Aoshima 1/12 1998 Honda Dream 50

KIT #: 050729
PRICE: 2000 yen SRP
DECALS: One option
REVIEWER: Scott Van Aken
NOTES:

HISTORY

Finding any sort of historical background beyond a sentence was not easy so I'm picking bits out of a review of a  2007 racing version of this motorcycle. The street bike is pretty much the same aside from having lights, a pair of instruments, sound attenuators, and perhaps an electric starter.

The Dream was built to commemorate Honda's early racing history that began in the 50cc class. The factory RC110 debuted in 1962, and it spawned the commercially available Cub Racing CR110. The single-cylinder CR featured gear-driven double-overhead cams, a dry clutch and an 8-speed gearbox. The new Dream uses lower-tech chains to drive its cams, yet it is able to rev 1000 rpm higher than the 13,500-rpm CR110 and directs power through a 6-speed gearbox.

The Dream has been offered for sale in Japan for several years, and an entire cottage industry has been built around it. HRC has built a huge list of go-fast parts for the Dream since Asian enthusiasts seem willing to throw everything they can get at their racebikes.

But even in stock condition, the Dream impresses with its pure racebike design and trick bits. A lovely oil catch tank created out of aluminum contains crankcase blow-by, and aluminum fenders are used front and rear. Despite the use of a period-spec steel frame, Honda claims the lithe Dream weighs just 157 pounds dry. The Dream is a product of HRC, and they've been kind enough to pre-drill the oil drain bolt to satisfy racing regulations for lockwiring critical fasteners.

You won't find a convenient kickstart lever on the Dream, let alone a wussy electric starter. Cranking it over is via the Hailwood method of bump-starting, usually quite easy on the Dream despite the big 11.7:1 compression ratio. Acceleration is as limp as a scuba diver's Kleenex until the revs climb into the five-digit range. It starts pulling at 12,500 rpm before falling off 2000 revs later. Honda claims 7 horsepower at 13,500 from the 49cc engine, but it sounds like much more when the giant open velocity stack ravenously sucks in air for the open 20mm carb as the 40mm piston goes up and down 240 times each second.
THE KIT

This addition to Aoshima's 'Naked Bike' series (where do they come up with these names), is a rather neat looking race inspired 50cc bike. Molded on four major sprues, the detailing is excellent. One sprue is chrome, one is a nicely done aluminum, while one is red and the other in black. This is theoretically to assist in painting as the red bits are for the minimal bodywork and tank halves. There is also a clear sprue for light and instrument covers. Turn and brake light covers will need to be painted. The kit comes with rubber/vinyl pneumatic tires and a long length of tubing to use for brake lines. Screws are provided to use as axles for the front and rear wheels.

The chain, drive and sprocket are all molded as one piece. The chrome is really well done and the wheels look quite good. I'm sure that many will end up stripping some of these pieces once they have removed mold seams . But for younger modelers who are not concerned with these niceties, the chrome will make for a very shiny model.

Instructions are well drawn and while much of the instruction material is in Japanese, there is enough English to make construction easy. Colors are provided in Gunze references. There is also a nice decal sheet with Honda logos, instrument faces and a few other bits. No authentic plate, which would have been nice. There is also no overall painting guide, but you can use the box art for that purpose.

CONCLUSIONS

This is another very nicely done large scale small motorcycle by Aoshima. It looks like it will make a superb model when done and isn't so complex as to take an age to build.

REFERENCES

http://caferacersociety.blogspot.com

September 2011 

My thanks to www.dragonmodelusa.com for the review kit. Get yours today at your local retailer or ask them to order it in for you.

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