In 1971 when I was 16-years-old, for some reason my Dad came home pulling a trailer with a 305 Superhawk and a 160 Baby Hawk; both from 1966. He bought them both from a friend who had bought them new. They were both red. My brother was 13, and he quickly began using the 160 as his personal transportation. It was perfect for him. I liked it too. The police, however, had an unreasonbly hostile response to my brother's early transportation independence. I have to say I loved these bikes. I was a little too heavy for the 160, but it was still an awesome little bike. The 305 was fantastic. As you pointed out, both bikes looked super good. The proportions were spot on. Loved the chrome tank sides. Dad sold the 305 in the late-80s. Don't remember why. I ended up owning the 160 and also had a Suzuki T500 Titan and a 68 Triumph Bonneville 650. Loved all these bikes. I sold them when I moved across country in the 90s, thinking I would buy a new bike there. I still remember those old Hondas though. I'm too old to ride now, but I still think about finding a nice 305 to put in our sun room just to look at. My wife is unreasonably hostile to this brilliant idea.
Boy, you have my full sympathy. Now I think you must know why I never married. I have a beautiful motorcycle in the center of my living room. I own more than one old Super Hawks and if you can change your wife’s mind……
Two things, Dwayne. Firstly, you're not too old to ride. You're ten years younger than myself and I'm still riding. Secondly, my ex-wife tried to stop me racing (cars - which I'd been doing for years before we met). I told her not to make me choose between racing and her, 'coz she'd lose. She did; we divorced. I'm now happily married to a much more understanding lady!
@@chrisweeks6973 Well we age differently. Ha ha, I am definitely too old to ride. My brother still rides all the time however. Just kidding about the wife.
My first bike was a 305 Superhawk. It would just hit 100 MPH. I rode with a guy who had a big Harley sportster. The Hawk kept up with it and was exponentially more reliable.
In 1961 my uncle landed the first Honda dealership in Kentucky (Louisville). He made a small fortune with the Japanese brand within 9 years. The Hawk and Superhawk 305's are definitely the bikes that put Honda on the map, and put the British companies on the road to failure. My uncle had no trouble selling the Superhawks, it was keeping them in stock that was the problem. He was the premier motorcycle racer of his region in the 50's. He ran BSA's back then, but he immediately saw how Honda had made advances light years ahead of the western motorcycle manufacturers. Thanks for the video bart, you are doing great man.
@@aaron___6014 The Hawk CB72 came out in 61 and was 250 cc. The CA77 Dream 305 also came out in 61 and was not as powerful as the Superhawk, but the Hawk had the sleeker design of the Superhawk, whereas the CA77 Dream was kind of dorky looking.
@Dorsey Jack - Those X6's prolly had retarded ignition timing from the factory... that happened a lot... I tune my own bikes and cars so they were always faster than everyone else...
my first motorcycle was a Yamaha YDS3C " big bear" scrambler 😊 traded in for a new CL450 scrambler !! very cool bike 😊 which lead me to get a used CB 750 that I had in high school 😅😅😅😅😅 really enjoyed the early Japanese bikes!!!😂😂😂😂🏍🏍🏍🍺🍺🍺
This interesting story was very nicely told. I was an apprentice back in the early seventies working on bike development including the new Honda fours. The general quality of the aluminium castings and machining tolerances were a world above the British bikes of the day. Thank you for sharing🙏
I can attest to the brilliance of the Superhawk. My best friends brother had one in 67’. Both brothers were not as accomplished as riders compared to me with a couple more year of experience. With that being said I got to pilot the 305 quite frequently. I can attest that it indeed would hit a 100 mph, even with two 14 year olds aboard. This bike cemented my love of Honda motorcycles. A few years later I got to ride the still favorite CB350, a CL175 and 350 plus my own brothers SL350. All punched well above their weight class. And they never failed to start and run trouble free. Thanks Soichiro Honda.
Riding a CB-77 Superhawk across the country from Philadelphia to San Francisco in 1969 was an experience that gave me some profound character building along with the enjoyment of the dependability of the bike. The Hawk made it across with only one failure of the headlight switch needing replacement. Two years later I took another Superhawk across country and returned home without any mechanical issues. That model was something else in reliability and very solid engineering. It being so quiet gave me a lot of appreciation. Thanks for your video. The Superhawk was a machine that ushered in a new era to not having to fuss over one's motorcycle before taking off to ride.
There was a mix of attractions for the CB72/77s as sport bikes back in the day. One inspiring aspect was that these machines carried over the race-bred geometry and construction of the factory twins and fours that were so very impressive on the technical front. Along came the CB-93/96 whose frames were very close in fabrication to the factory twins of the early '60s that were hallmarks of engineering and performance to follow up the CB92s which amazed us as the earliest of mechanical marvels. As a Honda mechanic and dealer service manager, I had a CB77 and later on several CB160s which were so good one tended to take for granted just how good they were. Fond memories of the early Hondas.
The CB72/77's were the most attractive bikes to emerge from japan at the time. British manufacturers had nothing to compete with them. Electric start, indicators, fuel gauge, plastic lightweight mudguards, none of these features appeared on any British bike of the time
I rode a friend's Super Hawk a few times in the '70s and it was definitely a way cool bike. It loved being power shifted at redline up through the gears without backing out of the throttle. And it would do that all day long without missing a beat and of note without leaking oil all over the pavement like the Triumphs of the day.
If you want to know more I was a bike mechanic throughout late 60 s to early 90s and have owned many. Great presentation but you only scratched the surface
I can still smell my first, and brand new bike. The 1968 CL175. I was so proud of it. Polished it every week, and cleaned it after every ride home from high school. Thanks Bart. Watch every vid.
The 305 engine was an excellent engine that was at its best on the CL77 305 Scrambler. Prior to the fours, the 305 scrambler (with the suppressor off) was arguably the best sounding motorcycle in the marketplace at that time. Winding out to redline, it was quite glorious.
I agree. The 250 and 305 high pipe scramblers were the best sounding bikes I’ve ever heard. I’ve never had the opportunity to hear one, but according to a review I read around 1977 of the Moto Guzzi V50 I think I’d like the sound of those, too. It was described as being delightful - like a small block Chevy V8.
I bought a crashed CB77 Superhawk around 1970, for $150. It came in several pieces. The front forks were wrecked and had to be replaced. I tore the whole bike down, except for the engine, and rebuilt it. This was my second Honda, the first being a 90cc, bought new. The Superhawk really was the perfect road bike.
I bought an old Honda in early 90s missing many pieces stuck in first gear . Paid $90 for it Didn't know what it was turned out to be a 1967 cb77 superhawk. Over a few years I tore every piece of the bike apart and rebuilt it including the engine at that time parts were available at my local Honda dealer. That was my baby my baby and a thrill to ride it would sit in my dad's Barn for a year and always start on the first kick. I sadly sold it out of need but I hope the person who owns it now is taking good care of it
I had a Superhawk while in high school. It was a great machine. Another feature is that the foot pegs were mounted in a way that would allow them to be mounted in a more rearward cafe racer type configuration. This pedal system was the reason that the CB77 required a forward rotating kick starter. I later swapped the CB for a CL77 Scrambler which was the cat's meow for any high school kid in my day. The two shared the same motor minus the electric starter on the CL77 and with a more conventional rear rotating kick starter since the Scrambler had more conventional foot peg location.
1964 I was working as a joiner for a small firm of shop fitters that was a family run business. Their son also worked with the firm as an apprentice joiner and at 17 yrs of age his father bought him a brand new Honda CB72 250cc motorcycle, I thought it was one of the most beautiful 250cc machines I had ever seen. At the time my commuter bike was a little 98cc James Comet. Today these machines are very much treasured and command quite high prices.
Thank you for posting this video. Back in 1968 I bought a '65model CB77 in England, where they were marketed as the 305 SS; mine was identical to the Shropshire-registered blue one in the latter part of the video. Compared to British bikes of the period (and I'd ridden quite a few, including Triumph's 3TA, TR6 and 6T, BSA's B34, A7 etc), it was considerably more advanced. The electrics package (12-volt, starter, indicators) was far superior, handling was excellent and it would give most British 650 twins a big scare in terms of top speed. The quality of the engine castings was beyond reproach, it was oil-tight and the carbs stayed in balance. The only thing one had to do was to change the oil twice as frequently as the book said, as, due to the close engineering tolerances, dirty oil would cause piston-ring failure.
New Zealand. Purchased a brand-new 305 superhawk sports Red in colour, started my love life with Honda and moved on to CB 750s from 69 onwards, still riding Hondas to this very day, mostly sports bikes.
I bought a new CB400 (Hawk) in 1978 for $1,300. That was quite a lot back then, especially for a college kid. Those were the days of 19% interest on vehicle loans so I paid it off in a little more than one year. It was a very nice bike that I ended up having to rely upon for transportation after my car died. Rain, snow or sun that thing served me quite well for a few years. It’s a shame Honda doesn’t make small displacement multi cylinder bikes anymore for the US market.
When the 305 came out we fell instantly in love with the style. That close finned engine was a thing of beauty and it had an electric leg. It was a no brainer. Goodbye Triumph Thunderbird.
My first motorcycle was a 1964 Honda C72 which I bought in 1972. I didn’t have it for too long but it was my introduction to the 2 wheel world. I was 17 at the time.
1972, I bought a used Honda Hawk 125 from a shop in Nice, France. Drove the entire South of France, La Cote d'azur. It was a dream come true. Black, silver / chrome trim. Very Cool!
I tend to agree with you, the Hawk was called the black bomber in the UK and outperformed bigger capacity British bikes of the time like the 650 Bonneville and Royal Enfield Interceptor ,plus it was almost bullet proof reliability wise and didn't leak oil all over your garage. then when Suzuki released the T500 in 1968 it killed of Brit bikes as sports bikes.
I bought a new 1968 Suzuki 250cc X6 Hustler in April of 1968. My Honda friends struggled to keep up. I could beat Triumph 650 Bonnevilles to 60 mph, but then they went by me. My buddy bought a 450 cc Honda then, I rode on it and the vibration was so bad I couldn't ride for lone.
@@johnkestly4762 I loved the Hustler ,a friend had a blue one with red and white tank stripes, I had a Kawasaki S2 350 and there wasn't a brit bike that could keep up with it.
Takes me back to 1969. I owned several CL and CB-77's..One CB I set up as a Cafe racer. Fiberglass tank and seat. Clip on's.Engine mods included boring out the cylinder liners and installing 450 sleeves and pistons.Schaller cam,lightened rockers, ported and polished head, locked out advance timing,CR-77 gearbox. Fun bike! Very fast for the times.
I was waiting to find someone that loved and recognized the 305 Scrambler . I fell in love with it when I first saw it and it had that awesome sound as usualy the muffler was taken off and small washer type snuffers were put on each pipe . It had such a cool sound and it was so cool the way the pipes kicked up together in the back even the chrome heat guards looked so cool. The gas tank was so different, no chrome always silver with only the black Honda badge, but I remember some times the tank would be painted Candy Apple Red or custom metal flake , nothing looked cooler than the 305 Scrambler also remember that the frame came up on the back fender just behind the seat and made a good handle to put the bike up on its stand or a handle for a passenger . The front shocks were covered with the rubber flex covers and an honest Skid Plate added coolness it only had a kick starter which added to it’s sound . I wish I still had mine ! I also wished that they had made a 605 or 805 Scrambler if you catch my drift ! These were much more popular than the SuperHawk and it deserves it’s OWN mention as such ! A lot of people loved these bikes and most of us never drove it off road it was both art and culture . I miss it ! Thanks for your comments !
@@oceanhome2023 Ron, I also had a 305 Scrambler. With it, it had headwork, an x'ed gearbox, cam and locked-out advance. The frame was raked another couple of inches and I installed a Super hawk 18-inch rear wheel instead of the 19-inch Scrambler. It was painted by Dave Allee of Bill Krause Honda fame. multi blue with cobwebs in the side panel area. Nice bike. Wheelstand second gear pretty easy.
I think this one one of your best vlogs. I was around all those motorcycles you were talking about and you could just tell Honda was going to dominate markets.
I was in the Marines in ‘71 at Iwakuni when the 750 Honda came out. One day we were swimming in a river and we could hear this F1 sounding engine coming up the valley. I had never heard a four cylinder bike before. My big bike had been a Norton Atlas on Guam. We moved around to points where we could see the road and this thing rolls around a corner above us on the road. The rider was a guy who looked to be about 5’6”, mostly red Hawaiian shirt, no helmet, wrap around sun glasses and sandals. He was ripping down this valley leaning the bike way over and the engine was singing. Killer.
Great video,glad someone finally documented a little bit of the history of these bikes. Built my first Honda Scrambler at the ripe old age of 14. Later on dad handed down his Superhawk, still have both bikes even after all these years. Excellent bikes for sure, worked for the local Honda dealership when I was 17 and 18. Still building, restoring and machining parts for bikes although it’s switched directions to antique Harleys and Aermacchi’s. Again, great video footage and history. 👍
My first twin cylinder road bike was a Honda CB 160. Bought it off a friend as a non runner and fitted a new crankshaft and away I went on my little Honda. Lovely little bike.
I had a 305 Super Hawk back in the mid 60s. My buddy had a Triumph Bonneville 650. The Triumph was much faster than the Honda, which is only logical since it had over twice the displacement and almost twice the power. If you read contemporary magazine road tests the Honda turned the 1/4 mile in the low 17 second range. Cycle World put a 350cc kit and a roller cam in one and got mid 16s. A Triumph Bonneville at the time could get into the 13 second range on a good day. People who say Honda 305s were as fast as a 650 Triumph are looking back through rose colored glasses. But I could keep my friend on his Bonneville in sight on any ride, and when we stopped at an intersection my Honda wasn't smoking and idling rough and dribbling oil out the breather hose. And I spent a lot less time working on my Honda. Wish I had it today, whereas I rarely miss my later 72 Bonneville. BTW, the CL Scrambler was not a Super Hawk with high pipes, although it did use the same engine. It had a completely different frame and almost everything else was different too.
@@BuzzLOLOL Keep up with? Keep dreaming. The Honda 305 was fast for a 300cc bike. It was not as fast as a 650cc Triumph. Dig up some contemporary Cycle or Cycle World instrumented road tests and compare the figures. I was there, I had a 65 305 Super Hawk, my friends had Triumphs and BSAs and I rode them all and they were significantly faster. Why would a 300 with 27 hp be faster than a 650 with 47 hp (and only about 40 lb heavier)?
@@barryervin8536 - I'm 74, I was there also... the Brit bikes were over rated in HP and the stock mufflers really choked off the engines... the carb.s were a nightmare...
@@BuzzLOLOL Everything was over-rated for HP back then. The Japanese were just as bad as everybody else in that respect. There were no "truth in advertising" laws, manufacturers could just pull numbers out of the air, and did. It's interesting that the first Super Hawk ads claimed 110mph top speed (an utterly ridiculous claim for a 300cc bike with about 27 hp, even with a 95 lb Japanese rider aboard) and later ads said 102 and then it went down to 98 I believe? Mine would barely reach 95 on the speedo, and I'm sure the speedo read way high like all bikes did back then, and some still do. But 90 mph was very fast for a 27 hp bike. And, no, the Suzuki X6 Hustler didn't really do 100 mph, although the speedo may have indicated that. I did a little online searching and the BEST recorded 1/4 mile dragstrip time I found for a stock Super Hawk was 16.8 sec. with Cycle World's resident drag strip ace riding it. Every other test I've seen was in the 17s. That's at least 2 sec. slower than any Triumph 650 time I've ever seen, even a single carb version. Brit 650s got hot cams and twin carbs in an effort to pass the Harley 883 Sportsters, they didn't need them to keep up with Honda 305s. In the late 70s my buddy was stunned when my Yamaha XS650 left his "Giant Killer" RD350 2-stroker in the dust. Bottom line, unless it's backed up by calibrated measurements, much of what people choose to believe is just mythology and exaggeration and inflated advertising claims.
Brilliant detailed history - The first bike I ever rode on the road was a Super hawk with clip-ons, fairing and rearsets, I was 12 years old, and now on a 1800VTX - Yes HONDA make Fantastic Bikes!
Very nicely presented! My first bike was a '66 CB77, and it wasn't until years later that I found out it's exactly the same kind of bike as Bob Pirsig rode on the adventure with his son in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." That bike's on display at the Smithsonian!
I’m turning 74 and looking back at my life. In 1963, as I recall, I bought a CB 90. I beat the heck out of that bike for a few years until I leaned it against a friends curb on trash day. They hauled it off! In the early 1970s, during the gas shortages, a friend and I went to Pasadena and bought CB350Fs. I took much better care of that Honda, being a young adult. I paid $1,000 for it and sold it back to the same dealer with a weeping cylinder gasket for $900. I’ve also owned a 500 Ascot and a Sportster, as well. I did sell the Ascot for what I paid for about 18 months later in order to not show the CC balance when buying a new home. The reason, though for enjoying your video the most was my best friend owning a 305 SuperHawk. What a great bike that was. It was black and unmodified. I miss him and his terrific bike most of all. Thank you for this trip down memory lane!
I still have fond memories of my 305 super hawk, bought it while I was in the army at ft Benning, bought it from a guy that was shipping out overseas, got my orders 7 months later, packed my duffle bag n found some bungee cords at a auto parts store n prepped it n myself for the ride home to see family before I shipped out, from ga to n.j. where my mom n brother lived, gassed up at the post station n made it to n.c. on that tank, fueled up n got a motel room for that night, took off again that late a.m. n got to Delaware the next night, had to stop once for fuel, n took off till I got to Delaware, hit rain, got a motel room n waited till the rain ended, left early a.m., made it home by the next nite by 10p.m. n got in the garage just in time to beat a rain storm, that bike was the best an only ride I did that far as I hadn't gone more than 50 miles previously, total reliability n performance, taught my brother how to ride it n maintain it while I was overseas, had to buy a bigger bike when I got back, as he wanted to keep it, had too much fun on it n loved it like I did.
I'm a real old guy. For $30 in 1978 I bought a 1965 CB150 Honda twin that had 725 original miles, and the original whitewall tires (dry-rotted) --- the engine was seized up. I removed the heads and cylinders to find the rings rusted to the sleeves. New rings gaskets, tires and presto!... it ran again. I used it for college commuting every day (40-mile round trip), graduated after putting a few thousand on the odometer, then sold it to the next door neighbor for a couple hundred. On level highway with no wind, the thing would do 53 mph. Downhill with a tailwind would push 60. Neighbor still has it, although it hasn't been started in many years. :)
I owned a CL-350 in 1970 when I was in college. I traveled all over the East Coast with it, and it never let me down, even once. I look back on it fondly, and I wish I had never sold it. Now, I have a VTR-250 which I plan to keep till the day I die. Why this bike was never sold in the US, I will never know, but it is as next to perfect as it gets.
Thank you very much for the history and bringing back many fond memories! Honda and Pirsig changed my life for the better. My first motorcycle was a Honda CL175 that I bought from my neighbor in 1973 for $100. I rode it all over the Central Texas Hill Country backroads and even ventured to San Antonio and Houston. It was bulletproof and more fun per dollar than anything I've ever owned. Many motorcycles later, I ended up with a new BMW R100/7 due to it's good road and some off road characteristics for mountain trails. I'm an engineer and still have total faith in Honda engineering after many of their cars. After all, "you meet the nicest people on a Honda" 🙂
My dad had a 66 Cb77, I was able to ride it from time to time, very reliable and with electric starter, it didnt have turn signals, but we wired those in by hand. It had massive front and rear brakes all with leading shoes, operated by thick cables with grease fitting(rear cable)
I owned a black 305 Super Hawk. I think it was a 1967. I put a set of Wiesco 11.5 to 1 pistons in it, and jetted the carbs correctly and it would do an honest 100 MPH. Also very important for best performance was the valve adjustment. I had a set of Honda upswept pipes from a 305 Scrambler on it until my Wife got tired of burning her leg on them! I flogged the hell out of it for 30K. miles. A bulletproof design. My next bike was a 1972 Suzuki 750. Water cooled 2 stroke. Also a very fine bike. Many bikes later, my Wife and I have been riding GL1800 G/Wings for the last 17 years. We have been riding together 51 years. Thanks Honda! HAPPY TRAILS!
Thanks for fleshing out the often overlooked importance of the 1960's for Honda's meteoric rise to dominance in the 1970's. I had no idea that the Super Hawks were so capable, as I was born in 1962.
@@billmago7991 I misused the phrase, which commonly refers to a rapid rise to prominence, followed by a precipitous fall. Instead I should have said something like "rapid ascent".
I had a new super hawk in 1968. The starter seldom was able to start the bike. I finally got in the habit just using the kick start. On the road one day it made a terrible whirring noise. The Honda dealer told me a cylinder sleeve had gotten loose and was going up and down with the piston. I did not know enough to question that. It got fixed under warranty but it showed a fragility.
In high school, graduated in 1966, I always wanted a motorcycle but my parents said no. My girlfriend’s brother had bikes and he let me ride them. First a Honda 65cc then a Honda Super 90, a beautiful bike. After a while with those I rode his Super Hawk. Oh my God, I felt like I had a jet fighter under me! When I moved to California in 1969 I bought my own used CB -450. Within a year I was working for the Honda dealer and was there when the CB-750 came to America. We even converted a few for the police department to use. Still ride at 73. 😊
My first bike was a 1961 CB77 $250.00 in 1963, right after I got out of the USN. I added clip ons, rear sets, one of the factory seats and a faring. Thought I was a racer.
Great memories. I was a part of that early 60's Honda generation. First I had a Super 90, then a CB-160, and finally a CL-450. Friends had the Triumph 500 (I was jealous), Honda 150 Dream; and a Norton 750. One friend had the Suzuki 250 X-6. He only rode that thing one way; wide open throttle...I always admired the Super hawk, would have loved to have owned one.
exactly how i feel. i had a 150 dream and i loved it. it just cranked and went every time. not too fast but surely fast enough for a 15 year old kid..........great memories...
SL 90 motosport, SL 175 my 1st 2. Then the DT 250 & 360 Enduros. I considered my Pappys 1970 CL 350 as the perfect motorcycle, along with the Yamaha 360 .
I've owned & ridden Brit bikes & Hondas (and others) from way back then to today - Got to say this is as well balanced and as informative as you could pretty much squeeze into 20 and a bit minutes. Nice one Bart - Keep 'em coming
Matt’s dad here. Returning to riding with a 855i Triumph. Back in my youth I rode a very built 600 cc Norton Dominator. Very much a sleeper. A riding brother popped up with a SuperHawk. Very nice concept Looked and ran more like the big boy bikes. But check out its cousin The Honda Dream. Nothing else like it before then. I think the Japanese thought they were making the SuperHawk for rockers and the Dream for mods. But like the Mick, I’m neither. I’m a rod and a mocker. Lol. Ride it like you stole it.
It's great that a younger guy is into all this history of bikes. I could see myself commenting all day long on your videos. A bit of context, my old man was big in to bikes, he used to race when he was young and had raced at the IOM. I was his 3rd kid, so by the time I was born he only raced at our local circuit which was Aintree. Anyway by the time he retired he had a couple of early 60's small capacity Ducati's, a 1949 Moto Guzzi Arianne, a 250 4 Benneli, an MZ 250 ISDT, and an early 60's 125 twin Honda Benly, which he had 2 of. He got the Honda's from his mate who owned him money, and like a lot of his bikes arrived at our house in pieces. The Hondas were really nice bikes, with electric start, big massive brakes, just really good looking bikes, apart from the shitty pressed steel forks, and maybe the frame was pressed steel, I can't remember now TBH. He dies last year at 90, after battling with alzheimer's for 10 years, during which all his bikes were sold.
I bought a CA-77 (Dream) in 1972. It was my second Honda. I put 14,000 miles on my Sport 50 before I sold it. I trailered that Dream from PA to CA in 1974. It was my only means of transportation for a year. I had a CB450 and a CB750 after that. After 30 years on Harleys, I'm looking for another Honda, probably a 450 or 750 as my last bike. I'm 73 and can't live without one. In 1965 I was in Tokyo for 3 weeks and my father took me the Honda factory to buy some parts. I nearly wet my pants seeing motorcycles hanging from the ceiling because they were producing them so quickly.
In 1968 I borrowed a Super Hawk 305 and being 14, bending low over the tank, I achieved 98 indicated mph and experienced a speed wobble which scares me to this day!!
Fantastic memories.. my dad bought a used super hawk 305 in the late 1960s.. he could not get out of the driveway without me on the back! .. in early '70s he bought a Suzuki 500 Twin 2 stroke... I turned 18 in 1977 and purchased a brand new 1978 Honda hawk 400.. the bike had a large bore Short stroke engine.. with a high red line.. it really loves to be revved! The engine wasn't unusual as was multiport with 2 intakes & 1 exhaust port per cylinder... The bike was fast and it also handled really well around corners I could lean it way over without anything scraping... The engine was actually part of the frame! And it had the new comstar wheels that look like mag wheels but flex like spokes..
I had a few CB72/77 bikes. The CB72 sold well in the UK due to the 250cc learner law. They were so well engineered, the only weak area was the gearbox, they only had 4 speeds, unless you were lucky to find a 5 speed cluster from the CR race kit.
My first bike was a 1967 black Superhawk. Bought it from a man in Akron for 200 bucks when it was the summer before my senior year in high school, 1972. I rode the piss out of this bike while singing Elton John's Rocket Man in my head. LOL Brings back great memories here. Thanks so much. I loved this bike.
My first "big" bike was the 160. What a great bike that was. Rode it every day, rode it to school, rode it to friends house, sometimes I just rode it to ride. That wonderful exhaust note, that smooth ride. Wind in my hair, careless 14 year old. My next bike was the CL350 which I enjoyed riding the dirt trails of Arkansas. Next was the Suzuki GT550 3 cylinder 2 stroke. What a blast that was. Finally in 1979 I bought a brand new Suzuki GS1000 for $2400. I'll never forget that 160 and all those great rides on the country back roads of northern Arkansas. Old story. I lived in Arkansas when I had the 160. It started to have problems with one carb flooding. Seems the float wasn't floating any more. Later I went to Victorville, California to visit my uncle, he took me to the Honda place and they had the float and bowl gasket in stock!
I started on a 305 Superhawk at age 21. Since then I had a CB350, a i981 Goldwing, and a 1997 Harley Dyna glide. The Hondas were the best! I am 71 and drive an F150!
Had a 305 super hawk while stationed at Ft. Huachuca Arizona in 1967-68.Took lots of trips to Mexico thru the mountains and canyons.Now I'm 77 and drive a Mustang..
Bought my low mileage Honda 250 Superhawk when I got out of the ARMY in 1973. Loved the bike, rode it everywhere in N. Cal.. ..I recall the inconvenience of my leg repeatedly breaking the key off in the ignition. Upgraded to a Honda 750F in 1981 and began road racing in the AFM.. for five years.
Hey! I was born and raised in a motorcycle shop in Hawaii ,primarily japanese bikes , the biggest shop in our state from the 70's . I'm sure I knew or met the dude on that superhawk and absolutely sure my Dad knew him . As a lifelong motorcycle mechanic I can say for certain that Honda is the shit! In fact one of our benly's ended up being restored and was being displayed at the gugenheim . Keep up the good work !
In the late 60's I was 15 1/2 when I bought my first bike. It was a near new but used CL160 Honda. I'm in my 60's now and I have bought, built, traded and restored everything from Honda's,Triumph, BSA, Norton, Kawasaki, Suzuki, now Harley's. Funny thing, you never forget that first feeling of freedom like I did when I was 15 1/2 on that Honda CL 160. Now when I fire up my Harley and roll down my long driveway I still feel like I'm looking through the eyes of that 15 1/2 year old kid....Keep the shinny side up friends.
Thanks to my school friend I had the great opportunity to ride the red 1967 Honda 250 cc "Hawk" in Bombay, India. One of the very few times I felt really exhilarated (a feeling of great euphoria) was when I took this Honda Hawk on a yet unfinished Chembur to Thana highway and opened the throttle fully. I was just laughing and laughing at the acceleration, the sound from the twin exhaust and the wind gushing past my hair (helmets had not yet come to India). Wow! What a motorcycle!
Yes - they considered it offensive to work with sub standard steel & aluminium from the cultural type perspectives known to them. In europe the use of inferior recycled metal was rife.
I was a british is best teenager in the late 1960s and my first motorcycle was a BSA C15. It needed a full rebuild so i bought a Yamaha YL1 a 100cc two stroke twin. It was like riding a super-light screaming pogo stick. British brake linings, tyres and rear units transformed it and I really sniffed when the BSA was ready and I had to sell it. Early 70s and history repeated itself and, when my BSA Thunderbolt needed a bottom end rebuild( bad maintenence by a previous owner), I bought a Honda CB77, 305 at the right price. The Honda did almost everything the T-bolt did at half the engine size. It was a corker as was the CB350 I later acquired as a runabout. Still I love my T-bolt. With a Keihin carburettor instead of the manky Anal and electronic ignition, coupled with routine maintenance I enjoy performing and a super stainless micro mesh oil filter it is as reliable as a Honda. Miss the button start though.
My first Honda was a ‘68 350 scrambler. And it was very fast! I could out run Sportsters, Triumphs etc through the quarter. It never let me down and I’ve always rode Hondas. I have two V4s now. I’m 74 and still riding Hondas . Thanks Honda for all the smiles. I always wanted A BSA lightning until I saw the CB750K. I bought one of them and never looked back. I loved my Goldwing as well.
My first experience with Honda was the late 60s CB450. It was introduced in 1965. Bart seems to have overlooked this legendary model. Still my fav, followed by the CB350Four
I owned one of these in the mid 60s. After a British bike it was a revelation. I had a fairing fitted, and replaced the air filters with inlet trumpets. After rejetting the carbs it easily reached an indicated 110 mph and the fuel consumption actually improved. I seem to recall having to replace the valve springs when the performance dropped suddenly. Silencers (mufflers) were stainless steel with replaceable baffles. Some idiots took out the baffles and killed the power output. Not everything was perfect. Fitting UK tyres and front brake pads and Girling rear shocks improved all round handling significantly. Replaced it with a CB450. Disappointing overall compared to the CB77 and it was so much heavier. Gave up motorcycles after a couple of accidents but then bought a Lotus Elan. That is another story.
The red 305 @ 14:00 is actually a CL72 Which was a 250cc. The giveaway is the smaller brake drums... being a smaller bore and the same stroke, they were a bit torquier than the 305. They made those in the CB style. Also there was a blanking plate in front of the CL engine where the e-start of the CB model had it.
My dad was very proud that he owned the second Honda sold in Wrexham, Wales back in the very early 1960s. It was a CB72 Dream Super Sports, and he said that despite the ribbing he got from his mates on bigger British bikes, they soon followed him and got Hondas too once they saw how clean his hands always were. They sort of sold themselves. The guy who bought the first Honda? Well, in Wales, due to the fact that so many people have the same surname, you tend to get a nickname which sticks with you for life; the bloke who bought the first Honda was only ever known as “Eric Honda”.
My first motorcycle was a’61 CB77. Bought it for $250.00 a couple months after I got out of the USN in 1963. It’s only problem,The shift drum broke. I think it cost less than $50.00 to have it repaired. Eventually it had rear sets, clip ons, a factory racing seat and a faring. It looked cool but I wasn’t any more of a racer then than now. I’m 80 and have a 72 Volt SurRon. Also a Metacycle which “BRICKED” yesterday. I’m thinking about maybe a Zero FXE. Appreciate your channel, thank you.
The Honda Dream 305 was the first motorcycle of many I owned during the 1960's and the ONLY one that didn't leak oil. It was the first bike I ever owned where I could spend more time riding it rather than fixing it. Sold me for life on Honda. I currently own a Honda Gold Wing 2003 and it is a totally reliable and beautiful machine even 20 years later. Honda rocks !!!!!
I bought a 1964 Honda Superhawk in 1969. It didn't run. $225. What stands out is exactly what you have identified here. It might have cost me $50 to get it running and it never cost me anything, at all, after that. i lost a race with a Triumph Tiger on I287, before I287 even opened, but he was alone (I had a passenger) and he barely walked away from me. Well, I did lose. That bike was SO reliable, did not leak oil, and, well, wow. I've owned many since then, but I regret selling that bike.
That high pipe 305 with smaller tank was owned by a kid in my highschool in the sixties. It was the ultimate bike, soooo cool, everyone was jealous. Take out the baffels and it had a loud and unique sound. I still remember the longing I felt to this day. I was in love with anything Honda. However, my dad was a union man and and forbade me to buy a Honda. 😟 I ended up buying a two cycle Harley that looked a bit like a sportster, to it's credit, but had that awful two cycle rin tin tin tin to it when you let off of the gas. Generator didn't work, chrome was replaced with paint, a Honda 65cc could out run me. I tried to be cool despite all the disadvantages but only rode it the summer and sold it to buy a 10 yr old 57 Chevy on it's 3rd round of Bondo. Cars didn't last long in Michigan in those days. Appreciate the trip down memory lane. You only hit briefly on the sportier 305 and I can't remember it's name but it was king for a spell where I came from.
At the age of just 16 I had a Honda CB72, that was back in 1967. I can verify everything you said, it was faster than all 500cc and could keep up with most 650cc that I cam across, down a very long steep hill the speedo was reading 110 mph, the only problem I had was, chain snapping and the rear tire slipping and ripping out the valve.
I bought a 305 Superhawk from a friend who’s brother bought and raced it in Japan. It was 1965. I was 19. The valves and valve train had been modified and would easily turn 12,000 rpm. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the Superhawk engine was the first commercially available four stroke engine with variable valve timing. I had a lot of fun riding it but didn’t keep it long as I had a few close calls, if you know what I mean.
Mine was a single carb 305 dream. An early model. With the swing forks. Compared to the later 180 crank models it was a far superior bike for us. Very efficient, powerful enough. Unstallable in traffic. Reliable. With a great sprung seat that absorbed all the shocks of our rough roads. An enclosed chain that protected it from wet and grit. Its only flaw was the high pipes. Not on the single side as the street scrambler, but one on each side. Had to be careful to avoid burns. No Honda produced after this was able to tick so many boxes. They became toys rather than bikes intended to be a daily work horse.
In 1968 I bought a 1964 model CL-72 "250 Scrambler", the older cousin to the more popular and more numerous B/CL-77s with their 305cc engines. I seem to recall that the CL-72 had 72 mm pistons (or maybe it was stroke) while the 305s were 77 mm. The fastest way to tell stock 250 and 305 bikes from a distance was from the right side, the final drive sprocket was smaller on the 250 (thus giving me a top end advantage over my 305cc friends when racing a long downhill), and from the left side, the upper pipe on the CL-77 (305cc) Scrambler was welded to the muffler and the lower pipe would slip out of a red rubber gasket, whereas the CL-72s (250) had both upper and lower pipes gasketed making the muffler easily slip-off removable. (I had "Snuf-or-Nots" installed in my pipes to quiet them down ... when I felt like it.) I also upgraded my tank emblems by buying 305 badges from the dealer and put my original badges marked "250" in a drawer; forty years later I learned my 250 badges were worth way more to collectors than the 305 badges so apparently I wasn't the only guy trying to pose as riding a more expensive bike. It was a great bike.
Well done!! A very telling statement you made towards the end of the vdeo 'It provides all of the horsepower you will ever need for the streets'..totally agree in this day of overpowered overweight electronically festooned 2 wheeled Miatas. I currently ride a BMW G310GS everywhere year round. In 1972 I had a CB 350 which could easily walk away from Triumphs, BSA's, Nortons and Sportsters at any stop light races. Simply because those bikes seemed to be always sputtering or out of tune. In 1972 Honda sold more versions of the 350 (CL CB SL) than Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki had in combined sales. All thanks to the CB 77.
In '76 I bought a slightly used SS 350. Had something like 25 miles on the odometer and was in showroom condition. I stupidly traded it for a CB 350 and a almost new trail 90. Rode both without a helmet all over Santa Rosa California during the summer. I drove the 90 in inclement weather.
Proud owner of a 1967 Yamaha YM1 305 2-stroke. Going under a complete engine rebuild since I had to spit the cases to replace the kickstarter gear. A true classic.
My very first bike was a '67 model. I was a few weeks away from turning 16 when an uncle came back from Laos with a black Superhawk 305. That was 1969 and it was the first time I saw anything like it. He wanted to sell it and came to ask my dad but dad didn't know how to ride, so... now I regret not taking good care of it the time I had it.
My dad had one. He commuted from our house in Hermosa Beach to Canoga Park at Rocketdyne. There were no freeways yet. His route took him through the Topanga pass.
I have a Honda CB77 road racer full tilt in my bedroom , it had a top speed of 125 MPH with a little engine and chassis mods running in the 350 class and the engine was 305 cc's. mine is .020 over bore30mm Amal carbs , high lift cam light and polished rocker arms, heavy valve springs, racing clutch and springs, close ratio trans. Could run in the 500cc class and do good. The 350 class in the AFM was ruled by the Honda CB77. I'm 84 years old and was a Honda parts manager and General Manager during the 60's and early 70's.
I just rode my 1964 Super Hawk CB77 yesterday, It starts right up and puts a smile on my face every time!
In 1971 when I was 16-years-old, for some reason my Dad came home pulling a trailer with a 305 Superhawk and a 160 Baby Hawk; both from 1966. He bought them both from a friend who had bought them new. They were both red. My brother was 13, and he quickly began using the 160 as his personal transportation. It was perfect for him. I liked it too. The police, however, had an unreasonbly hostile response to my brother's early transportation independence.
I have to say I loved these bikes. I was a little too heavy for the 160, but it was still an awesome little bike. The 305 was fantastic. As you pointed out, both bikes looked super good. The proportions were spot on. Loved the chrome tank sides.
Dad sold the 305 in the late-80s. Don't remember why. I ended up owning the 160 and also had a Suzuki T500 Titan and a 68 Triumph Bonneville 650. Loved all these bikes. I sold them when I moved across country in the 90s, thinking I would buy a new bike there.
I still remember those old Hondas though. I'm too old to ride now, but I still think about finding a nice 305 to put in our sun room just to look at. My wife is unreasonably hostile to this brilliant idea.
That IS a brilliant idea!
Boy, you have my full sympathy. Now I think you must know why I never married. I have a beautiful motorcycle in the center of my living room. I own more than one old Super Hawks and if you can change your wife’s mind……
Two things, Dwayne. Firstly, you're not too old to ride. You're ten years younger than myself and I'm still riding.
Secondly, my ex-wife tried to stop me racing (cars - which I'd been doing for years before we met). I told her not to make me choose between racing and her, 'coz she'd lose. She did; we divorced. I'm now happily married to a much more understanding lady!
@@chrisweeks6973 Well we age differently. Ha ha, I am definitely too old to ride. My brother still rides all the time however. Just kidding about the wife.
Have you thought about another wife?
My first bike was a 305 Superhawk. It would just hit 100 MPH. I rode with a guy who had a big Harley sportster. The Hawk kept up with it and was exponentially more reliable.
This was my first motorcycle also. Loved it!
I rode with a guy who had a Bonneville. He left me in the dust.
A 650 will generally outrun a 305. My 3rd bike was a Triumph and it was stronger than my Super Hawk, but required a lot more maintenance.
@@stevefirth6472 - Only the dual carb. Bonneville 650 in especially good tune would keep up with a 305... single carb. 650's were asthmatic...
@@stevefirth6472 I agree, even the Honda 450 would seldom beat a Triumph or BSA 650 with the twin carbs.
Honda may not have continued with design but the Laverda SF750 shares the same DNA
I owned two Superhawks, one in 1965 and another in 1968. Great bikes that bring back memories.
In 1961 my uncle landed the first Honda dealership in Kentucky (Louisville). He made a small fortune with the Japanese brand within 9 years. The Hawk and Superhawk 305's are definitely the bikes that put Honda on the map, and put the British companies on the road to failure. My uncle had no trouble selling the Superhawks, it was keeping them in stock that was the problem. He was the premier motorcycle racer of his region in the 50's. He ran BSA's back then, but he immediately saw how Honda had made advances light years ahead of the western motorcycle manufacturers.
Thanks for the video bart, you are doing great man.
The hawk? Is that the baby-hawk cb160
@@aaron___6014 The Hawk CB72 came out in 61 and was 250 cc. The CA77 Dream 305 also came out in 61 and was not as powerful as the Superhawk, but the Hawk had the sleeker design of the Superhawk, whereas the CA77 Dream was kind of dorky looking.
The 1960's Suzuki 250cc X6 Hustler also put the kabosh on 500 - 1200cc bikes of the day!
@Dorsey Jack - Those X6's prolly had retarded ignition timing from the factory... that happened a lot... I tune my own bikes and cars so they were always faster than everyone else...
my first motorcycle was a Yamaha YDS3C " big bear" scrambler 😊 traded in for a new CL450 scrambler !! very cool bike 😊 which lead me to get a used CB 750 that I had in high school 😅😅😅😅😅 really enjoyed the early Japanese bikes!!!😂😂😂😂🏍🏍🏍🍺🍺🍺
This interesting story was very nicely told. I was an apprentice back in the early seventies working on bike development including the new Honda fours. The general quality of the aluminium castings and machining tolerances were a world above the British bikes of the day. Thank you for sharing🙏
I think you nailed it in the end: if it weren't for the British twins, there would have been no Honda twins, and really, no Honda.
Great video.
I can attest to the brilliance of the Superhawk. My best friends brother had one in 67’. Both brothers were not as accomplished as riders compared to me with a couple more year of experience. With that being said I got to pilot the 305 quite frequently. I can attest that it indeed would hit a 100 mph, even with two 14 year olds aboard. This bike cemented my love of Honda motorcycles. A few years later I got to ride the still favorite CB350, a CL175 and 350 plus my own brothers SL350. All punched well above their weight class. And they never failed to start and run trouble free. Thanks Soichiro Honda.
In high-school, I owned the last year of the 305 Honda Scrambler.... it was a good machine.
Wished I still had it.
Riding a CB-77 Superhawk across the country from Philadelphia to San Francisco in 1969 was an experience that gave me some profound character building along with the enjoyment of the dependability of the bike. The Hawk made it across with only one failure of the headlight switch needing replacement. Two years later I took another Superhawk across country and returned home without any mechanical issues. That model was something else in reliability and very solid engineering. It being so quiet gave me a lot of appreciation. Thanks for your video. The Superhawk was a machine that ushered in a new era to not having to fuss over one's motorcycle before taking off to ride.
My first street bike was a 64 CB-77 305 Super hawk. Started my 57 year motorcycle journey
There was a mix of attractions for the CB72/77s as sport bikes back in the day. One inspiring aspect was that these machines carried over the race-bred geometry and construction of the factory twins and fours that were so very impressive on the technical front. Along came the CB-93/96 whose frames were very close in fabrication to the factory twins of the early '60s that were hallmarks of engineering and performance to follow up the CB92s which amazed us as the earliest of mechanical marvels. As a Honda mechanic and dealer service manager, I had a CB77 and later on several CB160s which were so good one tended to take for granted just how good they were. Fond memories of the early Hondas.
The CB72/77's were the most attractive bikes to emerge from japan at the time. British manufacturers had nothing to compete with them. Electric start, indicators, fuel gauge, plastic lightweight mudguards, none of these features appeared on any British bike of the time
@@barryrudge1576 - British bikes looked fine... lean... classic... but only the top biggest dual carb.s models could do 'the ton'... 100 MPH...
I rode a friend's Super Hawk a few times in the '70s and it was definitely a way cool bike. It loved being power shifted at redline up through the gears without backing out of the throttle. And it would do that all day long without missing a beat and of note without leaking oil all over the pavement like the Triumphs of the day.
The UK motorcycle industry never knew what hit them. RIP
If you want to know more I was a bike mechanic throughout late 60 s to early 90s and have owned many. Great presentation but you only scratched the surface
I can still smell my first, and brand new bike. The 1968 CL175. I was so proud of it. Polished it every week, and cleaned it after every ride home from high school. Thanks Bart. Watch every vid.
I had the CD version of the 175. All blue, no chrome except for the tank sides. Brand new. So proud of that bike
@@edhastie6074 I feel ya. 30 plus bikes later, none ever got the TLC of that CL175
The 305 engine was an excellent engine that was at its best on the CL77 305 Scrambler. Prior to the fours, the 305 scrambler (with the suppressor off) was arguably the best sounding motorcycle in the marketplace at that time. Winding out to redline, it was quite glorious.
I agree. The 250 and 305 high pipe scramblers were the best sounding bikes I’ve ever heard. I’ve never had the opportunity to hear one, but according to a review I read around 1977 of the Moto Guzzi V50 I think I’d like the sound of those, too. It was described as being delightful - like a small block Chevy V8.
I bought a crashed CB77 Superhawk around 1970, for $150. It came in several pieces. The front forks were wrecked and had to be replaced. I tore the whole bike down, except for the engine, and rebuilt it. This was my second Honda, the first being a 90cc, bought new. The Superhawk really was the perfect road bike.
I bought an old Honda in early 90s missing many pieces stuck in first gear . Paid $90 for it Didn't know what it was turned out to be a 1967 cb77 superhawk. Over a few years I tore every piece of the bike apart and rebuilt it including the engine at that time parts were available at my local Honda dealer. That was my baby my baby and a thrill to ride it would sit in my dad's Barn for a year and always start on the first kick. I sadly sold it out of need but I hope the person who owns it now is taking good care of it
I had a Superhawk while in high school. It was a great machine. Another feature is that the foot pegs were mounted in a way that would allow them to be mounted in a more rearward cafe racer type configuration. This pedal system was the reason that the CB77 required a forward rotating kick starter. I later swapped the CB for a CL77 Scrambler which was the cat's meow for any high school kid in my day. The two shared the same motor minus the electric starter on the CL77 and with a more conventional rear rotating kick starter since the Scrambler had more conventional foot peg location.
1964 I was working as a joiner for a small firm of shop fitters that was a family run business. Their son also worked with the firm as an apprentice joiner and at 17 yrs of age his father bought him a brand new Honda CB72 250cc motorcycle, I thought it was one of the most beautiful 250cc machines I had ever seen. At the time my commuter bike was a little 98cc James Comet. Today these machines are very much treasured and command quite high prices.
Thank you for posting this video. Back in 1968 I bought a '65model CB77 in England, where they were marketed as the 305 SS; mine was identical to the Shropshire-registered blue one in the latter part of the video. Compared to British bikes of the period (and I'd ridden quite a few, including Triumph's 3TA, TR6 and 6T, BSA's B34, A7 etc), it was considerably more advanced. The electrics package (12-volt, starter, indicators) was far superior, handling was excellent and it would give most British 650 twins a big scare in terms of top speed. The quality of the engine castings was beyond reproach, it was oil-tight and the carbs stayed in balance. The only thing one had to do was to change the oil twice as frequently as the book said, as, due to the close engineering tolerances, dirty oil would cause piston-ring failure.
I loved that Super Hawk when I was a kid in the sixties.
I had a black Superhawk. '66 model year. Just loved the thing.
New Zealand. Purchased a brand-new 305 superhawk sports Red in colour, started my love life with Honda and moved on to CB 750s from 69 onwards, still riding Hondas to this very day, mostly sports bikes.
At 17 years old my Honda 305 Superhawk amazed me with the double leading brakes, I loved racing it down windy mountain roads! With brakes the worked!
I bought a new CB400 (Hawk) in 1978 for $1,300. That was quite a lot back then, especially for a college kid. Those were the days of 19% interest on vehicle loans so I paid it off in a little more than one year. It was a very nice bike that I ended up having to rely upon for transportation after my car died. Rain, snow or sun that thing served me quite well for a few years. It’s a shame Honda doesn’t make small displacement multi cylinder bikes anymore for the US market.
When the 305 came out we fell instantly in love with the style. That close finned engine was a thing of beauty and it had an electric leg. It was a no brainer. Goodbye Triumph Thunderbird.
My first motorcycle was a 1964 Honda C72 which I bought in 1972. I didn’t have it for too long but it was my introduction to the 2 wheel world. I was 17 at the time.
In 1966 Hondas, Suzuki 90cc were popular at the school, The Yamaha 250-305cc 2 strokes were the acceleration king.
1972, I bought a used Honda Hawk 125 from a shop in Nice, France. Drove the entire South of France, La Cote d'azur. It was a dream come true. Black, silver / chrome trim. Very Cool!
This is too cool. You got the t shirt and are a total Boss
@@pede8889 Big Smile back at you! Great memory!
I tend to agree with you, the Hawk was called the black bomber in the UK and outperformed bigger capacity British bikes of the time like the 650 Bonneville and Royal Enfield Interceptor ,plus it was almost bullet proof reliability wise and didn't leak oil all over your garage. then when Suzuki released the T500 in 1968 it killed of Brit bikes as sports bikes.
I bought a new 1968 Suzuki 250cc X6 Hustler in April of 1968. My Honda friends struggled to keep up. I could beat Triumph 650 Bonnevilles to 60 mph, but then they went by me. My buddy bought a 450 cc Honda then, I rode on it and the vibration was so bad I couldn't ride for lone.
@@johnkestly4762
Remember to Suzuki ad..."Just when you think you've seen it all...shift into sixth!"
In the US the term Black Bomber was only for the first generation CB450. I was a mechanic at a Honda shop in the 60s and 70s.
@@johnkestly4762 I loved the Hustler ,a friend had a blue one with red and white tank stripes, I had a Kawasaki S2 350 and there wasn't a brit bike that could keep up with it.
@@tedecker3792 The Black Bomber name stuck with the 450s right through their import to the UK whether that was the proper name or not.
I wanted one in 1964 and I still want one.
hehe love the turn of phrase ( and know the feeling )
No you don't... Honda Handling Horrors applied to these... great engine, though...
@@buzzwaldron6195 I'm 79, it handles fine... smiles.
@@BlindTom61 - I'm 76 and went from a Ducati 750, best handling bike in the world, to Honda 305... I was shocked! It was like a pogo stick...
Takes me back to 1969. I owned several CL and CB-77's..One CB I set up as a Cafe racer. Fiberglass tank and seat. Clip on's.Engine mods included boring out the cylinder liners and installing 450 sleeves and pistons.Schaller cam,lightened rockers, ported and polished head, locked out advance timing,CR-77 gearbox. Fun bike! Very fast for the times.
I was waiting to find someone that loved and recognized the 305 Scrambler . I fell in love with it when I first saw it and it had that awesome sound as usualy the muffler was taken off and small washer type snuffers were put on each pipe . It had such a cool sound and it was so cool the way the pipes kicked up together in the back even the chrome heat guards looked so cool. The gas tank was so different, no chrome always silver with only the black Honda badge, but I remember some times the tank would be painted Candy Apple Red or custom metal flake , nothing looked cooler than the 305 Scrambler also remember that the frame came up on the back fender just behind the seat and made a good handle to put the bike up on its stand or a handle for a passenger . The front shocks were covered with the rubber flex covers and an honest Skid Plate added coolness it only had a kick starter which added to it’s sound . I wish I still had mine ! I also wished that they had made a 605 or 805 Scrambler if you catch my drift ! These were much more popular than the SuperHawk and it deserves it’s OWN mention as such ! A lot of people loved these bikes and most of us never drove it off road it was both art and culture . I miss it ! Thanks for your comments !
T
@@oceanhome2023 Ron, I also had a 305 Scrambler. With it, it had headwork, an x'ed gearbox, cam and locked-out advance. The frame was raked another couple of inches and I installed a Super hawk 18-inch rear wheel instead of the 19-inch Scrambler. It was painted by Dave Allee of Bill Krause Honda fame. multi blue with cobwebs in the side panel area. Nice bike. Wheelstand second gear pretty easy.
I think this one one of your best vlogs. I was around all those motorcycles you were talking about and you could just tell Honda was going to dominate markets.
I was in the Marines in ‘71 at Iwakuni when the 750 Honda came out. One day we were swimming in a river and we could hear this F1 sounding engine coming up the valley. I had never heard a four cylinder bike before. My big bike had been a Norton Atlas on Guam.
We moved around to points where we could see the road and this thing rolls around a corner above us on the road. The rider was a guy who looked to be about 5’6”, mostly red Hawaiian shirt, no helmet, wrap around sun glasses and sandals. He was ripping down this valley leaning the bike way over and the engine was singing. Killer.
Great video,glad someone finally documented a little bit of the history of these bikes. Built my first Honda Scrambler at the ripe old age of 14. Later on dad handed down his Superhawk, still have both bikes even after all these years. Excellent bikes for sure, worked for the local Honda dealership when I was 17 and 18. Still building, restoring and machining parts for bikes although it’s switched directions to antique Harleys and Aermacchi’s. Again, great video footage and history. 👍
My first twin cylinder road bike was a Honda CB 160.
Bought it off a friend as a non runner and fitted a new crankshaft and away I went on my little Honda.
Lovely little bike.
I had a 305 Super Hawk back in the mid 60s. My buddy had a Triumph Bonneville 650. The Triumph was much faster than the Honda, which is only logical since it had over twice the displacement and almost twice the power. If you read contemporary magazine road tests the Honda turned the 1/4 mile in the low 17 second range. Cycle World put a 350cc kit and a roller cam in one and got mid 16s. A Triumph Bonneville at the time could get into the 13 second range on a good day. People who say Honda 305s were as fast as a 650 Triumph are looking back through rose colored glasses. But I could keep my friend on his Bonneville in sight on any ride, and when we stopped at an intersection my Honda wasn't smoking and idling rough and dribbling oil out the breather hose. And I spent a lot less time working on my Honda. Wish I had it today, whereas I rarely miss my later 72 Bonneville. BTW, the CL Scrambler was not a Super Hawk with high pipes, although it did use the same engine. It had a completely different frame and almost everything else was different too.
Thanks that's really helpful and informative.
The 650 needed twin carb.s and hot cam to keep up with a 305... a single carb. model couldn't...
@@BuzzLOLOL Keep up with? Keep dreaming. The Honda 305 was fast for a 300cc bike. It was not as fast as a 650cc Triumph. Dig up some contemporary Cycle or Cycle World instrumented road tests and compare the figures. I was there, I had a 65 305 Super Hawk, my friends had Triumphs and BSAs and I rode them all and they were significantly faster. Why would a 300 with 27 hp be faster than a 650 with 47 hp (and only about 40 lb heavier)?
@@barryervin8536 - I'm 74, I was there also... the Brit bikes were over rated in HP and the stock mufflers really choked off the engines... the carb.s were a nightmare...
@@BuzzLOLOL Everything was over-rated for HP back then. The Japanese were just as bad as everybody else in that respect. There were no "truth in advertising" laws, manufacturers could just pull numbers out of the air, and did. It's interesting that the first Super Hawk ads claimed 110mph top speed (an utterly ridiculous claim for a 300cc bike with about 27 hp, even with a 95 lb Japanese rider aboard) and later ads said 102 and then it went down to 98 I believe? Mine would barely reach 95 on the speedo, and I'm sure the speedo read way high like all bikes did back then, and some still do. But 90 mph was very fast for a 27 hp bike. And, no, the Suzuki X6 Hustler didn't really do 100 mph, although the speedo may have indicated that. I did a little online searching and the BEST recorded 1/4 mile dragstrip time I found for a stock Super Hawk was 16.8 sec. with Cycle World's resident drag strip ace riding it. Every other test I've seen was in the 17s. That's at least 2 sec. slower than any Triumph 650 time I've ever seen, even a single carb version. Brit 650s got hot cams and twin carbs in an effort to pass the Harley 883 Sportsters, they didn't need them to keep up with Honda 305s. In the late 70s my buddy was stunned when my Yamaha XS650 left his "Giant Killer" RD350 2-stroker in the dust. Bottom line, unless it's backed up by calibrated measurements, much of what people choose to believe is just mythology and exaggeration and inflated advertising claims.
Brilliant detailed history - The first bike I ever rode on the road was a Super hawk with clip-ons, fairing and rearsets, I was 12 years old, and now on a 1800VTX - Yes HONDA make Fantastic Bikes!
Very nicely presented! My first bike was a '66 CB77, and it wasn't until years later that I found out it's exactly the same kind of bike as Bob Pirsig rode on the adventure with his son in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." That bike's on display at the Smithsonian!
By 70 the XS 1 Yamaha was the British killer of the decade!
I owned a 305 super hawk and one thing that wasn’t mentioned was that they were equipped with a centrifugal advance on the cam
Yes you got that right
I’m turning 74 and looking back at my life. In 1963, as I recall, I bought a CB 90. I beat the heck out of that bike for a few years until I leaned it against a friends curb on trash day. They hauled it off!
In the early 1970s, during the gas shortages, a friend and I went to Pasadena and bought CB350Fs. I took much better care of that Honda, being a young adult. I paid $1,000 for it and sold it back to the same dealer with a weeping cylinder gasket for $900. I’ve also owned a 500 Ascot and a Sportster, as well. I did sell the Ascot for what I paid for about 18 months later in order to not show the CC balance when buying a new home.
The reason, though for enjoying your video the most was my best friend owning a 305 SuperHawk.
What a great bike that was. It was black and unmodified. I miss him and his terrific bike most of all.
Thank you for this trip down memory lane!
I still have fond memories of my 305 super hawk, bought it while I was in the army at ft Benning, bought it from a guy that was shipping out overseas, got my orders 7 months later, packed my duffle bag n found some bungee cords at a auto parts store n prepped it n myself for the ride home to see family before I shipped out, from ga to n.j. where my mom n brother lived, gassed up at the post station n made it to n.c. on that tank, fueled up n got a motel room for that night, took off again that late a.m. n got to Delaware the next night, had to stop once for fuel, n took off till I got to Delaware, hit rain, got a motel room n waited till the rain ended, left early a.m., made it home by the next nite by 10p.m. n got in the garage just in time to beat a rain storm, that bike was the best an only ride I did that far as I hadn't gone more than 50 miles previously, total reliability n performance, taught my brother how to ride it n maintain it while I was overseas, had to buy a bigger bike when I got back, as he wanted to keep it, had too much fun on it n loved it like I did.
They need to make these bikes again. They look amazing.
I'm a real old guy. For $30 in 1978 I bought a 1965 CB150 Honda twin that had 725 original miles, and the original whitewall tires (dry-rotted) --- the engine was seized up. I removed the heads and cylinders to find the rings rusted to the sleeves. New rings gaskets, tires and presto!... it ran again. I used it for college commuting every day (40-mile round trip), graduated after putting a few thousand on the odometer, then sold it to the next door neighbor for a couple hundred. On level highway with no wind, the thing would do 53 mph. Downhill with a tailwind would push 60. Neighbor still has it, although it hasn't been started in many years. :)
I owned a CL-350 in 1970 when I was in college. I traveled all over the East Coast with it, and it never let me down, even once. I look back on it fondly, and I wish I had never sold it. Now, I have a VTR-250 which I plan to keep till the day I die. Why this bike was never sold in the US, I will never know, but it is as next to perfect as it gets.
Thank you very much for the history and bringing back many fond memories! Honda and Pirsig changed my life for the better. My first motorcycle was a Honda CL175 that I bought from my neighbor in 1973 for $100. I rode it all over the Central Texas Hill Country backroads and even ventured to San Antonio and Houston. It was bulletproof and more fun per dollar than anything I've ever owned. Many motorcycles later, I ended up with a new BMW R100/7 due to it's good road and some off road characteristics for mountain trails. I'm an engineer and still have total faith in Honda engineering after many of their cars. After all, "you meet the nicest people on a Honda" 🙂
The Honda 305 scrambler was a gorgeous motorcycle!
Yes high pipes
@@davidnelson6893 And they had a better shaped tank, or did later Super Hawks all get a nicer shaped tank?
My dad had a 66 Cb77, I was able to ride it from time to time, very reliable and with electric starter, it didnt have turn signals, but we wired those in by hand. It had massive front and rear brakes all with leading shoes, operated by thick cables with grease fitting(rear cable)
I owned a black 305 Super Hawk. I think it was a 1967. I put a set of Wiesco 11.5 to 1 pistons in it, and jetted the carbs correctly and it would do an honest 100 MPH. Also very important for best performance was the valve adjustment. I had a set of Honda upswept pipes from a 305 Scrambler on it until my Wife got tired of burning her leg on them! I flogged the hell out of it for 30K. miles. A bulletproof design. My next bike was a 1972 Suzuki 750. Water cooled 2 stroke. Also a very fine bike. Many bikes later, my Wife and I have been riding GL1800 G/Wings for the last 17 years. We have been riding together 51 years. Thanks Honda! HAPPY TRAILS!
Thanks for fleshing out the often overlooked importance of the 1960's for Honda's meteoric rise to dominance in the 1970's. I had no idea that the Super Hawks were so capable, as I was born in 1962.
Meteors don't rise, they fall😛
@@billmago7991 I misused the phrase, which commonly refers to a rapid rise to prominence, followed by a precipitous fall. Instead I should have said something like "rapid ascent".
I had a new super hawk in 1968. The starter seldom was able to start the bike. I finally got in the habit just using the kick start. On the road one day it made a terrible whirring noise. The Honda dealer told me a cylinder sleeve had gotten loose and was going up and down with the piston. I did not know enough to question that. It got fixed under warranty but it showed a fragility.
In high school, graduated in 1966, I always wanted a motorcycle but my parents said no. My girlfriend’s brother had bikes and he let me ride them. First a Honda 65cc then a Honda Super 90, a beautiful bike. After a while with those I rode his Super Hawk. Oh my God, I felt like I had a jet fighter under me! When I moved to California in 1969 I bought my own used CB -450. Within a year I was working for the Honda dealer and was there when the CB-750 came to America. We even converted a few for the police department to use. Still ride at 73. 😊
My first bike was a 1961 CB77 $250.00 in 1963, right after I got out of the USN. I added clip ons, rear sets, one of the factory seats and a faring. Thought I was a racer.
Great memories. I was a part of that early 60's Honda generation. First I had a Super 90, then a CB-160, and finally a CL-450. Friends had the Triumph 500 (I was jealous), Honda 150 Dream; and a Norton 750. One friend had the Suzuki 250 X-6. He only rode that thing one way; wide open throttle...I always admired the Super hawk, would have loved to have owned one.
exactly how i feel. i had a 150 dream and i loved it. it just cranked and went every time. not too fast but surely fast enough for a 15 year old kid..........great memories...
SL 90 motosport, SL 175 my 1st 2. Then the DT 250 & 360 Enduros. I considered my Pappys 1970 CL 350 as the perfect motorcycle, along with the Yamaha 360 .
I've owned & ridden Brit bikes & Hondas (and others) from way back then to today -
Got to say this is as well balanced and as informative as you could pretty much squeeze into 20 and a bit minutes.
Nice one Bart - Keep 'em coming
Matt’s dad here. Returning to riding with a 855i Triumph. Back in my youth I rode a very built 600 cc Norton Dominator. Very much a sleeper.
A riding brother popped up with a SuperHawk. Very nice concept
Looked and ran more like the big boy bikes. But check out its cousin The Honda Dream. Nothing else like it before then.
I think the Japanese thought they were making the SuperHawk for rockers and the Dream for mods.
But like the Mick, I’m neither. I’m a rod and a mocker. Lol. Ride it like you stole it.
It's great that a younger guy is into all this history of bikes. I could see myself commenting all day long on your videos. A bit of context, my old man was big in to bikes, he used to race when he was young and had raced at the IOM. I was his 3rd kid, so by the time I was born he only raced at our local circuit which was Aintree. Anyway by the time he retired he had a couple of early 60's small capacity Ducati's, a 1949 Moto Guzzi Arianne, a 250 4 Benneli, an MZ 250 ISDT, and an early 60's 125 twin Honda Benly, which he had 2 of. He got the Honda's from his mate who owned him money, and like a lot of his bikes arrived at our house in pieces. The Hondas were really nice bikes, with electric start, big massive brakes, just really good looking bikes, apart from the shitty pressed steel forks, and maybe the frame was pressed steel, I can't remember now TBH. He dies last year at 90, after battling with alzheimer's for 10 years, during which all his bikes were sold.
It's lovely that he loved bikes.
I bought a CA-77 (Dream) in 1972. It was my second Honda. I put 14,000 miles on my Sport 50 before I sold it. I trailered that Dream from PA to CA in 1974. It was my only means of transportation for a year. I had a CB450 and a CB750 after that. After 30 years on Harleys, I'm looking for another Honda, probably a 450 or 750 as my last bike. I'm 73 and can't live without one. In 1965 I was in Tokyo for 3 weeks and my father took me the Honda factory to buy some parts. I nearly wet my pants seeing motorcycles hanging from the ceiling because they were producing them so quickly.
In 1968 I borrowed a Super Hawk 305 and being 14, bending low over the tank, I achieved 98 indicated mph and experienced a speed wobble which scares me to this day!!
Fantastic memories.. my dad bought a used super hawk 305 in the late 1960s.. he could not get out of the driveway without me on the back! .. in early '70s he bought a Suzuki 500 Twin 2 stroke... I turned 18 in 1977 and purchased a brand new 1978 Honda hawk 400.. the bike had a large bore Short stroke engine.. with a high red line.. it really loves to be revved! The engine wasn't unusual as was multiport with 2 intakes & 1 exhaust port per cylinder... The bike was fast and it also handled really well around corners I could lean it way over without anything scraping... The engine was actually part of the frame! And it had the new comstar wheels that look like mag wheels but flex like spokes..
I had a few CB72/77 bikes. The CB72 sold well in the UK due to the 250cc learner law. They were so well engineered, the only weak area was the gearbox, they only had 4 speeds, unless you were lucky to find a 5 speed cluster from the CR race kit.
My first bike was a 1967 black Superhawk. Bought it from a man in Akron for 200 bucks when it was the summer before my senior year in high school, 1972. I rode the piss out of this bike while singing Elton John's Rocket Man in my head. LOL Brings back great memories here. Thanks so much. I loved this bike.
My first "big" bike was the 160.
What a great bike that was. Rode it every day, rode it to school, rode it to friends house, sometimes I just rode it to ride. That wonderful exhaust note, that smooth ride. Wind in my hair, careless 14 year old.
My next bike was the CL350 which I enjoyed riding the dirt trails of Arkansas. Next was the Suzuki GT550 3 cylinder 2 stroke. What a blast that was. Finally in 1979 I bought a brand new Suzuki GS1000 for $2400.
I'll never forget that 160 and all those great rides on the country back roads of northern Arkansas.
Old story. I lived in Arkansas when I had the 160. It started to have problems with one carb flooding. Seems the float wasn't floating any more. Later I went to Victorville, California to visit my uncle, he took me to the Honda place and they had the float and bowl gasket in stock!
I started on a 305 Superhawk at age 21. Since then I had a CB350, a i981 Goldwing, and a 1997 Harley Dyna glide. The Hondas were the best! I am 71 and drive an F150!
Had a 305 super hawk while stationed at Ft. Huachuca Arizona in 1967-68.Took lots of trips to Mexico thru the mountains and canyons.Now I'm 77 and drive a Mustang..
Bought my low mileage Honda 250 Superhawk when I got out of the ARMY in 1973. Loved the bike, rode it everywhere in N. Cal.. ..I recall the inconvenience of my leg repeatedly breaking the key off in the ignition. Upgraded to a Honda 750F in 1981 and began road racing in the AFM.. for five years.
I remember seeing this Honda model for the first time and how awed I was at the finish and craft.
Hey! I was born and raised in a motorcycle shop in Hawaii ,primarily japanese bikes , the biggest shop in our state from the 70's . I'm sure I knew or met the dude on that superhawk and absolutely sure my Dad knew him . As a lifelong motorcycle mechanic I can say for certain that Honda is the shit! In fact one of our benly's ended up being restored and was being displayed at the gugenheim . Keep up the good work !
Bart for president, as usual, bravo!!!
In the late 60's I was 15 1/2 when I bought my first bike. It was a near new but used CL160 Honda. I'm in my 60's now and I have bought, built, traded and restored everything from Honda's,Triumph, BSA, Norton, Kawasaki, Suzuki, now Harley's. Funny thing, you never forget that first feeling of freedom like I did when I was 15 1/2 on that Honda CL 160. Now when I fire up my Harley and roll down my long driveway I still feel like I'm looking through the eyes of that 15 1/2 year old kid....Keep the shinny side up friends.
Thanks to my school friend I had the great opportunity to ride the red 1967 Honda 250 cc "Hawk" in Bombay, India. One of the very few times I felt really exhilarated (a feeling of great euphoria) was when I took this Honda Hawk on a yet unfinished Chembur to Thana highway and opened the throttle fully. I was just laughing and laughing at the acceleration, the sound from the twin exhaust and the wind gushing past my hair (helmets had not yet come to India). Wow! What a motorcycle!
What helped the Japanese was their metalurgy which was way advanced !
Yes - they considered it offensive to work with sub standard steel & aluminium from the cultural type perspectives known to them. In europe the use of inferior recycled metal was rife.
I loved the Superhawk when I was a kid in the 60s. I had a picture of it on the wall when I wasn't even a teenager
I had a Honda S90 in high school and a 1972 CB450 later on. Both bikes were bullet proof, very fun, and efficient to run.
I was a british is best teenager in the late 1960s and my first motorcycle was a BSA C15. It needed a full rebuild so i bought a Yamaha YL1 a 100cc two stroke twin. It was like riding a super-light screaming pogo stick. British brake linings, tyres and rear units transformed it and I really sniffed when the BSA was ready and I had to sell it. Early 70s and history repeated itself and, when my BSA Thunderbolt needed a bottom end rebuild( bad maintenence by a previous owner), I bought a Honda CB77, 305 at the right price. The Honda did almost everything the T-bolt did at half the engine size. It was a corker as was the CB350 I later acquired as a runabout. Still I love my T-bolt. With a Keihin carburettor instead of the manky Anal and electronic ignition, coupled with routine maintenance I enjoy performing and a super stainless micro mesh oil filter it is as reliable as a Honda. Miss the button start though.
The Superhawk engine always reminds me of the Laverda 750.
It should be the other way around!
My first Honda was a ‘68 350 scrambler. And it was very fast! I could out run Sportsters, Triumphs etc through the quarter. It never let me down and I’ve always rode Hondas. I have two V4s now. I’m 74 and still riding Hondas . Thanks Honda for all the smiles. I always wanted A BSA lightning until I saw the CB750K. I bought one of them and never looked back. I loved my Goldwing as well.
My first experience with Honda was the late 60s CB450. It was introduced in 1965. Bart seems to have overlooked this legendary model. Still my fav, followed by the CB350Four
The 500 four was great
I owned one of these in the mid 60s. After a British bike it was a revelation. I had a fairing fitted, and replaced the air filters with inlet trumpets. After rejetting the carbs it easily reached an indicated 110 mph and the fuel consumption actually improved. I seem to recall having to replace the valve springs when the performance dropped suddenly.
Silencers (mufflers) were stainless steel with replaceable baffles. Some idiots took out the baffles and killed the power output.
Not everything was perfect. Fitting UK tyres and front brake pads and Girling rear shocks improved all round handling significantly.
Replaced it with a CB450. Disappointing overall compared to the CB77 and it was so much heavier.
Gave up motorcycles after a couple of accidents but then bought a Lotus Elan. That is another story.
Had a 305 in 68…..I was a Badass in school!
The red 305 @ 14:00 is actually a CL72 Which was a 250cc. The giveaway is the smaller brake drums... being a smaller bore and the same stroke, they were a bit torquier than the 305. They made those in the CB style. Also there was a blanking plate in front of the CL engine where the e-start of the CB model had it.
My dad was very proud that he owned the second Honda sold in Wrexham, Wales back in the very early 1960s. It was a CB72 Dream Super Sports, and he said that despite the ribbing he got from his mates on bigger British bikes, they soon followed him and got Hondas too once they saw how clean his hands always were. They sort of sold themselves. The guy who bought the first Honda? Well, in Wales, due to the fact that so many people have the same surname, you tend to get a nickname which sticks with you for life; the bloke who bought the first Honda was only ever known as “Eric Honda”.
My first motorcycle was a’61 CB77. Bought it for $250.00 a couple months after I got out of the USN in 1963. It’s only problem,The shift drum broke. I think it cost less than $50.00 to have it repaired. Eventually it had rear sets, clip ons, a factory racing seat and a faring. It looked cool but I wasn’t any more of a racer then than now. I’m 80 and have a 72 Volt SurRon. Also a Metacycle which “BRICKED” yesterday. I’m thinking about maybe a Zero FXE. Appreciate your channel, thank you.
The Honda Dream 305 was the first motorcycle of many I owned during the 1960's and the ONLY one that didn't leak oil. It was the first bike I ever owned where I could spend more time riding it rather than fixing it. Sold me for life on Honda.
I currently own a Honda Gold Wing 2003 and it is a totally reliable and beautiful machine even 20 years later. Honda rocks !!!!!
I bought a 1964 Honda Superhawk in 1969. It didn't run. $225. What stands out is exactly what you have identified here. It might have cost me $50 to get it running and it never cost me anything, at all, after that. i lost a race with a Triumph Tiger on I287, before I287 even opened, but he was alone (I had a passenger) and he barely walked away from me. Well, I did lose. That bike was SO reliable, did not leak oil, and, well, wow. I've owned many since then, but I regret selling that bike.
That high pipe 305 with smaller tank was owned by a kid in my highschool in the sixties. It was the ultimate bike, soooo cool, everyone was jealous. Take out the baffels and it had a loud and unique sound. I still remember the longing I felt to this day. I was in love with anything Honda. However, my dad was a union man and and forbade me to buy a Honda. 😟 I ended up buying a two cycle Harley that looked a bit like a sportster, to it's credit, but had that awful two cycle rin tin tin tin to it when you let off of the gas. Generator didn't work, chrome was replaced with paint, a Honda 65cc could out run me. I tried to be cool despite all the disadvantages but only rode it the summer and sold it to buy a 10 yr old 57 Chevy on it's 3rd round of Bondo. Cars didn't last long in Michigan in those days. Appreciate the trip down memory lane. You only hit briefly on the sportier 305 and I can't remember it's name but it was king for a spell where I came from.
At the age of just 16 I had a Honda CB72, that was back in 1967. I can verify everything you said, it was faster than all 500cc and could keep up with most 650cc that I cam across, down a very long steep hill the speedo was reading 110 mph, the only problem I had was, chain snapping and the rear tire slipping and ripping out the valve.
I had a 305 Superhawk. I got it up to 92 MPH. Later, I upgraded to a CB750 4 cylinder. I had quite a few Hondas. Nice bikes.
I bought a 305 Superhawk from a friend who’s brother bought and raced it in Japan. It was 1965. I was 19.
The valves and valve train had been modified and would easily turn 12,000 rpm. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the Superhawk engine was the first commercially available four stroke engine with variable valve timing.
I had a lot of fun riding it but didn’t keep it long as I had a few close calls, if you know what I mean.
Mine was a single carb 305 dream. An early model. With the swing forks. Compared to the later 180 crank models it was a far superior bike for us. Very efficient, powerful enough. Unstallable in traffic. Reliable. With a great sprung seat that absorbed all the shocks of our rough roads. An enclosed chain that protected it from wet and grit. Its only flaw was the high pipes. Not on the single side as the street scrambler, but one on each side. Had to be careful to avoid burns. No Honda produced after this was able to tick so many boxes. They became toys rather than bikes intended to be a daily work horse.
In ‘77 in purchased my Dad’s CB350 and just Loved it!! Great Bike!
In 1968 I bought a 1964 model CL-72 "250 Scrambler", the older cousin to the more popular and more numerous B/CL-77s with their 305cc engines. I seem to recall that the CL-72 had 72 mm pistons (or maybe it was stroke) while the 305s were 77 mm. The fastest way to tell stock 250 and 305 bikes from a distance was from the right side, the final drive sprocket was smaller on the 250 (thus giving me a top end advantage over my 305cc friends when racing a long downhill), and from the left side, the upper pipe on the CL-77 (305cc) Scrambler was welded to the muffler and the lower pipe would slip out of a red rubber gasket, whereas the CL-72s (250) had both upper and lower pipes gasketed making the muffler easily slip-off removable. (I had "Snuf-or-Nots" installed in my pipes to quiet them down ... when I felt like it.) I also upgraded my tank emblems by buying 305 badges from the dealer and put my original badges marked "250" in a drawer; forty years later I learned my 250 badges were worth way more to collectors than the 305 badges so apparently I wasn't the only guy trying to pose as riding a more expensive bike. It was a great bike.
Well done!! A very telling statement you made towards the end of the vdeo 'It provides all of the horsepower you will ever need for the streets'..totally agree in this day of overpowered overweight electronically festooned 2 wheeled Miatas.
I currently ride a BMW G310GS everywhere year round. In 1972 I had a CB 350 which could easily walk away from Triumphs, BSA's, Nortons and Sportsters at any stop light races. Simply because those bikes seemed to be always sputtering or out of tune.
In 1972 Honda sold more versions of the 350 (CL CB SL) than Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki had in combined sales. All thanks to the CB 77.
In '76 I bought a slightly used SS 350. Had something like 25 miles on the odometer and was in showroom condition. I stupidly traded it for a CB 350 and a almost new trail 90. Rode both without a helmet all over Santa Rosa California during the summer. I drove the 90 in inclement weather.
Even today, this style of Honda is still evocative. Wouldn't mind any of them today....
The first Honda l had was the 125cc CB92 followed by the C72 and then the 250 version the CB72 twin really great bikes in their day.
Proud owner of a 1967 Yamaha YM1 305 2-stroke. Going under a complete engine rebuild since I had to spit the cases to replace the kickstarter gear. A true classic.
My very first bike was a '67 model. I was a few weeks away from turning 16 when an uncle came back from Laos with a black Superhawk 305. That was 1969 and it was the first time I saw anything like it. He wanted to sell it and came to ask my dad but dad didn't know how to ride, so... now I regret not taking good care of it the time I had it.
My dad had one. He commuted from our house in Hermosa Beach to Canoga Park at Rocketdyne. There were no freeways yet. His route took him through the Topanga pass.
I have a CB77 in the shop right now. Such an elegant little machine. Beautiful.
I have a Honda CB77 road racer full tilt in my bedroom , it had a top speed of 125 MPH with a little engine and chassis mods running in the 350 class and the engine
was 305 cc's. mine is .020 over bore30mm Amal carbs , high lift cam light and polished rocker arms, heavy valve springs, racing clutch and springs, close ratio trans. Could run in the 500cc class and do good. The 350 class in the AFM was ruled by the Honda CB77. I'm 84 years old and was a Honda parts manager and General Manager during the 60's and early 70's.