chrome side covers?

[Hamamatsu Nippon]

Man that bike has a lot of cool options, but I gotta say, I never saw a Honda teapot before.

"Honda Dream Electra-Glide".

Yeah cool, but I'm talking about the actual teapot on top of the transmission!

[conbs]

The teapot you refer to is not a teapot at all, but, a Honda Coffee Percolator. It was not technically an authorized Honda option for Dreams. It was actually a very early special order "tool" that could be ordered with the Honda "Special Tools" kits and was available beginning with production in 1960. Soichiro deemed it a good way to catch gas leaking from the petcock and cross-over tubes, which was from the beginning a very big problem. As all Dream owners know, it continues to the present.

Unfortunately Honda had to quit offering the Honda Coffee Percolator as a special tool because it simply didn't work as can be seen from the mess on the floor in the picture. I have had the same problem myself recently and wished I had a Honda Coffee Percolator to see if there was a way to actually catch all that gas. My mess was even bigger than that in the picture. Perhaps there were special instructions provided only to dealers by which the Honda Coffee Percolator could be made to work.

Nonetheless, production of the Honda Coffee Percolator was halted in early 1961 and all of them were recalled. In the press announcement for that recall Soichiro Honda was quoted as saying, "Gas leaks are a part of my Dream. Each Dream owner will be blessed with this special issue and will experience great personal growth as they find new ways to solve the problem. The Honda Coffee percolator must be recalled to ensure that personal growth is experienced to the greatest extent possible for each owner. It will ensure their souls are deeply stirred."

That old Honda shop is very lucky to have what appears to be an original Honda Coffee Percolator. With the others being recalled it may be the only one left in existence. The rumor is that all the recalled Honda Coffee Percolators were recycled and sold to British motorcycle manufacturers to become part a new alloy for their crank cases. Unfortunately, even the inclusion of some advanced Honda technology didn't solve the leakage problems there either.