In the earliest days of Honda Japan’s entry into the US marketplace (1959), they exported some relatively untested models here including a “Super Sport” version of the more pedestrian “regular” dry-sump, C71 Dream series machine. This model was called the CE71. Perhaps the “E” stood for “Export” at the time, because subsequent US-market machines were designated with an “A,” for “America,” later on. According to the rarely-seen US parts books, only 390 machines were produced. For a member of the “Dream” family, they were most unusual, in that they were fitted with 18” wheels/tires, as well as 8" magnesium hubs/brakes, whereas all other 250-305cc Dream-series bikes always carried 16” wheel assemblies with 6.25" brakes on both ends.
Perhaps, less than 20 of these bikes are known to exist, with a few in the US, some in Japan and a handful in Holland. So, what happened to the CE71?
Looking at the early dry-sump Dream parts manuals, you can see that there were a number of engineering challenges going on with the production 250-305cc dry-sump machines. Crankshaft assemblies, in particular, were redesigned and re-introduced to the production line at a rapid rate. There are over 50 different part numbers associated with the dry-sump engine series. The cylinder heads and intake manifolds were redesigned, as was the ignition system. Early machines had a small distributor cap on the side of the cylinder head, using a rotor that was mounted on the end of the camshaft. The camchain tensioner of the CE71 had a small hole drilled and threaded into the body for installation of a small crankcase breather tube that returned to the oil tank.
The 250cc twins were launched in late 1957 and variations of that design ran until 1960, apparently culminating in the CB92 look-alike CE71. We know that the new wet-sump engines were being produced in 1960 as Dream engines, prior to the November 1960 unveiling of the CB72 Super Sports. So, why go the trouble to design and produce 390 CE71s?
Rumors abound that Honda attempted a full recall of the CE71s sometime in 1960, even though they were successful in completing the 3-Flags run, as shown on their advertising pages, distributed in various motorcycle magazines. How many bikes were successfully recalled and how did they go about compensating the customers are questions that need answers. Were the bikes crushed, recycled, or are they stored away in a long-forgotten warehouse, somewhere in the US?
Let’s take a look at the motorcycle climate in Japan and see how Honda was fitting into the bigger picture: The following text is from a 1961 Honda publication:
The increase of motorization in postwar Japan has certainly been outstanding, and the number of two-wheeled vehicles registered in the country at the end of 1961 exceeded 4,000,000 units.
This is the result of two-wheeled vehicles being utilized and appreciated as the most appropriate means of transportation for the reconstruction of the national economy, which had been devastated by the war. Along with the recent development of industries and the world’s highest rate of economic growth, there has been an increase lately in the demands for two-wheeled vehicles as sporting and recreation vehicles, in addition to the demand for them as practical vehicles. This has resulted in widening the scale and increasing the depth of the motorcycle industry, which is now making great strides as a truly national industry in Japan, both in name and in fact.
There are 20 makers, both large and small, in Japan. Their production totaled approximately 1,500,000 units in 1960, while in 1961 the production will reach more than 1,800,000 units. Japan is already a motorcycle manufacturing country. She is far ahead in production of the European countries, which used to be the top motorcycle makers in the world. Of the total Japanese production, Honda supplied about 650,000 units in 1960, accounting for 44 per cent of the whole market. In 1961, Honda alone will reach a production, which will be more than 50 per cent of the total.
In 1960, we know that Honda was producing lots of C100 Cub 50s (in production since 1958): the C92, CB92, CS92 Benly machines; the new wet-sump 250-305cc twins (Dream (C72-77), Dream Sport (CS72-77), plus their road racing team was ramping up with innovative four-cylinder engine designs. In the works was the new CB72 Super Sport (released Nov. 1960), which was a completely new design machine which would make the old pressed-steel framed CE71 look pretty outdated.
When you consider the resources of a rapidly growing motorcycle manufacturer, like Honda, and the amount of engineering, manufacturing of virtually all of the component parts in-house, and supporting a very intensive racing program, it is easy to see how some products could get the ax, as the company hurtled along into the booming 1960s. Perhaps, the CE71 was just too late in the product cycle to be of consequence, especially with the known issues of the engines. To continue to support this model with manufacturing, parts and engineering services was, no doubt, deemed foolhardy by company executives and the project was scrapped.
However, the question remains: How many were produced, sold and what happened to them all?
What we know or think we know about CE71s:
Total production: 390 units
Available in Black or Maroon colors. Honda made a deep blue color, called “Columbia Blue,” seen on numerous late 1950-early 1960 machines. Many of the CE71s, which I have seen, are Maroon, though. Honda's parts manuals show the code for blue on their painted parts, but do not mention Maroon.
All bikes came with 18” wheels. There were some rumors that the “later” bikes came with 16” Dream wheels. The parts books do not support that supposition, though.
They were all the same. Like just about every other Honda made, there were ongoing production and design changes for the CE71. There are two types of muffler mounting brackets used on these models, for instance. I have seen two styles of clutch assemblies in the two bikes I have worked on, thus far.
What was special about the engine? Honda outfitted the CE71s with different camshafts, a larger 24mm carburetor and higher compression pistons to improve performance to the tune of about two horsepower. Despite the use of a 360 degree firing crankshaft, which normally uses one set of ignition points and a single twin-lead ignition coil, the CE71 had dual points and dual coils to fire their spark plugs. The cylinder heads were outfitted with a tachometer drive for racing purposes. Honda did issue an optional racing tachometer with a 18,000 rpm scale, which replaced the speedometer in the headlight shell.
While the main design function of the CE71 was as a "Super Sports" performance machine, the "real" racing bikes associated with this design were the CR71 and RC71 models, produced in small numbers to mount an assault on the Mt. Asama racing meetings, held once a year in Japan.
In the US, a few CE71 engines were pirated for use in the prototype RC70 Scramblers which found their way to the US for testing. The CE71 engines featured extra horsepower, the tach drive and a return shift gearbox. The RC70s came from the factory with a basically stock C71 Dream streetbike engine, which had a rotary gearbox installed for convenient use in Japanese traffic situations. RC70s were the forerunners of the fabulously successful CL72 Honda 250 Scrambler models, made from 1962 to 1967.
When were they put on sale? On sale 09/01/1959, according to American Honda’s ID book.
How many are left? GREAT QUESTION! No one really knows for sure. There are at least 6 bikes in Holland, three or four in the Louisana/Florida area, three have been shipped back to Japan in the past two years and hopefully there is at least one in the Honda Museum in Japan. I have had my hands on three of them, before they were returned to the homeland. One of the bikes was serial number TWO, belonging to my recently departed friend, Fred Bell. He actually owned the bike new in 1960, rode it, crashed it and traded it in on a Triumph, while he was serving in the USAF in Mississippi. I helped him locate the bike again, some forty years later, in Pennsylvania. It was sad looking and missing some parts, but it was HIS bike. When I restored it, he asked me to leave the crease in the fuel tank alone, to remind him of surviving his big high-speed crash, as a youth.
What are they worth now? The people I know who have restored bikes in their collections seem to be willing to take about $20-25k for one in mint, restored condition. Rolling basket cases are probably worth $1000+, but getting spare parts is VERY difficult, so look for something that appears to be fairly complete. In a few case, some of the other C71-76 model parts can be used on a CE71, but things like the kickstarter covers are unique to this machine.
It is highly unlikely that you will ever find or see a real CE71 Honda, but if you remember this story, you will be able to pass the Jeapordy question: What is... a Honda CE71?
Bill "MrHonda" Silver
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