Factory Cafe Racer: 1963 Honda CB92 Benly
Many of you will chuckle if I were to say that Honda’s CB92 was their “sport/racing” bike since it’s a mere 125-cc in size. As almost always, most folks think you have to have the absolute biggest, most powerful vehicle in order to compete in any race or sporting event, but that simply isn’t true. The CB92 was Honda’s “super sports” model for the C92 series of bikes and this one has been restored.
Honda used a form of the Japanese word for “convenient” when it named this series of bikes the Benly, known as the C92 Benly, made from 1959 to 1965. U.S. buyers got the CA92 and the slightly more powerful CA95, but the CB92 is the one you want. It was the sports model with a bigger gas tank, magnesium hubs, exposed rear shocks, and other features to give it a sportier appearance. Not to mention the engine had higher compression pistons and three-bearing crankshafts compared to two in the regular model. I’m a sucker for pressed-frame bikes, they’re by far my favorite as it’s what I grew up with.
From this rear-3/4 angle, this looks like a sporty bike, doesn’t it? Is it a brand-new Ducati? Of course not, but not every vehicle has to have a twin-V16 engine with four superchargers to be fun. As they say, it’s more fun to drive a slow vehicle fast than a fast vehicle slow. Unless you’re in a parade, that is. The seller says this bike was restored before they got it and the classic Honda red isn’t really correct, but I don’t mind a pinkish-orange motorcycle. I’d rather have a factory color, though.
Cafe bikes are all the rage, or maybe now it’s rat rod bikes. I’m a bit out of the loop on motorcycle trends, as you can tell when you see me riding my 49-cc Honda Motocompo around with my knees in my chin. The seat is a bit different but not by much and it looks great, I think, and the small windshield and straight bars would be original or at least close to the factory original. We don’t know if they’re Honda parts or not. Kickstart or electric start, take your pic. The seller included a little video of it starting and running here.
The beautiful little engine is Honda’s 124-cc SOHC, four-stroke inline-twin with around 12 horsepower and 9 lb-ft of torque when new. It sends power through a four-speed manual transmission to the rear wheel via a chain and they say that it runs, shifts through the gears, and the brakes work. The gas tank lining is separating in a couple of places but they’ve never had gas in it, they’ve used a separate bladder bag to run it. They have it listed here on eBay in Greenville, Tennessee and the current bid is $3,250 with no reserve! This bike is a steal at double that price in this condition. Have any of you heard of this model?
Comments
What a beautiful little jewel. Earles forks?
Sort of Earles Forks, but usually called “leading link” in this particular geometry.
Used on the Honda Dream 150 and 305’s too.
✔️✔️✔️
Forget it, Scotty, this site hates me,,,
Oh, that one it posts, truly the Achilles heel in an otherwise great site.
After making a mistake with my red 66 160 I painted the replacement parts with the Honda factory color spray can paint.
In a few years it developed a very orange hue. It really shows up next to the original paint.
Oh, this is an awesome motorcycle.
What is a “cafe” racer?
In the 1950s/60s (and beyond) in England motorcyclist raced from cafe to cafe. They modified their bikes to be more like racers in this environment.
This is an internet rabbit hole worth ferreting.
Just search on cafe racer to see all kinds of bikes, or pick a bike (“160 cafe racer is my favorite”) to see the many thing riders will do from the same starting point.
Some standard changes are low bars, low seat, rear set foot controls, and lighten it up. But then the customization starts.
To race to Burger King?
Starbucks
This is my bike, thanks for featuring it!
Hey, that’s cool, Troyce! I hope you get a good price for this beauty, I can’t believe it isn’t at $10,000 yet, ugh.
Does it have hidden shock absorbers in the front or none at all ?
Anyone?
Either way it is probably a very pleasant motorcycle to drive, it probably weighs only about 200 pounds or less… …decades ago I had a Yamaha RT3 it weighed 260 lbs, I loved it.
There are shocks in the front, sort of a design similar to the Earl’s front end.
Price should be around $8,000+. I have a CB92 gas tank, and they are going for $2.000+
Love these old cafe racers. And trust me, 145 cc is plenty to hurt yourself.
Correction – 125 cc
Honda actually sold racing parts for these. They were known as CYB parts. When Honda first came to the Isle of Man in 1959 their riders used these to practice and learn the course. Hondas as racers soon made history and dominated.
I’ve got to disagree with the three vs two main bearing statement. I had a ca95 with bad main bearings and I replaced the crankshaft with a NOS CB92 “still in the original box and brown wrapping paper” crankshaft. It fit the ca95 crank case perfectly and the bike ran beautifully.
Another thing any buyer should consider, these bikes are tiny and unless you weigh in at 140 or less you’re really too big for them.
Stever, this where I got that info from.
https://www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-japanese-motorcycles/classic-honda-motorcycles/1962-honda-cb92-benly-zm0z24mjzbro/
http://www.mrhonda.guru/2019/03/1959-64-honda-cb92-benly-125-super-sport.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_C92,_CB92,_C95_Benly
Apologies to the author, I tried 3 times( this the 4th) and none went through. Hopefully, this one does, as I always try and support the authors. Just the fact this guy features this stuff, is a pretty clear indicator of who we’re talking about. Had the money cookie crumbled differently, there’s no question this would join his eclectic collection.
Briefly, to add, the Benly changed everything for Honda in the states. In the early 60s, the market was inundated with small motorcycles, mostly 2 strokes. Mr. Honda disliked 2 strokes, and his 4 stroke twins were the marvel of success. Designed for the commuter, this bike could do an honest 60 mph( 71 claimed by Honda), and cemented the Honda name as just about the only other motorcycle. The Benly morphed into the Dream models, and to another level, the Super Hawk. The Honda name will go down forever as the most popular make and rightly so. Its fame could very well have started right here.
During Honda’s racing development at the time, they built a racing 250cc six cylinder bike out of the same architecture. Imagine the small size of the pistons, and a 10,000 plus redline!
Auction update: this one sold for $8,310!
These bikes at the beginning of the sixties featured 8″ tls brakes front and rear,( bigger than British 650s!)c.v. carb with paper element filter,aluminum ball ended control levers,12v electrics with a single battery, rubber gaiter covered cable ends,q.d. rearset footpegs,turn signals,crosshead screws,adjustable rear suspension and a tacho drive! Color scheme was usually blue with red seat! In fact 8 grand is about half the price in Europe!