Colin Campbell’s CP77 Honda

At Somersby on the NSW Central Coast, Colin Campbell and his son Jake operate Campbell Classic Cycles, which deals in all sorts of vintage Japanese motorcycles, but tends to specialise in the CB72 and CB77 twins from the early ‘sixties. Occasionally something really unusual pops up, such as this 305cc CP 77 Police model. The fact that this is a genuine Police model factoryproduced by Honda is evidenced by the engine number: CP77 instead of the standard CB77, although the official model designation is CPY77. Generally, these machines were used throughout Asia and few found their way to the western world. Colin knows little of the machine’s history, however he understands it was used in Europe at some stage before finding its way to USA, where it was restored. It then found its way to Australia and into the Campbell emporium, and has been shown in public on several occasions. We caught up with this very unusual machine at the 2015 Barry Sheene Festival of Speed, where it was on display in the pit area, alongside Colin’s Jerry Kooistra-built 500cc CB72 raced on the weekend by Phil Paton. It’s hard to see this cobby little twin monstering too many speed offenders, but no doubt it played its role in law enforcement at some stage. The CP77 uses the Type 2 engine, with 360º crankshaft. This layout was reputed to produce a wider spread of power than the earlier Type 1 (180º) engine, so it would have been better suited to city work.