On a visit to the David Silver Honda Collection we had to stop and admire this forgotten single overhead cam Honda 750. Here’s a potted history of how it came about.
At the 1977 Isle of Man TT, Phil Read raced an 820cc version of the Honda CB750F2 to victory in the Formula 1 race, he went on to win the F1 World Championship that year. In the spring of 1978, Honda made the decision to mark Read’s victory by producing a limited edition of 500 replicas of the championship winning bike, it was to be badged as Phil Read Replica. Colin Seeley, a renowned frame builder, was commissioned to convert 400 standard F2’s into Phil Read Replicas. This required the fitting of a double headlight full fairing with Cibie headlights, 5 gallon alloy petrol tank, rear sets, a new seat unit and ‘works’ style exhaust. The paintwork was in the same red, white and blue colour scheme used by the Honda Britain racing team. So far, so good.
The Phil Read Replicas cost £1,895, which was £360 more than the standard Honda CB750 F2. They were in the showrooms for May 1978, just before the Isle of Man TT. Approximately 150 Phil Read Replicas were sold before a disagreement between Phil Read and Honda UK stopped the production of the model. Colin Seeley continued the special edition run, he added his own exhaust system and a colour scheme in red and white or blue and white, but they were pretty much the same. These are generally referred to as Honda Britains, but Honda sold them as CB750SS. Both models are pretty rare these days.
