Motorcycle specifications Honda Dream type D 1949 The cornerstone

Honda is certainly the best-known motorcycle manufacturer in the world. Not the oldest, as the company was founded after the Second World War - the oldest brands, both European and American, were born much earlier: The first Peugeot motorcycle dates back to 1901, but Le Lion was already producing a DeDion-Bouton motor tricycle in 1898, Indian arrived in 1901, Triumph in 1902,Harley in 1903..

In the Japanese archipelago, the motorcycle was born with Nazaro Shimazu's NS. Honda is neither the forerunner of the motorcycle in its own country nor in the world... But the work of its founder Soichiro, his capacity for innovation, the quality of his products, his success in competition and his reliability have made it a brand to be reckoned with.

Honda's first production run was not quite a motorcycle. The 1947 Model A was more akin to a bicycle with the addition of an auxiliary engine. But it wasn't long before the very first in-house motorcycle arrived. In 1949, 20 years before the CB 750 tidal wave, Honda really put the wheel in the motorcycle world with the DREAM D-type.

Built with a pressed steel frame like the motorcycles of the 1920s, La Dream was powered by a 98 cm3 air-cooled 2-stroke single-cylinder engine. This little bike had no clutch. Instead, a semi-automatic system took care of shifting between the 2 gears. However, if the rider wanted to keep the first gear to climb a hill, for example, it was necessary to keep the "selector" pressed down. Toes quickly tired of the strain.

The screeching noise of the 2-stroke, appreciated or decried to this day, prompted Honda to develop a 4-stroke engine, which would be adopted on the next model: the Dream type E. After that, the brand would no longer produce a 2-stroke. After that, the brand produced only 4-strokes for over 20 years.

Sales of the E-type were an immediate success. From then on, Honda never ceased to perfect its models, to pioneer new solutions and to commit itself with ruthless rigor. Bold attempts didn't always meet with glory, some models flopped, others became incredible successes(RC 30, 900 CBR, 750 VFR, 1500 Goldwing, CB 500, etc.); but today, what name immediately springs to mind when asked about the most serious motorcycle brand? It all started with the Dream.

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