1958 Honda CB92 Benly
(Page 4 of 5)
March/April 2007
By Roland Brown
The forks’ leading-link layout and firm springs ensure that the bike stays very stable under braking, even though the Benly’s big 203mm, twin-leading-shoe drum is capable of giving as much stopping power as the narrow ribbed front Dunlop tire can handle. Even in 1964, the British magazine Motor Cycling rated the Benly’s unchanged front brake as “among the very best we have ever tested,” adding that the smaller rear drum was equally fade-free and unaffected by rain.
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So too, predictably enough, were the CB92’s electrics — and it was well-designed features such as that, as well as the bike’s performance, that gave it such an appeal.
The Benly’s small oil capacity meant that the oil had to be changed frequently, but provided that was done, the engine was capable of withstanding hard use with no ill effects. And the rest of the bike was engineered to the high standard for which Honda, for whom Mike Hailwood and Australia’s Tom Phillis won the 250 and 125cc world championships in 1961, was fast becoming known.
The Benly Super Sport’s looks, speed and reliability won plenty of admirers and were enough to keep it in production for a further three years, gaining a slightly softer suspension along the way. Its high-revving nature and equally high price meant that for road use Honda’s more powerful and only slightly more expensive 250cc CB72 was in many ways a more sensible buy. But for riders wanting a sporty small-bore sportster for road or racetrack, the CB92 was second to none. MC
CB92 production figures
Honda CB92s are a fairly rare sight, yet according to keeper of the Benly flame Ray Davis (www.vintage-honda.com), more than 24,000 CB92s were made between 1959 and 1964.
That’s a lot of CB92s, yet only a handful found their way to the U.S., a market Honda would dominate after just three years of sales starting in 1959 when the CB92 was introduced. While Honda dropped the CB92 in the U.S. after 1962, the model continued in other markets through 1964. American Honda sales figures show U.S. sales of 14 CB92s in 1959, 288 in 1960, 246 in 1961 and 51 in 1962, for a total of 599. Bill “MrHonda” Silver (a specialist on early Honda restoration; www.vintagehonda.com) pegs the number at just over 1,000.
Honda also supplied a factory racing kit for the CB92, which included go-fast goodies like an open megaphone exhaust, racing camshaft and a 13,000rpm tachometer. Starting in 1961, Honda brochures included the CB92R, which was a standard 92 but with racing parts from the Honda parts bin. As far as Ray can determine, the CB92R only ever appeared in U.S. sales brochures. And while some models were delivered to dealers with at least a few of the race parts already installed, he suspects it was mostly a dealer equipped model.
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