Jewel of the Orient

This little jewel is probably the ultimate tiddler. The model shown here is a 1997 Honda Dream 50. Click the photo to enlarge it, but be sure to secure your drool napkin under your chin first. I often think about this rare little beauty and feel like a bloomin' idiot for not buying one of these rarities when it was available, even at the ridiculous $5495 price! If I had coughed up twice the sticker price of my '83 Nighthawk 550 for a machine that practically has to scream up to 10,000 rpm before it really begins to get out of its own way, it would have been identical to this one. If I were to pay my money, it would have to be red and silver and it would have to have lights and a speedo and tach, just like this one. Many were sold in solid red or black and silver, and most, if not all, were sold without lights. I am not even sure if this particular model with lights and a speedo was ever sold in the U. S., but I have collected numerous photos of Dream 50's. Some look like this one and some look like pure racers. They all are as attractive as Brigitte Bardot in 1962, which is when the original racer of which this is a replica, was built.

Note the resemblance to the CB-160 racer shown in the previous post. I have a fever dream that has two flavors. One looks just like the CB-160 racer or this '97 Dream 50, and the other looks like a red and silver CL-72 or a blue CL-350 K2 or K3 or a CL-90. Uh-oh, I'm having an orgasm all over myself. Anyone out there got a towel?

As with the post about the mystery of the red/blue/white/black CL-160 kitted CB-160's of 1967, I welcome any input from Tiddlerosis readers out there in TiddlerLand who may have more information or photos for me. The photos I have of the Dream 50 are mostly of this (and similar) 1997 models and black and silver 2004 models. I also have at least one photo of a solid red one. I used to have links to certain Honda pages concerning the Dream 50 in my old computer, but a crash caused me to lose access to some of those. I would love to know more details about this delicate little jewel of a Honda tiddler. Yes, I know it has a DOHC 50cc single cylinder engine, six-speed gearbox, and other such technical stuff. I know it was built in small numbers as a tribute to the CR110 of 1962. What I want to know is why do I have photos from 1997 and 2004, but nothing in between? Why is this model not even listed in my official 1959-2000 American Honda Guide? Were they all imported through the grey market? Was the model pictured actually imported with lighting equipment and a speedometer?