Oh Those Dreams: 1960 Honda Dream

So began Cycle magazine’s Road Test No. 99 featuring a new Honda motorcycle that the report described as “one of the first Honda Dream 300cc OHC to be imported to the States.” In a subsequent issue, the editors acknowledged that the Dream 300 (Honda referred to the model as a 300, although actual engine displacement was 305cc, which in turn, was based on a 247cc twin) tested was “the very first Honda to land on the West Coast from its country of origin, Japan.”

No other model designation was given throughout that three-page magazine article, although the bike was probably an early C76, which, according to some sources today, represented the second year of the Dream C71/C76 (250cc/305cc engines respectively) models that first appeared in 1957. Those early Dreams featured dry sump engines with remote oil tanks. Their engines had the clutch assemblies affixed to the left end of the engine’s crankshaft, and a 6-volt electrical system fed an electric starter for fire-up. This was an engineering novelty for the time and a feature that continued, along with an auxiliary kick-start lever, throughout the Dream’s production cycle into 1967.

Fact is, inconsistency often becomes an irritating commonality among Honda aficionados when deciphering specific model designations for those first Dream models. For instance, while researching material for the Dream featured here, and according to its owner Mike Freitas, the bike’s VIN and engine number stamping (prefix of C77, coupled with an “A” in the bike’s specific number sequence) suggest it to be a 1960 model. At that point the records tend to get cloudy, even contradictory, as records indicate that American Honda had Dream bikes in its American inventory listed as C77 (but with no A in the number sequence) for 1961.

Discombobulated might be another descriptive for the Dream model lineup’s lineage because, depending on what source you tap, model descriptions can overlap or contradict each other, based on a bike’s year of manufacture, VIN and engine number and so on. For instance, one source dates the first dry-sump variant as non-electric start, while another says electric starters were on all Dream models throughout their history (which is more likely). There’s also overlap about when the A was added to the model designation (that is, from C77 to become CA77). In any case, the A indicates the Dream as a U.S. or American model (while domestic Dreams retained the single C designation, and so on). Given that, Mike’s C77 preceded the CA77 designation that came by (according to some sources) mid-1960, or 1961. In fact, this bike’s VIN began with C77-A1xxxx (the A signifying it as an American model). It’s generally accepted that the 1961 bikes were marked CA77-1xxxx (plus the small batch of C77-xxxx).

Another source citing American Honda documentation shows that CA77 models were “released” (made available) to U.S. dealers on 08/01/1960, and were sold from 1961 through 1963. Those models purportedly had chromed tubular-steel handlebars, and shared the same “roundish” gas tank design with chrome side panels, but with rubber knee grips as found on subsequent Dream models. The waters continue to remain murky until about 1963 when the CA77 Dream (along with the CA72 Dream 250), by now favoring styling that most enthusiasts today are familiar with, composed the lineup. Production for all Dream models ended in 1967 (although dealers continued to clear their Dream inventories into 1968 and ’69, reportedly selling some bikes as … 1968 and ’69 model years!). You get the picture.

Regardless of the nightmare that this confusion caused, all Dreams were based on a stamped-steel frame that utilized the engine as a stressed member, eliminating the need for a front down tube. Styling beyond the squarish headlight included flared fenders, 16-inch wheels (often wrapped with whitewall tires), and adequate chrome trim and parts to catch the eye. Two down-swept mufflers helped give the bike a semi-contemporary appearance (stainless steel mufflers were used one year, and up-swept pipes were found on domestic and various International-market CS77 Dream Sport models that often featured a solo seat, luggage rack and pressed-steel handlebars among other noticeable differences).

The Honda Dream comes to America

Interestingly, too, Cycle’s 1958 Dream test report was written in future tense because throughout that year Honda Motor Company (Japan) was still in the process of setting up its U.S. distributorship for exporting to America. According to Cycle magazine, no other Hondas were known to be available in the country at the time of its December road test. Finally, and after adhering to the Japanese business practice known as sogo-shosha that melded international marketing, law, financing and export/import trade relations into a single factor, Honda Motor was in a position to establish its U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 1959. Total investment capital was $750,000.

At that point the Dream name game became a little less confusing, and sources say that the dry-sump engine design had been shelved, replaced by the new, and much better, wet-sump system that also freed space (gone was the remote oil tank) for the bike’s new large-capacity 12-volt battery to better spark an improved electric starter into duty.

More to the point, establishment of Honda headquarters in America meant that it was game on for the aspiring Asia-based company, backed by its U.S. satellite, to become the world’s dominant motorcycle company. Oddly, though, Honda’s big weapon for worldwide domination and U.S. conquest proved to be the venerable, and little, Super Cub C100, launched in 1958 and powered by a new, and rather competent, 50cc OHV engine. That model, Honda Motor Company’s two movers and shakers Mr. Soichiro Honda himself and his crafty business partner Mr. Takeo Fujisawa calculated, could — and would — sell more than 30,000 units every month, a phenomenal sales figure for the time.

Honda’s 1959 U.S. lineup also included the C92 Benly (later known as CB92), a spunky sport model powered by a perky 125cc twin-cylinder engine that touted the company’s racing ambitions, and that model was backed by the 250 and 300 Dreams. As noted, the original Dream engine relied on a dry sump with remote oil tank for lubrication. Its constant-mesh transmissions had a rotary-shift pattern (tap down for first through fourth gears, and down again to return to neutral), and the “big” twin-cylinder engine was fed by a single, and rather small, 22mm Keihin carburetor. The transmission for U.S.-bound Dreams featured the one-down/three-up return-shift pattern more familiar to American and European riders. It’s worth noting that the 305cc engine delivered a claimed 23 horsepower at 7,500rpm. CA77s were known to have their speedometer dials nervously quiver in the mid-to-upper 80mph range during top-speed runs, depending, of course, on prevailing conditions.

Life is but a Dream

Now might be a good time to talk about that Dream moniker. Through the years some enthusiasts have suggested that the big (by Japanese motorcycle standards) twin-cylinder bikes rode so well that it was like riding a dream. Perhaps. But according to Tetsuo Sakiya, author of Honda Motor: The Men, The Management, the Machines, the name came about quite by accident when, in August, 1949, Honda completed its first motorcycle, officially designated the Type D or Model D. Prior to that Honda Motor was known for making small clip-on engines sold to bicycle companies for their customers to attach onto their personal pedal bikes for power assist. As Sakiya wrote about that first true Honda to roll off the assembly line, “a celebration party was held in the office, with all the desks pushed into one corner [to make room for the bike]. President Honda and his twenty employees had reason to be satisfied as they drank home-brew sake and ate sardines and pickles. Someone said, ‘It’s like a dream!’ And Honda shouted, ‘That is It! Dream!'” The name stuck, and given Honda’s phenomenal growth through the years, the company has yet to fully awaken from its dream-like state.

Through the 1950s many subsequent models shared the Dream moniker, but by decade’s end only the press-steel-framed 250/300 models (soon joined by the CA95 Benly 150 that’s often misconstrued as the “Baby Dream”) carried the Dream designation into the 1960s. Since that time, and as Honda Motor Company grew, boasting a wide range of models, only certain and, generally speaking, special models have perpetuated the honor.

The original Dream line, with its twin-cylinder engines and complimented by smaller-displacement Benly models with 125cc and 150cc engines, soldiered on. But those bikes, sharing similar pressed-steel frames and bulbous fenders as on the Dreams — and all with squarish and clunky styling — never really caught on with American enthusiasts, as did their CB and CL stablemates that were to come in 1961 and ’62. However, enough Dreams were sold on an international level that Honda engineers and stylists continually updated and improved upon what they already offered. For instance, in 1961 the engine oil breather was relocated on the engine case, later to be moved again to the engine’s cylinder head. The Keihin carb changed from a round bowl to a square bowl in 1964, and the cam chain tensioner was relocated from the left to the engine’s right. Even the engine numbers were changed in 1963, extending the number to eight digits. There was more, and that continual updating (through 1967), as much as anything, also helped create the confusion concerning model specifications and part numbers, leading Honda Dream aficionados to eventually coin two phrases: “Early Dreams” and “Late Dreams,” the invisible line of demarcation helping owners (according to many Dream experts) distinguish between the model’s first run from 1960-’63, and subsequent models of 1963-’67.

Honda Dream collector

Honda collector Mike Freitas learned about that Dream-filled confusion when he acquired a rather pristine Black 1964 CA77 survivor in 2020. Showing a dream-like 3,500 miles on the odometer, only the bike’s two-up seat needed reupholstering. Otherwise the bike was all original, all there and certainly all right. He took delivery of the North Carolina bike in May of that year. A few months later another Dream 300 showed up on Cycle Trader. Mike checked it out, too.

That Dream turned out to be a rather rare 1960 C77, its paint a rich maroonish-red. This bike was an Early model, as evidenced by the VIN and engine serial number, each displaying an A within their sequence (engine showing: C77E-Axxxxx, frame VIN with no E). The odd-placed A signified the bike as being an early model destined for American Honda dealers back in 1960.

Mike points out that his maroon-red bike was one of, as he states, “an estimated 300 built in 1960 for the U.S. market.” As noted, by 1961 model year the C77 prefix was destined to become CA77, the CA indicating North America delivery.

Even though Mike’s maroon C77 appeared to have been aptly restored in 1995 by its previous owner, a few questions remained concerning some of its parts, prompting Mike to do additional detective work to sort out its history and authenticity. Further complicating matters, the owner who restored it had passed away about 12 years prior to his widow selling the bike to Mike, so he had nobody to confer regarding the bike’s various parts and components.

“The bike had been advertised for several weeks,” explained Mike, “but nobody bid on it so I made an offer, and she [the widow] accepted it.” The bike was shipped from Colorado to Mike’s home in Southern California, and thus began his second Dream adventure. “When it rolled off the delivery truck I realized I had made a really good buy,” added Mike. The Honda was in much the condition shown here. Mike shod it with fresh Firestone whitewall tires from Coker, and he began his quest to locate the correct (and rather tiny!) taillight that was proper for the 1960 model year. He also located a suitable headlight nacelle with its integrated Yazaki speedometer without a high beam indicator, plus perfect-condition NOS Honda tank badges found their way onto the chromed flanks. Result when finished: The bike scored a perfect 100 points at the Concours d’ Elegance in Huntington Beach, California, and, to date, has scooped three Best of Show trophies elsewhere.

But what really sets this 1960 model apart from Late-model Dreams is the paint. “The color Maroon on this bike is shared with the CE71 (250cc) model from 1959-’60,” says Mike. “There were four red colors that Honda ‘experimented’ with — Maroon, Tokyo Rose, Watermelon and Scarlet Red.” Mike also reveals that, to this day, American Honda won’t officially acknowledge any of those red-tone colors except the now-familiar Scarlet Red, but his research says otherwise, “and I’m sticking to my story!” he says. Regardless, the Maroon, when viewed in soft light, and coupled with the clean whitewall tires, gives his bike a rather seductive, even opulent, look. Coupled with the C77’s smooth-top gas tank (more about that later), you wonder why Honda didn’t sell more of these bikes during the Dream era. Parked side by side, Mike’s Dream 300s offer a revealing comparison of the Early and Late configurations, as shown in some of the accompanying photos.

Indeed, by mid-1963 Honda had elevated the Early Dream CA77 to what became Late Dream CA77 status. The transformation included a reconfigured gas tank with reshaped chromed side panels and matching rubber knee grips, and each rear fender had cast aluminum seal plates with “Honda” script to fill the gap where turn signals for Japanese domestic models otherwise could be found. Later new tank badges, their script changed from “Honda Dream 300” to read “Dream,” were added, and more changes were to come. Sadly, though, gone was the gas tank’s smoothly curved, even supple, top surface, replaced by an unsightly weld seam because Late Dream gas tanks were made using a two-piece process that required the scarring pass of an arc welder to seal them together. Both the Late 250 and 300 Dreams shared essentially the same updated styling features from that point on.

In fact, according to Bill Silver’s book, Classic Honda Motorcycles, “after 901 of the 1962 bikes were built, the styling was changed to the type seen on all later [Dream] bikes.” Silver’s book points out that many other detail changes were made throughout the Dream’s production run, with variations sold in other countries and Japan often featuring sheet-metal-type handlebars, rotary gearboxes and turn signals similar to those on the C100.

Even though Honda had “Americanized” the Dream, some things hadn’t changed — their performance, ride and handling. As Silver, (aka, Mr. Honda by his customers and readers) noted, “the 250-305 Dream engines are really quite smooth runners, especially in this chassis. Having high bars and reasonable seat height, they are quite comfortable around town too.”

However, the ride itself remained a little harsh. As Silver points out, the “leading link front suspension has two limp dampers in front that match the pair at the rear,” offering “about 2.5 inches of [suspension] travel.” Most Dream enthusiasts also harbor a love/hate relationship with the model’s styling, especially concerning the rear shock absorbers’ squared bell covers (matching the squared headlight). There’s also a trade-off with the engine’s single carb, necessary due to the peculiarities of the twin-cylinder engine’s 360-degree crank throws when coupled with a dual intake tract. Silver also agrees the carb’s 22mm venturi opening restricts “top-end power potential,” but the trade-off is “strong midrange power and … great gas mileage.”

Run to the border

But fuel mileage wasn’t a concern for three Dream riders back in 1960 who set out aboard a trio of Hondas to establish a 3-Flag Run record for small-displacement motorcycles. Their feat was celebrated in the July 1960 issue of Motorcyclist magazine. The Dream Team included a C76 Dream 300, a CE71 Dream Sport 250 sporting a gas tank similar to that on Honda’s CB92 Benly (125cc), and a new CA95 Benly 150. Riders included Jack McCormack (who had been instrumental in helping Honda establish its U.S. distributorship in L.A.), Roxy Rockwood (a Los Angeles PD motor patrol officer who also had established a name for himself as a motorcycle racing announcer) and another young LAPD motor cop, Doug Woodward, each piloting the 300, 250 and 150 respectively. The trio rolled across the Canadian border into Washington state at 2 a.m., May 11, 1960, heading for Mexico. As events unfolded, McCormack experienced a minor crash early on, forcing him and the wadded CA77 to drop out. After Roxy helped upright the battered Honda, their chase vehicle arrived, allowing him to resume his own chase for Woodward, who, while in the lead, was unaware of what had happened behind him. Eventually the 150 suffered its own problem, (later found it to be a fouled spark plug), forcing Woodward to wait for his teammates. Several hours later only Roxy on the 250 appeared. At that point Woodward, fresh from his unplanned rest stop, took the CE71 Dream 250 to the finish. He rolled into LA during the morning rush hour, which impeded his pace, but eventually he touched the Mexico border at precisely 10 a.m., setting a new 3-Flag Run record of 32 hours flat for lightweight motorcycles. The CE71 averaged 46mph, traveling 1,475 miles in the process. Some bigger bikes of that era could only dream of matching that pace …

In 1961 Honda introduced the CB77 Superhawk (305cc) to market, the following year joined by the CL72 Scrambler (250cc). And with that the motorcycle landscape in America, and around the world, changed forever. Meanwhile the Dream (both 250 and 300 iterations) was eventually put to bed, its usefulness surpassed by Honda’s two new models, plus countless others yet to come. MC

Originally published as “Oh, Those Sweet Dreams” in the May/June 2023 issue of Motorcycle Classics magazine.