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RCH motors - any knowledge there on company and motors?
Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2022 9:38 am
by V12
The RCH company is not really known to me, other than they have been based in California and made option parts for 1/10 scale offroad cars.
Now I saw a motor somewhere which was named as RCH as well.
This motor was based on the old Igarashi can, so it is quite old. I would say maybe around early 1980's.
Someone have any knowledge on these RCH motors and who made them?
Re: RCH motors - any knowledge there on company and motors?
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2022 6:57 am
by V12
RCH, does this maybe mean R/C Hobbies. I found ads with that shop name but not showing pics of such motors
Re: RCH motors - any knowledge there on company and motors?
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2022 5:08 pm
by 1911Colt
I saw an "RC HobbyLand" based down under. Could be them.
Re: RCH motors - any knowledge there on company and motors?
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 11:47 pm
by 1300GT
RCH was founded some time in the very early eighties and was famous for their aftermarket parts. RCH stands for Radio Control Hobbies. From my understanding there was a track and hobby shop first, then the aftermarket parts company came after. Tom Gunderson who is a member here and ran his Vintage Dirtburners website for over ten years was in contact with the son of one of the owners of RCH. The fellow in question was going to write about the history of RCH from beginning to end. Unfortunately, nothing has come of this. Which is a shame as I have a motor marketed by them. I was hoping to find out more about it because as far as I knew they never offered any.
Here's some pictures of my motor and the RCH logo. The early logo is on the left with the motor.
I bought this motor quite a few years ago mainly because I'd never seen another. Who knows how many they produced or who assembled them. I reckon it would have been released around 1981 going by the instructions. They reference the early Tamiya SRB gearcase with the rectangular post. There's no mention of using it in Kyosho Scorpions which never got to the US until 1982. The M3 mounting holes have been drilled out removing the threads so It's impossible to mount this in anything but a sealed gearcase. As you can see it has bearings, a flat ground on the end of the shaft for the pinion's grubscrew and the endbell is taped on. The yellow tape also looks exactly like the tape that Mike Reedy used on his own Reedy Modifieds. I wish I could tell you more but that's as far as my knowledge goes.
Re: RCH motors - any knowledge there on company and motors?
Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2022 12:16 am
by RC10th
Wow, very impressive Chris !!
Re: RCH motors - any knowledge there on company and motors?
Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 7:35 am
by V12
Thank you Chris. This is useful informations, even when some msteries maybe never will be come to daylight.
But is means this motor could be used just at certain cars.
Re: RCH motors - any knowledge there on company and motors?
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:54 pm
by RCHJR
RCH repackaged some motors that were basically the factory Tamiya motors. It came about from a massive shipping accident over seas. Later on we became involved with Big Jim at Checkpoint but we never built or produced motors directly….if I recall these were down with the help of Big Jim. He was also my last sponsor in the last days of my racing in 1989-1990 when I was running RC10s and Landgraff cars around the Orange County tracks.
V12 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 9:38 am
The RCH company is not really known to me, other than they have been based in California and made option parts for 1/10 scale offroad cars.
Now I saw a motor somewhere which was named as RCH as well.
This motor was based on the old Igarashi can, so it is quite old. I would say maybe around early 1980's.
Someone have any knowledge on these RCH motors and who made them?
Re: RCH motors - any knowledge there on company and motors?
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:54 pm
by RCHJR
RCH repackaged some motors that were basically the factory Tamiya motors. It came about from a massive shipping accident over seas. Later on we became involved with Big Jim at Checkpoint but we never built or produced motors directly.
V12 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 9:38 am
The RCH company is not really known to me, other than they have been based in California and made option parts for 1/10 scale offroad cars.
Now I saw a motor somewhere which was named as RCH as well.
This motor was based on the old Igarashi can, so it is quite old. I would say maybe around early 1980's.
Someone have any knowledge on these RCH motors and who made them?
Re: RCH motors - any knowledge there on company and motors?
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:18 pm
by RCHJR
RCH stood for Radio Controlled Hobbies. Was founded by my dad after closing his Speed Shop at the end of his drag racing career. We started in 1/12 scale electric on road and moved to 1/10th scale off road and opened tracks down the street from the shop. Started manufacturing parts and it grew from there. Sold product all around the world. Later on the shop was sold to a “partner” named Ron Williams. RCH as a mfg lasted until about 1988-1989 and was also sold out to “partners” who ran the business into the ground and never grew it. I raced until the early 90s with Checkpoint motors as my sponsor. I have been approached about repopping the old parts and writing a story about those days….just haven’t had time.
V12 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 6:57 am
RCH, does this maybe mean R/C Hobbies. I found ads with that shop name but not showing pics of such motors
Re: RCH motors - any knowledge there on company and motors?
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:23 pm
by RCHJR
I am the son you are referring to. There were no partners in the MFG side, my dad eventually took on a partner on the shop side, and he eventually bought out the shop and moved it. There were both off road and on road tracks about 100 yards from the shop. Also became a distributor so to be control the flow of product around the world. I wanted to write a story but life has been hectic. My dad passed in 2016 and I have considered remaking some items for the old school groups…not sure I’ll have get to it though.
1300GT wrote: ↑Fri Nov 04, 2022 11:47 pm
RCH was founded some time in the very early eighties and was famous for their aftermarket parts. RCH stands for Radio Control Hobbies. From my understanding there was a track and hobby shop first, then the aftermarket parts company came after. Tom Gunderson who is a member here and ran his Vintage Dirtburners website for over ten years was in contact with the son of one of the owners of RCH. The fellow in question was going to write about the history of RCH from beginning to end. Unfortunately, nothing has come of this. Which is a shame as I have a motor marketed by them. I was hoping to find out more about it because as far as I knew they never offered any.
Here's some pictures of my motor and the RCH logo. The early logo is on the left with the motor.RCH1.jpgRCH2.jpgRCH3.jpgRCH4.jpgRCH5.jpgRCH6.jpg
I bought this motor quite a few years ago mainly because I'd never seen another. Who knows how many they produced or who assembled them. I reckon it would have been released around 1981 going by the instructions. They reference the early Tamiya SRB gearcase with the rectangular post. There's no mention of using it in Kyosho Scorpions which never got to the US until 1982. The M3 mounting holes have been drilled out removing the threads so It's impossible to mount this in anything but a sealed gearcase. As you can see it has bearings, a flat ground on the end of the shaft for the pinion's grubscrew and the endbell is taped on. The yellow tape also looks exactly like the tape that Mike Reedy used on his own Reedy Modifieds. I wish I could tell you more but that's as far as my knowledge goes.
Re: RCH motors - any knowledge there on company and motors?
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2023 7:46 pm
by 1300GT
Thanks for the reply, background information and the great parts. I think a fair few people would be willing to buy RCH hot ups if they were remade.
It's a shame that you can't remember anything about the motor. I was hoping to discover more about it. Thanks again.
Re: RCH motors - any knowledge there on company and motors?
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2023 10:31 pm
by RCHJR
Well, the fact that the labels were still the black and white label makes me think this was something else my dad did, but I never ran one of those. Those were early offerings but didn't last long. Now that I look at the back of the labels, it explains more. Notice there are two different addresses? Same building, but the 653 address was when he first started and these could have been a cross over from the asphalt racing days.
1300GT wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 7:46 pm
Thanks for the reply, background information and the great parts. I think a fair few people would be willing to buy RCH hot ups if they were remade.
It's a shame that you can't remember anything about the motor. I was hoping to discover more about it. Thanks again.
Re: RCH motors - any knowledge there on company and motors?
Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2023 4:18 am
by 1300GT
RCHJR wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 10:31 pm
Well, the fact that the labels were still the black and white label makes me think this was something else my dad did, but I never ran one of those. Those were early offerings but didn't last long. Now that I look at the back of the labels, it explains more. Notice there are two different addresses? Same building, but the 653 address was when he first started and these could have been a cross over from the asphalt racing days.
Great information! I did notice the different addresses, but didn't know about your earlier involvement in 1/12th racing. That explains a bit more about the motor as modified Igarashi motors were the way to go and if he had some leftover, they would have been put to good use in a buggy.