Author Topic: Honda 305 Dream  (Read 5735 times)

Offline Aaron D.

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Honda 305 Dream
« on: October 08, 2016, 09:50:23 AM »




$3500.00, local to me if anyone is interested.

Offline webmost

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2016, 10:58:34 AM »
Drum brakes. That's what I need. I need me some of them tasty drum brakes.
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Offline Sasquatch Jim

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2016, 11:41:44 AM »
 If I remember they cost about 550 dollars new at the Brown home and auto hardware store where I lived.
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Offline Lannis

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2016, 11:43:47 AM »
Drum brakes. That's what I need. I need me some of them tasty drum brakes.

I've got more drum-braked bikes than I do disk-braked bikes.

As long as you're not carrying a heavy load through the mountains, they do just fine.   However, feeling that lever come farther back toward the grip on every switchback turn coming down a mountain two-up ... no.

But for a pleasant vintage ride through the countryside, drums do very well ....

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2016, 11:43:47 AM »

Offline Aaron D.

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2016, 11:57:59 AM »
The only street bike that came with a disc in 1965 or '66 was the MV 600. Me, I think a drum on a Dream is just fine.
How many times has the difference between disc and drum saved you?

Offline Aaron D.

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2016, 11:58:53 AM »
If I remember they cost about 550 dollars new at the Brown home and auto hardware store where I lived.

That was when $35.00 bought an ounce of gold..

Offline Lannis

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2016, 12:02:09 PM »
The only street bike that came with a disc in 1965 or '66 was the MV 600. 

And that was a "mechanical" disc brake, where a cable operating on pucks via a little "ramp" squeezed the disc, well sort of ....

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Offline Sasquatch Jim

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #7 on: October 08, 2016, 12:06:03 PM »
  I believe that was 34 dollars an ounce.  Were you the one who started the inflation of the price of gold?
Just think, 16 troy ounces of gold could buy you a Honda Dream brand new.
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Offline Aaron D.

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #8 on: October 08, 2016, 12:11:06 PM »
And that was a "mechanical" disc brake, where a cable operating on pucks via a little "ramp" squeezed the disc, well sort of ....

Lannis

Like the well known sports bike, the CB200. I've been on both, the Honda stopped better!

Offline Lannis

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2016, 12:12:07 PM »
  I believe that was 34 dollars an ounce.  Were you the one who started the inflation of the price of gold?
Just think, 16 troy ounces of gold could buy you a Honda Dream brand new.

Now it'll buy you a fully equipped Honda Gold Wing brand new!

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Offline Triple Jim

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2016, 12:29:51 PM »
Quote from: Sasquatch Jim on Today at 12:41:44 PM
   
Quote
If I remember they cost about 550 dollars new at the Brown home and auto hardware store where I lived.

That was when $35.00 bought an ounce of gold..

Right, $550 1960 dollars is about $4,500 today, so it's come down a little.  The number of dollars something cost back then is just about a meaningless number today.

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #11 on: October 08, 2016, 01:43:12 PM »
The only street bike that came with a disc in 1965 or '66 was the MV 600. Me, I think a drum on a Dream is just fine.
How many times has the difference between disc and drum saved you?
It only takes one time.

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2016, 01:47:03 PM »
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Offline Gliderjohn

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #13 on: October 08, 2016, 09:08:01 PM »
A close cousin bought a new Dream in high school. He road the crap out of that bike and after graduation he knew he was going to be drafted soon so he rode that Dream double up from Kansas through Canada and back, stored it in our barn (His father and my father farmed together) and ended up in Vietnam. When he returned it was was in fairly sorry shape but he more than got his money worth out of it.
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Offline Sasquatch Jim

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #14 on: October 08, 2016, 11:11:53 PM »
  That dream engine was Hondas' copy of an NSU engine from back when NSU was the largest motorcycle manufacturer on the planet. And one of the best.  That engine in 500ccs and supercharged was the first motorcycle ever to exceed 200 MPH.
 It turned 211MPH at bonneville.  In 250cc with no supercharger it was a great racing engine in Europe.
 In the Dream CA 77 it had a teeny tiny 22mm carb and so power was modest but gas milage was great.  The same engine with two larger carbs was the 305 scrambler CL 77, and with a bigger pair of carbs and a 180 degree crankshaft it was the 305 hawk  CB 77, which by mid sixties standards was a pretty good performer.  On the road it could stay with most of the big dogs when ridden properly.  These were the bikes that  Put Honda in high favor with American buyers.
 In 68 the screwed the pooch with a CB350 that had a lot f teething problems and suffered great loss of face in the American market.  By the following year they had the bugs picked out of it and the duel overhead cam 450 was a rousing success, especially after it got five gears and lost the hump.  The 450 was another NSU copy, being closely related to the NSU grand prix racer.  If only Honda had a frame that handled well it could have gone on to some real fame.
« Last Edit: October 08, 2016, 11:14:20 PM by Sasquatch Jim »
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Offline Aaron D.

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #15 on: October 09, 2016, 07:14:41 AM »
Yeah, whatever happened to Honda?

Anyway I had a girlfriend who rode one of these. Decent machine but by the mid 70's it was a little uncool. At least she thought so.
She traded it on a Kawasaki 440. I was shocked.

Offline Sheepdog

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #16 on: October 09, 2016, 01:06:21 PM »
When I was in high school, the kid next door had one with open megaphones...dang, that thing was LOUD!
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Offline jas67

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #17 on: October 09, 2016, 01:22:11 PM »
....The same engine with two larger carbs was the 305 scrambler CL 77, and with a bigger pair of carbs and a 180 degree crankshaft it was the 305 hawk  CB 77, which by mid sixties standards was a pretty good performer.  On the road it could stay with most of the big dogs when ridden properly.  These were the bikes that  Put Honda in high favor with American buyers.

The CB77 is way better looking than the Dream too.
IMG_9823 by jay_snyder67, on Flickr
IMG_9824 by jay_snyder67, on Flickr
IMG_9822 by jay_snyder67, on Flickr

Oh, and some minor corrections, the 250cc CB72 was the "Hawk", and the 305cc CB77, the "Super Hawk".    Other than the displacement difference, they were identical bikes.

The Scrambler version started as the 250cc CL72 in 1961 (or 1962, can't remember), and the 305cc CL77 Scrambler came along in 1965.
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Offline Muzz

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #18 on: October 09, 2016, 02:55:43 PM »
Your "Super Hawk" out here was simply called the 300 Sport. The Dream was still called the 305 Dream. Was never able to find out whether the Sport was a 300 or 305 :huh:

Rode a Dream once. Was way heavier in the steering than the Matchy but had way more snot.

Edit. It was Dream that the guy shot off a million foot drop and landed in the fork of a tree with his mate on the back. :shocked: Ever had to get a 10,000lb Dream and two stunned guys out of a tree jutting out from the bank with nothing underneath you? Glad it was night..........
« Last Edit: October 09, 2016, 03:01:04 PM by Muzz »
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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #19 on: October 09, 2016, 04:36:13 PM »
  That dream engine was Hondas' copy of an NSU engine from back when NSU was the largest motorcycle manufacturer on the planet. And one of the best.  That engine in 500ccs and supercharged was the first motorcycle ever to exceed 200 MPH.

I see no real similarities between the NSU and the Honda, the least being the NSU has gear driven cam towers.

Offline ohiorider

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #20 on: October 09, 2016, 05:10:37 PM »
My local BSA shop began handling Honda in the 1962-1963 timeframe. 

The difference that was immediately noticeable was the fact that the new BSA bikes always had a cookie sheet under the engine to catch the dripping engine and transmission lube.  The Hondas had no baking sheets under their engines.

Still, I loved my 1963 Spitfire Scrambler with A10 engine and four speed (Burman?) tranny.  Rode her round trip from Charleston WV to Port Isabel TX in 1966.  Still have fond memories of that ride.  Looking back, the bad times were really the good times on that trip!

My gosh, this is the 50th  anniversary of that ride. Where has the time gone?

Bob
« Last Edit: October 09, 2016, 05:12:27 PM by ohiorider »
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Online Antietam Classic Cycle

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #21 on: October 09, 2016, 05:19:08 PM »
This was the Honda that "copied" the NSU:





More:
http://www.thebenlyshop.com/currentprojects.htm

Soichiro Honda traveled to Europe in 1954 to visit a number of motorcycle factories in the UK, Italy and Germany. He then returned to Japan and produced a series of new designs. The Honda Cub, Benly and Dream models were not copies, but exhibited strong NSU influence in their detail design. This suggests that Mr Honda was very impressed with NSU technology, and confirms the importance of NSU in the evolution of the two-wheel industry that we know today. During his 1954 tour, Mr Honda witnessed Werner Haas's impressive Victory in the TT aboard the R22-54 Rennmax, and it was this machine above all that he built his dreams on. He even named his bike the dream when it entered production.
« Last Edit: October 09, 2016, 05:26:21 PM by Antietam Classic Cycle »
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Offline m13

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #22 on: October 09, 2016, 05:42:29 PM »
I bought one a few years ago for my wife. I remember when the "big bikes" were the Scramblers and Super Hawks and thought this would be a great first bike for her. She was too timid so it has been in the shed ever since then (2009). If anyone wants to buy a piece of nostalgia?, she is for sale,$800. been sitting since 2009, so now? will need resuscitation.
here is how she looked when I put her away

https://youtu.be/TBEDkSmn7BU
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Offline twodogs

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #23 on: October 09, 2016, 06:05:48 PM »
If you are coming to Ia. m13 I would take it  :boozing:
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Offline m13

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #24 on: October 09, 2016, 06:08:48 PM »
twodogs, I am not heading that way, but next time you are in Maryland come on down! :laugh:
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Offline twodogs

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #25 on: October 09, 2016, 06:33:37 PM »
Would like that,  :bike-037: anybody out there coming this way bring that 305 with you  :boozing:
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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #26 on: October 09, 2016, 08:21:08 PM »
This was the Honda that "copied" the NSU:





More:
http://www.thebenlyshop.com/currentprojects.htm

Soichiro Honda traveled to Europe in 1954 to visit a number of motorcycle factories in the UK, Italy and Germany. He then returned to Japan and produced a series of new designs. The Honda Cub, Benly and Dream models were not copies, but exhibited strong NSU influence in their detail design. This suggests that Mr Honda was very impressed with NSU technology, and confirms the importance of NSU in the evolution of the two-wheel industry that we know today. During his 1954 tour, Mr Honda witnessed Werner Haas's impressive Victory in the TT aboard the R22-54 Rennmax, and it was this machine above all that he built his dreams on. He even named his bike the dream when it entered production.

That`s definitely a copy. The 305 engine definitely is not.

Offline jas67

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #27 on: October 09, 2016, 10:10:28 PM »
PM sent.
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Offline Lannis

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #28 on: October 10, 2016, 09:30:11 AM »
A close cousin bought a new Dream in high school. He road the crap out of that bike and after graduation he knew he was going to be drafted soon so he rode that Dream double up from Kansas through Canada and back, stored it in our barn (His father and my father farmed together) and ended up in Vietnam. When he returned it was was in fairly sorry shape but he more than got his money worth out of it.
GliderJohn

Been 5 years since I told my Honda 305 story, so maybe it'll go round again ....

One of the neatest bikes I've ever seen was a 305 Superhawk.   I was staying at a B&B at MidOhio VMDs a couple years ago, and a guy rode in from Baltimore MD riding one of these.   He was a professional photographer, and was wearing really nice custom touring leathers, top-line boots, gloves, etc.

The Honda was beautiful.   All black and chrome.  Everything on it was perfect.   It had little subtle upgrades that didn't take anything away from its Honda-ness or its vintage-ness.  Lots of the functional-but-cheap-looking stamped-steel Honda bits had been replaced with CNC-machined parts.

The guy said that it was his only bike, and would be the only bike he'd own.   I happened to ask (in my nosy way) what he had in it.  He estimated that he'd spent $30,000 (all paid to others - he wasn't a mechanic) fixing it up like he wanted, trying things and changing them, and getting it exactly the way he needed, including slight mods to the bars, footpegs, lighting, and seat to fit his medium-sized self exactly.   A Honda racing mechanic had built and rebuilt the motor several times to get the torque curve and high-speed running just right, the electrics were all new, etc.    He said it would hold 70 MPH all day long on the interstate if he needed to (which he had just done from Baltimore), although he generally took the old roads for fun.

I must have expressed an unspoken degree of amazement at the amount he had in it ... but he set me straight, because he opined that he knew a LOT of people that wouldn't hesitate to throw $30,000 on some cookie-cutter Kalifornia Kustom (he said that with the "k"s in it) or on a new Dodge, but he had spent it on a bike that was precisely what he wanted and made him very happy.

On Sunday he took off for home in a driving rainstorm .... Anyway, that was my CB-77 memory.   I've not forgotten the guy's philosophy when I start moaning about how much I'm spending on a bike ...

Lannis
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Offline Kiwi_Roy

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Re: Honda 305 Dream
« Reply #29 on: October 10, 2016, 10:08:18 AM »
  That dream engine was Hondas' copy of an NSU engine from back when NSU was the largest motorcycle manufacturer on the planet. And one of the best.

I never knew that, my older Brother had an NSU Supermax and he passed it on to my younger Brother, I don't think that bike ever leaked a drop of oil. It had an unusual
overhead cam drive, 2 cranks like a steam engine.
I remember the first Honda Dreams has pink tupperware, they wern't taken seriously by the guys riding Brit bikes.
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