Honda Dream 250 and 300

The 250 cc Honda C71 and C72 Dream, and the identical C76 and C77 bikes with 305 cc displacement, were the first larger-capacity motorcycles that Honda mass-exported. They were characterised by a pressed steel frame and an alloy overhead cam twin-cylinder engine, and were very well equipped, with 12 volt electrics, an electric starter, indicators, dual seats and other advanced features not common on motorcycles of the period. They began as the Honda C70 Dream, and Soichiro Honda had dubbed many of his earlier bikes Dream after his dream of building complete motorcycles. The C70 was a 250 cc pressed-frame machine released in 1956, and the C75 was its 305 cc version, with a square headlight, shock absorbers and leading-link forks, whose frame and engine design was heavily influenced by bikes from NSU Motorenwerke.