You’re welcome.
Now that I think about it ... Scottly and I were having a conversation last year about the Benly name origin. I asked Ron (Mr. Benly) Mousouris for his input, here’s his reply:
Hello John,
The name Benly is used by Honda as a model name. The origin is a Japanese word that has been slightly altered. The Japanese word "Benri" translates to English as "convenient", or "practical". Mr. Soichiro Honda, the founder of the Honda company, wanted to sell the new Benly line with the idea that this was the most convenient and practical means of transportation in Japan. At a time when Japan was still in a state of economic chaos the Benly was a much needed and successful machine. The name "Benly" was altered from the word "Benri" because Mr. Honda and others in the company wanted the name to sound more western. Honda had big plans to sell bikes in western Europe and the USA so Honda wanted their bikes to have names that were simple to pronounce and understand by English speaking people. As it turned out the original Benly you see on my web site was never sold outside of Japan. Honda did continue to use the Benly name first used in 1953 until today. The reason for replacing the R in Benri with the L you see in Benly is a matter of some speculation. One possible idea lies in the motorcycle name Harley. Mr Honda had admired the Harley (Rikuo) factory that existed in Japan during the 1920's and early 1930's. It was not much of stretch to mimic the L in the two syllable Harley name and use it in the two syllable Benly name.
I hope this helps,
Ron Mousouris
