TINY GIANT

Only 250cc, but ten straight race victories thanks to six cylinders, six carburettors and six exhaust pipes! This is the rival-slaying Honda RC166

-  Simon de Burton

Motorcycle-loving Octane readers who grew up in the UK during the 1970s and early '80s might remember those heady days when any 17-year-old could legally jump aboard a 250cc motorcycle and blast off into the sunset with L-plates blowing in the breeze - despite the fact that many 250cc Japanese two-strokes were capable of touching the magic ton.

The Government put an end to that in 1983 by restricting learner riders to bikes of no more than 125cc, but some who cut their teeth on those 100mph rice rockets might avow that their Yamaha RD250, Suzuki GT250 or Kawasaki KH250 (and so on) was the best quarter-litre motorcycle ever made.