392 is not a model number, it is the company name in numbers in the old Japanese language. MI means 3, KU means 9, NI means 2. These carbs were used on Japanese produced motorcycles both 2 and 4 stroke.
Charlie can probably provide more information on this.
John Mead
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John's right about this possible explanation of the number. Using
numbers to make words is commonly done. I had a BMW Mini for a while
with the custom license plate number 32-98 (mi-ni-ku-pa).
I believe that the late-50s Colleda motorcycles had these carbs, for
one, Colleda was rebadged with it's maker's name -- Suzuki -- about
1962.
One bit of trivia I remembered, which I'll pass along and then wander
off again ... now that I've remembered to switch keyboard input back
to English and erased the mess I typed in Japanese ...
The Mikuni Company is in Iwata, Shizuoka Prefecture. It is not located
in any part of Japan historically named "Mikuni" ("三国" or "three
countries") nor any currently named "Mikuni" -- Mikuni City (三国市) in
present-day Osaka and Mikuni Pass (三国峠) in present-day Gunma.
The name is a classical Japanese reference to the UK. "Mikuni" = England
+ Scotland + Wales （although some British translations say England ＋
Scotland + Ireland) in geography textbooks that were used from around
1780, through the 1867 Restoration, and up to about 1902, when it was
officially changed to "Eikoku" (英国 = Excellent Country). So, the
products are supposed to have the cachet of being especially well made.
Silly extra credit trivia, they also changed the characters for the US
from "Meikoku" or "Mikoku" (美國 = Beautiful Country) to "Maikoku"
or "Beikoku" (米国 = literally "Rice Country" but meaning "Rich
Country") at the same time. After WWII, they added "イギリス" (igirisu)
and "アメリカ" (amerika) to the official translations.
More things you know, didn't have to know, and probably wish the second
half of the game would start, so you could forget.
-- Charles Lipton Wilds of Taiyo-mura, Ibaraki-ken, Darkest Japan
