CN
III ARCHIVES
P106
BY JIM SCAYSBROOK
G
iven that Honda and Ya-
maha's earliest attempts at
racing machinery were designed
to be used on the rugged dirt-
surfaced courses in Japan like
Asama Mountain, they were off-
roaders as much as road racers—
street scramblers if you like, and
often shod with knobby tires.
It was not until the early '60s
that the designs became slightly
more refined (coincidentally
with the increased popularity of
motocross in Japan as a result
of Australian Tim Gibbes' Racing
Schools conducted there from
1963). But back in 1957, what
Honda offered the budding racer
was what the factory termed
the RC70F; a 250cc twin using
the C70 (and later C71) engine,
which had the "rotary" gearbox
favored by several of the Japa-
nese manufacturers. This had
first gear at the bottom of the
shift pattern, followed by neutral,
followed (if the rider kept press-
ing downwards) top gear and so
on.
The RC70 was offered for sale
in Japan as early as 1958, and
one school of thought has it that
the overall look was influenced
by the German Adler Cross
Scrambler. The two certainly
The German Adler Cross
scrambler may or may not have
provided the inspiration for the
Honda RC70—it depends who you
ask. This particular restoration
belongs to Dutch spare parts
company, CMS.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CMS
HONDA RC70:
A RARE RACER
