Honda CB77
Encyclopedia
The Super Hawk CB77 was a 305 cc twin-cylinder Honda
motorcycle
produced from 1961 until 1967. Honda also produced a 247 cc version called the CB72 Dream Sport, while various advertisements referred to the 305 cc CB77 as the Dream Super Sport. The CB77 is also known as the Honda Super Hawk, or Honda305. It is remembered today as a landmark model in Honda's advances in Western motorcycle markets of the 1960s.
er, necessary in order to miss the right-hand footpeg, and re-locatable footpegs that could be sited well rearward (at the expense of forfeiting the pillion) thus enhancing the sporting ride position, especially when the machine was the lo-bar variant.
The 247 cc version (54.0 x 54.0 mm) gave 20 bhp @ 8,000 rpm in standard Dream trim and 24 bhp @ 9,000 rpm in Dream Super Sport trim. Top speed for the Dream Super Sport was 85 mi/h without the rider lying flat on the tank. This was about 5 mi/h higher than the fastest British 250 (Royal Enfield 20 bhp single).
The enlarged 305 cc version (60.0 x 54.0 mm) gave 28.5 bhp @ 9,000 rpm. The 305 Super Hawk proved so agile, powerful (the 1963 CB77 "Super Sport") and well-behaved that it easily outperformed many of its contemporaries with higher displacements. It was capable of 90 mi/h without the rider having to lie flat on the tank. Some argue that the advent of the CB77 Super Hawk was the beginning of the end to the British bike domination in the field of street and casual race motorcycles. The quality and reliability were far superior. The oil-tight engine, electric starter and 180° crank angle were also major factors in its success.
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and CA72 and CA77 (CA77 is also known as the CA78) were called Dream. Honda Dreams of the 1960s had a similar motor to that on the CB72/77, with the main difference being that the CA72/77 had a pressed frame while CB72/77 had a tube frame with the motor acting as piece of the frame. The motor of the CA72/77 featured a 360 degree crankshaft and single carb. The Honda Dreams were touring bikes with a more relaxed sitting position and more sheetmetal and ornamentation and offered a more docile experience than the blood-stirring Super Hawks.
– both using the motor essentially identical to that in the CB72/77. The main difference was the gearbox ratios, to allow for the Scrambler's intended use as an off-road bike, and the absence of the electric starter found on the 'road' models – the CL used a conventional cradle frame to improve ground clearance and the front downtube passed the motor where the starter needed to be. Although not as capable as a modern off-road bike, the CL72/77 Scrambler did have a high-performance, 9,000 rpm dual-carburated motor, with a very wide power band, high-clearance exhaust pipes and knobby tires.
Today this Honda triumvirate, CB72/77 Super Hawk, CA72/77 Dream, and CL72/77 Scrambler, enjoys a wide following of bike collectors and restorers.
The CP77 model is equipped with turn signals as the Canadian law required them in the 60’s as the US models did not due to their laws. CP77 also came with high rises bars, non-hinged front foot rest. The CB77 came with flat and low rise bars. The front foot rest in the US were also hinged. CP77 kept the early type taillight only. In the US for the first year models they used the same light, then changed the light as the models progressed.
rode a CB77 Super Hawk on the trip he made with his son and their friends in 1968 on a two month round trip from their home in St. Paul, Minnesota to Petaluma, California
, which became the basis for the novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values. The novel never mentions the make or model of Pirsig's motorcycle, but does discuss their companions, John and Sylvia Sutherland's, new BMW, an R60/2
. The R60/2, prized for its place in motorcycle literature, has changed hands and is still regularly ridden, while Pirsig was, , still the owner of his CB77 Super Hawk.
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
produced from 1961 until 1967. Honda also produced a 247 cc version called the CB72 Dream Sport, while various advertisements referred to the 305 cc CB77 as the Dream Super Sport. The CB77 is also known as the Honda Super Hawk, or Honda305. It is remembered today as a landmark model in Honda's advances in Western motorcycle markets of the 1960s.
Attributes
The motorcycle was known for its robust and precise motor and the overall high quality of fabrication and assembly. The motor was a stressed member of the frame, strengthening the frame and improving the handling over designs with a "dropped-in" motor and cradle frame. All CB models had a forward-arcing kick startKick start
Kick start refers to a method of starting an internal combustion engine by pushing a ratcheting lever with one's foot. Kick start mechanisms were almost universally a part of motorcycle engines before the mid-1970s, and were phased out of production over the next twenty years or so as electric...
er, necessary in order to miss the right-hand footpeg, and re-locatable footpegs that could be sited well rearward (at the expense of forfeiting the pillion) thus enhancing the sporting ride position, especially when the machine was the lo-bar variant.
The 247 cc version (54.0 x 54.0 mm) gave 20 bhp @ 8,000 rpm in standard Dream trim and 24 bhp @ 9,000 rpm in Dream Super Sport trim. Top speed for the Dream Super Sport was 85 mi/h without the rider lying flat on the tank. This was about 5 mi/h higher than the fastest British 250 (Royal Enfield 20 bhp single).
The enlarged 305 cc version (60.0 x 54.0 mm) gave 28.5 bhp @ 9,000 rpm. The 305 Super Hawk proved so agile, powerful (the 1963 CB77 "Super Sport") and well-behaved that it easily outperformed many of its contemporaries with higher displacements. It was capable of 90 mi/h without the rider having to lie flat on the tank. Some argue that the advent of the CB77 Super Hawk was the beginning of the end to the British bike domination in the field of street and casual race motorcycles. The quality and reliability were far superior. The oil-tight engine, electric starter and 180° crank angle were also major factors in its success.
Related bikes
There is some confusion regarding models imported to the UK – it is known that the CB72 & 77 were called 250 Dream Sport & 300 Dream Super Sport respectively, but where the US Dream models (C, CA, CS & CSA72 & 77) fitted in for UK dealers is unclear, if these models were ever officially imported at all. In the US, the 250 cc CB72 was known as the Hawk, beginning a long line of "hawk" related models that continues today with the CB250 NighthawkHonda CB250
The Nighthawk 250 is a standard Honda motorcycle. It features a air-cooled parallel twin engine. First manufactured in 1982, the motorcycle has changed little except for color....
.
Dream
The CB72/77 is related to the CA72/77 models as well as to the CL72/77. The Honda C71, C76, C72, C77 DreamHonda C71, C76, C72, C77 Dream
The 250cc Honda C71 and C72 Dream and the identical C76 and C77 bikes with 305cc capacity) were the first larger-capacity motorcycles that Honda mass-exported...
and CA72 and CA77 (CA77 is also known as the CA78) were called Dream. Honda Dreams of the 1960s had a similar motor to that on the CB72/77, with the main difference being that the CA72/77 had a pressed frame while CB72/77 had a tube frame with the motor acting as piece of the frame. The motor of the CA72/77 featured a 360 degree crankshaft and single carb. The Honda Dreams were touring bikes with a more relaxed sitting position and more sheetmetal and ornamentation and offered a more docile experience than the blood-stirring Super Hawks.
Scrambler
Another close Super Hawk relative of the era was the Scrambler. Two main versions were produced – CL72 and CL77Honda CL77
The CL77 Scrambler 305 was a close relative of the Honda C77 Dream and the CB77 Super Hawk of the 1960s.Scramblers differed from the sport bikes to allow for some off-road riding. The CL77 differed from the CB77 Super Hawk in a number of ways. To increase ground clearance, it had upswept exhaust...
– both using the motor essentially identical to that in the CB72/77. The main difference was the gearbox ratios, to allow for the Scrambler's intended use as an off-road bike, and the absence of the electric starter found on the 'road' models – the CL used a conventional cradle frame to improve ground clearance and the front downtube passed the motor where the starter needed to be. Although not as capable as a modern off-road bike, the CL72/77 Scrambler did have a high-performance, 9,000 rpm dual-carburated motor, with a very wide power band, high-clearance exhaust pipes and knobby tires.
Today this Honda triumvirate, CB72/77 Super Hawk, CA72/77 Dream, and CL72/77 Scrambler, enjoys a wide following of bike collectors and restorers.
Police
Honda produced a limited number of the CB77-based Super Hawk Full Dress Police bikes, designated CYP77. Most were sold in Asia, although a few examples ended up in other parts of the world. Confirmed original examples are known in Norway, England, Canada and the U.S. The CYP77 bikes were outfitted with a solo seat, a rack with a ticket box, front and rear crash bars, a speed trap speedometer (the officer could fix the highest speed reached in his speedometer, while giving chase) and a cable driven mechanical siren, that reportedly sounds like the police sirens from the 1930s gangster movies.CP77 Super Hawk
In most cases, the CP77 Super Hawk is essentially a completely stock CB77, however, some believe that the CP77 was intended as a "special options" platform bike for export to different non-US markets. Known and confirmed CP77 examples exist with various options not generally seen in regular production bikes, such as turn signals. Most of the known CP77 bikes are in Canada, although they do turn up in other countries.The CP77 model is equipped with turn signals as the Canadian law required them in the 60’s as the US models did not due to their laws. CP77 also came with high rises bars, non-hinged front foot rest. The CB77 came with flat and low rise bars. The front foot rest in the US were also hinged. CP77 kept the early type taillight only. In the US for the first year models they used the same light, then changed the light as the models progressed.
CYB77 Super Hawk Road Racer
In the early 1960s, Honda Motor Company entered road race variants of the 250cc and 305cc Super Hawk in various European road races with some success. HMC made many of the roadracer parts available in its CB72/CB77 parts manual as factory parts using the part number prefix CYB77. The road racer had megaphone exhausts, clip on handlebars, special roadracing seat, shortened fenders, rear peg gear shift and brake linkages, a telescopic damper for the forks, plus numerous other part options which could be ordered from Honda.Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Robert M. PirsigRobert M. Pirsig
Robert Maynard Pirsig is an American writer and philosopher, and author of the philosophical novels Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values and Lila: An Inquiry into Morals .-Background:...
rode a CB77 Super Hawk on the trip he made with his son and their friends in 1968 on a two month round trip from their home in St. Paul, Minnesota to Petaluma, California
Petaluma, California
Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. In the 2010 Census the population was 57,941.Located in Petaluma is the Rancho Petaluma Adobe, a National Historic Landmark. It was built beginning in 1836 by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, then Commandant of the San...
, which became the basis for the novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values. The novel never mentions the make or model of Pirsig's motorcycle, but does discuss their companions, John and Sylvia Sutherland's, new BMW, an R60/2
BMW R60/2
The R60 and R60/2 are 600 cc boxer-twin that were manufactured from 1956 to 1969 in Munich, Germany, by BMW.-Production history:Some 20,133 of these 600 cc shaft-drive, opposed twin R60 , R60/2 , and R60US were built...
. The R60/2, prized for its place in motorcycle literature, has changed hands and is still regularly ridden, while Pirsig was, , still the owner of his CB77 Super Hawk.