Which comes first, a bike that piques your interest, or a project idea that prompts you to shop for used bikes and additional parts that fit your vision? Either way, you may be interested to see the full time-lapse video of this extremely 2023 restomod project from YouTube channel This Old Jalopy.
What started life as a 1967 Honda CA160 (also called the “Baby Dream”) has now undergone a 21st century transformation into a sleek, stylish, fully-electrified vintage machine. Project Dream-E, as TOJ calls it, had a completely seized engine. Now, some people might try to resuscitate a classic Honda like this—but at a certain point, you have to ask yourself if that’s really the direction in which you want to expend serious amounts of time, energy, and money.
While TOJ primarily restomods cars, it’s clear that he’s interested in pushing the limits of what he can do, in terms of melding the past and the present together into one harmonious blend fit for modern road use. There’s a fascinating focus you can see on display throughout this video—and yes, the fact that the entire first segment of this video is almost more like a stop-motion animated version of a workshop timelapse was both surprising and utterly delightful.
Out came the old, seized engine, and everything else had to come off, too. The frame needed some repair work, primer, and paint. Other modifications had to be made in order to integrate the motor controller, batteries, and hub-mounted electric motor that TOJ sourced for fitment to the Dream-E.
Through it all, there’s an impressively clear-eyed vision at work. From modifying the fuel tank to include a volt meter and switch, to fabricating a stylistically appropriate metal shroud for the battery packs, to doing a solo seat and rear carrier conversion that better shows off the natural curves of Dream-E's frame, the finished project is impressively understated. It doesn’t need to shout at you “hey, I’m electric!” It just is happy to be out and rolling around, and is totally confident in the new lease on life that it’s gained.
Top speed, TOJ says, is about 55 miles per hour—and let’s be honest, I don’t know if you’d really want to go a whole lot faster on a bike like this. That seems totally appropriate for what this bike is, and I’d guess that pulling up just about anywhere on the Dream-E is bound to turn heads and start conversations.
