1998.
In my opinion Honda did a really good job in keeping the racer spirit in this tribute alive. By not adding anything more than what it needed to be road legal. Except than the front and rear disc brakes which is a reasonable update over the drum brakes. The engine even though it features the same iconic design as the original it’s a bit stepped down (for the sake of reliability) producing 5.6 HP at 10.400 rpm, But its still capable of revving to the moon which is fine by me.
Lastly, something worth noticing, is that even this motorcycle has a significant value, the owner has my respect for not keeping it as a show piece but driving it as it should, and even joining in our events and road trips!
Words by: Odysseas Sophocleous
Owner: Marios Michael
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