Hodaka Was The Most Outrageous Motorcycle Brand Of All Time
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- čas přidán 18. 10. 2023
- #Hodaka #SuperRat #DirtSquirt #RoadToad #combatwombat
Without question the coolest motorcycle brand of all time was Hodaka. With bike names like the Suoer Rat, Dirt Squirt, Combat Wombat, and Thunderdog they captured the attention of every aspiring dirt biker in America. Hodaka was formed under unique circumstances between an Oregon marketing company and a Japanese engine builder but together they would build a series of dirtbikes that would outsell the likes of Honda Yamaha Kawasaki and Suzuki. However a few mistakes led to the abrupt implosion of the company, This is the story of Hodaka motorcycles
As always it is difficult to obtain relative footage that is +50 years old In some sections my commentary will not match the video
Images and videos taken from -Ken Smith: Hodaka - The Complete Story of America’s Favourite Trail Bike’ available at octanepress.com/book/hodaka-m...
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Had a 125 Hodaka back in 1973 at our shop. Super reliable and a great trail bike. Made the mistake of switching to the Honda MT 250 when it came out. Was disappointed for a number of reasons. The biggest was electrical issues and keeping water out of the air box. The Wombat was a reliable bike that handled the hills of the Massachusetts Berkshires well. Bought a Can Am 250 in early 1975 and loved that bike. Following a riding related spinal cord injury in mid 1975 I had to give up off road riding and took up a wheelchair due to paralysis from the waist down. Life actually turned out well despite the SCI but I really miss off road riding. But the one thing I really miss is the work that went into preparation for enduro riding. Loved the routine of riding on the weekend and then the evening work following a day on my job on my bikes as I prepared for the next weekend of riding on Cape Cod., the Berkshires or a number of other NETRA Trails in New England. That and getting to see Jimmy Ellis race at Southwick or Pepperell was my life back then. Hard to believe that was 50+ years ago. Thanks for the memories.
Damn good times they were Thanks for watching
My Father bought a 1975 MT 250 ....... biggest pile of junk ever, EVER, made ....................
@@TheAmerican1963 It was a tough start for Honda in the Enduro market following the success of the Elsinore MX bikes. I had both the 250 MX bike and a new MT-250. Both came with shocks that might as well have been solid rather than the pretend springs. Once I changed the shocks on the Elsinore it was fun to ride despite the toggle switch throttle. The MT-250 was a pile compared to my Can Am 250 Enduro bike which I outfitted with springs and gearing from their MX bike. I was hurt in an accident unrelated to the bike I was riding. Broke my back when the whole side of a sand wall in a quarry gave way underneath me and the bike and I took a 75 foot drop to the quarry floor. Never should have been riding in there and especially alone. We all do stupid things in our younger years. Some survive unscathed, I didn't. Life turned out better though despite being paralyzed. Education and family I never would have had if I had remained on the path that I was at 21. Life is funny that way. Most people can't look beyond the wheelchair to see the high quality life I've lived post SCI. Be well my friend.
Thank you for sharing hope you are doing well 🫶
Great story, it happened to the best of them. Magoo Chandler, David Bailey et al. We are all lucky to be alive at all from our era. Lol
wow - haven't heard the words "Combat Wombat" for over 50 years - a memory I was surprized to still have hidden in the cobwebs of my brain
its still in there lol
Hard to believe. I went to the movie house when I was a lad and saw a great movie called "On Any Sunday" - it gave me the bug watching Steve McQueen racing his Husquvarna - saved my paper route money and bought a 125 Husky and off I went.@@BornAGoon
I had a Combat Wombat as my third dirt bike. Wish I still had it.
I'm 67 so we must both belong to the same time warp. I was a Honda SL 100 guy but I remember thinking the head light street legal Hodaka Wombat was the coolest name ever. Then along came the even cooler racing version the Combat Wombat. What exciting times for a kid getting his first bike.
Road Toad is another one 😊. RT.
I'll never forget Hodaka, my first was a dirt squirter my last was a super rat that sits proudly in the corner of my shop. It runs once a year and as good as when I got it in the 70s.
My shed has a 74 Dirt Squirt, a 72 Bultaco 125 Pursang, and a Honda CX500 cafe racer. When I take them to vintage bike shows, it’s the Dirt Squirt that draws the most attention. It’s hilarious sitting in my lawn chair, watching people walk down the line of beautiful vintage bikes, and watching them grab their buddy by the sleeve to point out the Squirt!
Thanks for sharing cool story
I’m 80 and sold motorcycles in the’60’s & ‘70’s. I definitely remember the Hodaka’s.
I don't know where you are from but I ride with an old enduro guy named Joe Estefan. I think he is 79. Still going plenty strong.
Remember how they were made out of monkey metal?
my first dirt bike,i think a 100,light,simple , wheelie all day,and twice on Sunday,all I did was ride,no break downs,any time ,anywhere,it was fun to ride
When I was 15, here in Finland one could already buy the Dirt Bike magazine, and there was an article about a Hodaka bike. I had never heard about the brand, but it looked right, and the motojournalism of then Dirt Bike was funny; something about handicapped flamingo and stuff. The test was enjoyable, and I even copied some of the details of the Hodaka to my moped, a Finnish made Tunturi Sport , a PUCH- engined moped looking a lot like the early Hodakas. A bulletproof machine made for Finnish environment. I miss those days. Motorcycles were simple but reliable, no excess electronics, 2 stroke engines, light and nimble. Later I bought a 100 cc Kawasaki, and the engine was possibly the best engine I have ever tested or ridden. For it's size, it was like a steam engine, and the best all around 2 stroke ever. Now I am old and ready for scrap heap, terminally ill. But I have great memories. Like you 60+ year olds like me.
Best wishes from the Netherlands! I used to read those magazines too. Shame they didn't sell Hodaka in Europe. I started on a Puch too, but it wasn't reliable anymore after my tuning efforts. Then a Bultaco 250 motocross bike. Solid and powerful bikes.
Great story,sorry you're I'll brother,if you don't mind,what's the issue? I'm 64 now,wondering what I need to watch out for
My first bike at age 14 was a '78 Road Toad. Loved the huge green tank. $450 out the door with all the street stuff stripped off. I had no idea at the time that Hodaka was in any way cool, or that it was going out of business. Now I feel lucky to have ridden such an iconic bike.
In January 77 I bought a brand new Hodaka 250ED Thunderdog. I had only been riding a dirtbike for a year and that was an Ossa 250 Stiletto. I bought the Hodaka for trailriding. But when I went out with some co-workers to the desert. Their club was putting on the next race and they needed to check out the course and mark it. So we headed out from camp with my coworker who was senior expert #1 and another senior expert #3. Both were on open class bikes, a Yamaha and a Husky. We rode across the Johnson Valley at race speed and they pulled up at a pass to wait for laggards to catch up. I was about 3 car lengths behind these 2 fast guys getting there long before all of the other experienced riders. In the midst of all the "Where the hell did you come froms?", I didn't tell them there were a number of times I felt I could have passed them both, but I didn't know where they were going and they did. So they and all the others were all over me to start racing. So a couple races later I did. Took a 2nd place. Most of the rest of my races were similar results. 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I rode a SCORE sanctioned offroad race at Saddleback where all of the SCORE classes took part. All the bikes raced together. Open class started 1st. Then 250s moved up and them when ready got the green flag. Then after we were gone, the small bore bikes took off. Statt on a little oval tracl like 1/8 mile. 1/2 way around the 1st turn a hard left into the infield and over a TT jump with a kicker at the top and I was 3rd overall not only ahead of all the other 250s, but all but 2 open class. A few turns later my engine quit and didn't want to start. Got it going and pulled up at the pit for the car racers. The rubber piece that mounted the carb to the intake had split. Bummed some duct tape from some car racers and got it going again, dead last. Bike ran good for a while and I was passing riders left and right. Towards the end of the race it started acting up again and I stopped in the pits for some more tape. Took off again. Wound up 2nd 250 and 3rd overall. At the end of 77, the owner of the shop where I bought my 250 and my buddy bought his new KTM 250 told us he was retiring and wanted to sell the shop. My buddy and I put our heads together to try to buy it. Applied to a local bank branch for funding. A few days later we got the call that we were approved. We went straight to the shop to tell him and he said that someone else had just left having bought the place for the inventory. A few months later we learned that Hodaka had folded. I still have my 250. And have bought parts from StricklyHodaka who provided some of the pictures and video.
Awesome story,..too bad you almost owned a motorcycle shop! Impressive that you would go to a bank for a business loan, and that they approved it!!
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I'm 66 now, and when I was a teen, in SoCal...Hodakas were everywhere!!
Never had one, but rode a few.
Great little bikes.
I had freinds who had them, and everyone loved them.
They even put the Ace 90 and 100 engines in Mini bikes built by Bonanza.
They won all of the mini mx races then.
Super cool bikes, and great memories.
Those were the best of times
Can you imagine where it could be now ? I mean if woodchuck could chuck??
I had a Bonanza BC1500 with the ACE 100 motor, it was an adult killer lol, my Dad rode mine through the fence and got up and said, damn that things gonna hurt someone. My brother and I looked at each other and said yeh Dad I think your right 😆
Same here. Raced a hopped-up Honda SL100 in CMC MX but the Super Rat was the bike to have!!!!
SP Scrambler
Scolappatucci Corp. Motivational Cycles is aboriginal and scurried along as
Apollo 3 speed &
Apollo 5 speed 69'.
I had a 1973 Hodaka 125 Wombat when I was a kid. Had a lot of fun.
I have a pretty interesting Hodaka story. I grew up riding mini bikes in the late 60's and got pretty good on them and started going to the new mini bike races in Brevard county Florida. I was collecting lots of trophies and was one of if not the fastest riders. we all rode typical unsuspended lawn mower engined MB's, with the fastest ones being slightly modified. It was race what you brung with only three classes by age including the open class. Then the honda 50 and 70cc Trails started showing up with transmissions and suspension and bigger/better tires. They were tough to beat. I was a voracious minibike/minicycle magazine reader and showed my Dad (who was an engineer out at Cape Canaveral) an article about the new Bonanza Minibike...it looked close to a traditional mini bike but had full suspension and it had a Hodaka 100cc 5 speed motorcycle engine with an expansion chamber and foam air filter. I never said anything about buying one but next thing I know a big crate shows up and it's the Bonanza. the thing would do 60 MPH and would pull wheelies at that speed too. We show up at the next race with it and I am pulling massive power wheelies thru the pits and several of the fathers went to the organizers and protested. We were informed we wouldn't be able to race. At that my Dad talked to them and pointed out that we had been racing against the honda's for months and they had transmissions and full suspension and that the rules said nothing about engine size. The organizers agreed and I was allowed to race. I literally lapped the field like five or six or seven times. After that they changed the rules that said no 5 speed transmissions and we never raced again until i got a YZ100 and started my motocross career (a guy who was ranked 5th in the state of Florida in AMA 125cc Expert class motocross in '74 and raced in the Daytona 200 in '75 as an 18 year old Sr. in H.S. on a privateer fully sponsored (Island Yamaha, Merritt Island Florida) TZ-350 along with a partial AMA road race season.
sweet story thanks for sharing
Late 1960s I got some tubing and built a full suspension minibike tightly around a Jawa 350cc 2 cylinder 2 cycle motorcycle engine/tranny... never really raced it, just a blast to ride... especially being a minibike with stereo dual exhausts sounds... and what seemed like unlimited power/torque... added lights and licensed for street use...
I'd never seen anything so cool, nor wanted anything so bad as when some kid down the street stopped to show us his Hodaka-100 mini bike. The fat tires and wide fenders stand out in my mind even today, some 50 years later. I still wish my parents had bought me one but probably would have spoiled me for life. Have you seen or ever owned one?
I had a Bonanza as well. What a blast I had terrorizing the streets and parks of Chicago. I raced a Norton down a highway entrance ramp to the next exit ramp... basically on and off the highway and beat him. It screamed. I gave it to my nephews when I got into bigger bikes. They had land to ride it on and they learned dirt riding well on it. Twenty years later I asked what ever happened to the bike and nobody remembers. Wish I had it today.
@@motorheadronnie Yeah I rode the hell out of mine. If you rode them at the limit in the dirt they would bend the jackshaft and shred the jackshaft gears. My Dad solved that by machining some high quality alloy steel laying around at the cape and machined new gears and a new jack shaft. But then it literally sheared the back wheel hub center...like I said, by then I was very fast and rode it past the limit. That's about the time I gave it to my little brother and moved on to motocross bikes.
I lived in a small town in Western Canada in the 70s. We had a Hodaka dealer there. I bought a new 1975 Hodaka Road Toad 100cc and was on that bike every day it seemed. Good times.
Still riding today and on a R1200GS now.
Well done Goon. Thanks for the memories.
And now you're stuck with Justin Trudeau what a change of events...🙄🤦
❤
Man my first bike was a Hodaka 90 with the changeable sprocket. What a hoot it was. I’m 16 and worked all summer and one of my fellow workers wanted to sell his bike. I had enough saved that I could afford it. I begged my parents and they said yes. What a great introduction to bikes. 😊
It’s a damn shame that PABATCO and Hodaka went away, Hodaka was a great Bike.
it is what a great time it was
@@BornAGoonthe golden 70’s, it seems like a distant dream of everything being OK, I’d go back in a heartbeat. Thanks for your hard work on the video, much appreciated.
Yeah I swore Jimmy Carter was Americas’ worst POTUS until now. Boy was I wrong.
@@treytucker5619 when everyone was working and the dollar was strong people were happy and times were good. And back then all the BS that’s going on now would have never been tolerated. I know the government has always been in our pockets but it’s gotten way out of control.
I had a Hodaka Ace 100. Chrome tank, upside down shifting, lots of fun! Ahh...the good old days. Thanks for posting this vid!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I wanted one of those so bad when I was a kid. Couldn't afford it back then. My Grandfather gave me a Rupp minibike for Christmas about the same time these came out. Rode the hell out of that thing. But always wanted a Hodaka.
Hodaka, Bultaco, and Cooper were the bikes of my youth. Never owned or worked on em, but my sister's BF took me riding all the time. That little Hodaka was fun in the woods. Born A Goon vids are making me realize how lucky I was to be around some of the old bikes
Brian, I rode an Ossa back in the early 70's. I recollect that the shifter was on the right side as opposed to what was the standard for most countries other than, evidently, Spain. If there's anyone out there who can correct my aging brain I would appreciate it. I also had the opportunity to ride a Penton. Super pipey. If you weren't in the super narrow power-band it didn't perform well. To this day I am glad I went with the new Can Am Enduro bike when it came out rather than the Husky or Penton. Despite the fact it was the bike I was riding when I had my spinal cord injury it was not the bike's fault. Being young and possessing poor judgement was the reason for my accident. For those who were into Enduro riding in the 1970's New England was the hub of American Enduro riding. New England Trail Riding Association did a great job with setting up trails and working politically while many states were closing land to riding. I will always be indebted to NETRA for their hard work and their news letters. Thanks for the memories Brian. For the life of me I can't remember the Cooper. Might have been before my time as a rider who devoured the MX and Enduro magazines of the era every month along with the AMA Magazine.
The 70s were a blast.
My neighbor had a hudge Bultaco, dont remember the model but its was around a 500cc & and had compression release that if you didn't use it would kick them back sometimes..lol It was old enough the shifter was on the right and the rear brake was on the left.
Your sister was getting piped out in the woods by these guys.....
Glad you mentioned Bultaco. I owned their 100 Lobito with no lights
large carb and expansion chamber that was a little demon that weighed 150 lbs and slaughtered Hodakas
This guy mentions none of the Spanish dirt bikes. Montessa and Ossa were other great Spanish machines that were better engineered than any of the early Japanese offroad bikes..
I had a 1971 Super Rat as my first real dirt bike!!! WOW....
Very cool!
Loved my 175 Combat Wombat and I put a 10" sprocket on the back wheel, so that thing would climb pine trees. Turned that bike into a trials runner and had great fun for way less than a Honda or Yamaha, etc. I so wanted to be Brad Lackey when I was a teen - he was the man to beat on two wheels. Memories of Saddleback Mountain and the canyons of SoCal. Other m/c names come to mind, like Bull Taco, Husqavarna, Norton, etc, etc. Great times!
Bad Brad Lackey only lives a few miles from me on his ranch 😁👍
I remember Brad Lackey specifically on the cover of a dirt bike magazine being crossed up on a corner jump. He was famous for starting that loose jumping style. Looked so cool, and became the norm after that!
Lived in Tustin and worked in the same industrial complex as "Up-Tite Husqvarna" in Santa Ana. Learned a lot about 2-stroke tuning from those guys and got to ride bikes way above my pay grade. Loved to ride SoCal before...well you know.
@@kevinsellsit5584 Yeah, before it became Asia Minor. smh
@@willicat44 Belgians Roger DeCoster and Joel Robert were doing cross ups way before Brad Lackey. They both had such beautiful balanced riding styles and the cross up gave them better control in the air when launching off jumps.
I've owned 26 motorcycles. My 1975 Wombat is still my favorite. I sure wish I still had it. I had more fun on that little bike than any thing I've has since.
I saw your 26 and had to go back and see how many I owned . 38 to be exact . You must have loved motorcycles like I did . lol
@@hotchihuahua1546Crazy you guys can even remember how many you’ve had. I lost count many many years ago.
We need another company like this something to change the perspective on the motorcycle industry. To show that motorcycles are a family sport for all walks of life.
It's sorta called, Stark, but yeah not really...
Yeah anything that promotes motorcycling is a good thing IMO
@@HarborEdwin Stark is pushing mx and less family friendly, but I hope they lean into the quietness to open more riding areas.
Yes we should inform the Biden administration... Oh never mind 🙄🤦
Stark is pushing money and it too will fail... Be patient give it time and someone will buy start and ruin it.
I'm 61, you given me and delivered perfectly ALL the answers I've wondered about for a lifetime.. This really hit home! Excellent documentary! 🇨🇦 👊
I still remember the first time I saw a Hodaka Ace 90. My friends and I had set up a small motocross type course through my family's avocado grove in the small, pastoral city of Bradbury, Cal. I had a 1964 Honda CA200, a stylish, but sturdy 90 cc touring bike. My fellow 15-year-olds took turns at timed runs through our makeshift course, which even boasted a steep dirt jump, left over from some unfinished tractor grading. We thought ourselves quite the riders. Until that Hodaka Ace 90 showed up. It was a new 1965 model. It was a magnificent, gleaming beast! I marveled at the huge chrome gas tank; the dual tubes supporting the engine; the solid, purposeful construction. My little Honda seemed almost delicate by comparison. And boy did it perform! We were all quite impressed-until those slightly larger and faster Bultaco's started to show up ....
Hodaka was the first 125 cc dirtbike I ever raced , my cousin was a dealer in Live Oak , Fla in the late 60's.I finished second behind the state champion.
Great video! Yep, my first real dirt bike was a Hodaka 100.
Mine ended up with a B&N leading link fork with Girling shocks up front for 8" travel, a 2" swingarm stretch, Girling rear shocks, 19" Akront front wheel, 17" rear, expansion chamber, huge Filtron filter, no lights, and it was a blast.
that is an awesome story
You're right, that was the day of the expansion chambers, I had forgotten. Thanks for the memories.
Came home from school to our home dairy farm in 1973 and there was a Hodaka Wombat waiting for us. Our dad had bought it from the little motorcycle shop (that sold BMW's also) in the next town north. Lots of trail riding and traveling to school. Thing almost killed me with a stuck throttle. Lotta fun.
Man, that marketing campaign seems awesome. I wish there was a company that gave whimsical names like “Super rat” and “Thunderdog” to their motorcycles. Making those motorcycles super reliable helps too
it would be cool
F yeah!!
Also available was the Hodaka Gravel Rash calendar. The bikes were awesome! I also owned a yamaguchi, less tolerable
I had a dirt squirt for a few years, really fun bike
Older MX bikes were all so unique, now days they all look like the same bike, just in different colors. My brother had a Sachs 125 - beautiful bike.
Dual rear sprockets. Trail and street. I had a 1975 Honda Trail 90. My best friend had a 1976 Hodaka Dirt Squirt 90cc. It was 1977 we were 14 and had a blast. I think he named off all my childhood dirt bike heroes.
I dont know how the “algorithm” found This for Me, but love it. My friend in the 70s a s very young kid had a Hodaka, and bro in law had a “Montessa” beast. Friends Hodaka caught on fire at a gas station and this brought so many memories. Well Done!
Excellent video, some of these manufacturing chronicles are very convoluted. Thanks for another informative filled documentary. These bikes were legendary in my younger years. Tiny bikes compared to today’s “trail bikes”.
Many thanks!
We sold them at our shop in Phoenix, they sold well but weren't taken seriously by the hot shoes, for $300 more you could buy a 250 Bultaco Pursang. Transmissions were fragile with a plunger style gear change rod, they had there day but the CR 125 was light years ahead of everything.
I started racing MX in 73, I never saw Hodakas on the line. When the Elsies came out, everyone got one of those.
I was born, raised, and lived in Phoenix until August first this year. In the late 60s we lived at 13th and Bell 2 houses down from Eddie, Bobby, and Chappy Blose. Right next door to Glenn and Chris Palmer, and then in '70 moved to 35th and Deer Valley. Went to high school with David Crawford. It was so open back then you could pull the bike out and ride. No truck or trailer needed unless going racing. How times have changed. What shop did you have? Be safe.
@@Big.Ron1 Salem's Motorcycles on 7st and Fairmount, Norton, AJS, Triumph, Ducati, Bultaco, CZ, Hodaka, Jawa, Ariel, Maico, BSA, what a shop, John Mahoney chief mechanic, Randy Butler mechanic, Sil Modesto, fabricator, Charley Cavallo (Ghost Racing mechanic) Buck and Mike Mahoney, parts, Rick Kraft AMA number 69 half mile sponsored racer, Andy Frola, MX expert sponsored racer. And me 250 and 125 amateur MX racer. Oh yeah Flying Brian MX racer was sponsored on the AJS Stormer for a while.
@@billveek9518 Very cool. Talk about a way back machine. Randy Butler rings a bell but its been 50 years so my brain isnt what it used to be. Thank you for bringing back some memories of my teen years.
Had Hodaka worked at sponsorship and picked up some of the old favorites like Marty Smith it would have been a different story.
Ah, the memories. First Hodaka I saw and rode was 1966. There was a hilly dirt area, in the neighborhood, where guys would ride their motorcycles. I was on a moped and there was this guy on a bike with a huge shiny metal gas tank and red frame that caught my attention. He looked familiar from high school. He let me try it out. A while later I went by his house to ask if I could ride it again and he had engine apart on his driveway. Man, I had to have one because it looked so good, was fun to ride and was super simple to work on. A year later I bought a ACE 90 off the showroom floor.
I had a chrome tank Ace 100 and loved it. Was easy to maintain and if you lost your key, a breeze to hot wire. lol
After riding my dad‘s Honda 90 step through that he wrote in shrine parades, I got a Hodaka 100B. I wrote that for a couple years all over the foothills near our house, and moved on to Montesas, Bultacos, Husqvarna‘s, and really tour of the area to pieces. I figure I’m responsible for at least half the ruts on the hills coming out of the sand washes. I rode every day for years and had a blast. The area is all fenced off now and crawling with cops. Before the area was regulated, it was paradise for a young guy that was into dirt bikes. Those were the days.👍🏻🇺🇸
That's what my brother had.
The 1971 Super Rat was my first bike.
It was 1978 and pop came home with 2 used Hodakas. One Ace 100 and the Super Rat.
My uncle helped fix it up while I watched . ( and learned )
You had to get the adjustment on the internal shifting mechanism just right or it would go between gears.
It was loud a hell so we went out and bought a " skyway" glass pack silencer , but within 2 days it was back to being just as loud as before due to the required 16 to one gas / oil ratio ( moulded onto the red gas tank cap )
It would foul its plug every day but after being wrapped in a rag and bounding around in its steel can tool case ( taken from the ace 100 ) the plug would work again.
So I only ever used 2 plugs in the 2 years I rode it.
First gear was super low and good for crawling through the forest .
I really loved that bike . Wish I kept it
When I sold it the chrome tank was still completely mint.
awesome story
Great video about great motorcycles! A junior high school buddy sold me his Super Rat for a couple hundred bucks around 1974. I cracked the case dumping it to avoid crashing into a fence. Got it welded back together. It was almost stolen when parked at a festival. I ran through backyards to my home to alert my dad and we caught up to the perp in my dad's pickup. If the perp had opened the second fuel valve the bike would have been long gone. My last memory was as in my late teens landing a very long jump and cracking the front wheel. Sold it soon after. I'm reminded daily about that awesome Super Rat as my ears are still ringing.
I helped a neighbor restore a Super Rat, and have a Dirt Squirt (restored) in my shed today. When I take it to a vintage bike show it attracts more attention than many more exotic bikes.
I remember the local to NOCO “valley dirt riders” and seeing Hodaka Wambat Combats for the first time, they were a very competitive machine. Don’t remember much about the 60s but the 70s had a vast number of m/c manufacturers, sadly only a handful survived. Thanks for the fascinating presentation!
A few years ago back in 1973 my first real motorcycle was a Hodaka Gemini 80. Always wanted a Combat Wombat.
13 and 14 y.o. would ride them flat out like they had no fear! The bikes were indestructible!
My old man raced the baja 1000 on an ace 100 landing in the top 10, quite an acheivement for an amature rider. After his retirement from racing i was interested in riding that old ace 100 and ended up learning to ride MX on it, it was a ruff rider by todays standards, but the engine design was the best ive seen ever! Very lightweight, compact, well thought out design, and extremely durable. I started riding just a few years before dirt bikes went watercooled. Ive been on bultacos, Ossas, Huskies, maicos, and many other now vintage bikes in my youth, but id have to say the hodaka was the best engine design
I had a Dirt Squirt 100 back in 83'. Loved that bike, it was loud and pretty quick. Then in 85' when I was 16 I bought my buddies Combat Wambat 125 but he beat the snot out of it without maintenance and regardless of how much I tried to keep it together, it only lasted one summer. The biggst weakness of Hadaka dirt bikes was the shifter cover. Once they wore out is was almost impossible to find a replacement.
I had an Ace 100 in the late 70s. That shifter mechanism was horrible. If you crashed, the footpeg would fold up and push the shifter shaft into the side case. Then you'd spend 15 minutes on the trail putting the shift mechanism back together. I always carried a screwdriver and a 10mm wrench with me for this reason.
My second bike was an Ace 100 Hodaka. Seeing this video brings back good memories!
thank you for watching
An Ace 100 was my first bike, what fun adventures. CZs were next.
This seems to be the kind of thing that the world needs more of. I know two strokes are difficult to make work with emissions nowadays and small 4 strokes don't make much power, but a dual sport usable by everyone and powerful enough to get around with everyone on the road seems essential.
Rode both the Ace 100 and later-- the Super Rat. Terrific times were had. Mostly rode desert out south of Mojave.
I remember that if you didn't crash at least once -or- pick cactus out of your leg... well, it just wasn't fun. A dislocated thumb, 3 cracked ribs, 129 cactus spines, a totally ruined front wheel,-- now THAT was a fun day. When I wasn't breaking it, the Rat never let me down. Not once. All crashes were on me, not the bike.
I also destroyed a Yamaha 125 Enduro desert racing. The Hodaka held up better.
My cousin fully restored a Super Rat in the late 90s. I remember the freshly painted air cleaner cover with NOS "Super Rat" sticker on it. He still has it, alongside his collection of Vespas, Lambrettas, Cushmans and the like.
I still got four bike today I
Thank you for the outstanding history of the Hodakas!!
Excellent I had the 75 Dirt Squirt and the 76 Combat Wombat.
My friend had a Super Rat in the mid 1970's. A lot of fun. Our neighborhood was surrounded by miles of cornfields.
When I was just getting started we had a super rat for a while, and later we had a Steen mini bike with a super rat engine and leading link forks. Loop out capable in all five gears. It was wicked fast at full throttle.
Combat Wombat, that name automatically makes it one of the coolest bikes ever
Dude! Fellow GenXer here. I HAD THE SAME FARAH FAWCET POSTER HANGING ON MY BEDROOM WALL!! Grew up going to the dez with my dad and his buddies. I’ve been riding for as long as I can remember. Almost had forgotten about Hodaka until I saw your video come across my feed. Thanks for sparking a memory bank.
Hodaka Ace 90 was my first bike. It seized lots of time, but was ridiculously easy to fix.
Hodaka 90 was arguably the most fun bike we ever had on the farm. wish we still had it.
I wanted one so bad when I was a kid, and they were cheap compared to the big three. They looked cool too, this guy gets it.
A well-told story about the initial heydays of motocross and general trail biking. I was stationed in Pearl Harbor from '69-'71 and purchased a Suzuki TS250 "Savage" in early '70.
Raced it in Novice with Hawaiian kids from 11 up and had a blast doing that. Got arrested when I rode across a mountain ridge and came down the other side onto a Marine base.
Hodaka was around but not too popular yet , with Yamaha, Honda, Bultaco, Maico, CZ, Husqvarna, Kawasaki, and maybe others I can't recall. Great times !!
My first bike (after the minibike) was an early 70s Hodaka Wombat 125cc. That was a heavy bike because it was almost all chrome. Every time I went riding I brought it home with parts in my helmet. Loved that bike! Even John Wayne had a Wombat.
My first bike was a Hodaka engine in a cut-down Triumph Cub frame - we called it The Hodumph.
I wish I could have seen that
@@BornAGoon It was actually very cool, as it used the stock Triumph fuel tank (custom painted) with a Bates TT seat and was more 'raked out' than a standard Hodaka. It was built by Frank Danielson, the guy who built the first Supercros track.
Those were the days.....
The research that went into this is astounding! Awesome presentation! I rode a Hodaka when I was young. It was a beast!
My first dirt bike was a Hodaka 80cc.
It was $299.95 from a motorcycle shop on El Cajon Blvd in San Diego.
My dad said, "you pay $150 & Ill match it".
I rode the wheels off that thing, this was about 1977 or so.
Great memories !
My first bike @ 14 yrs old was a new Ace 100 in '69, which I immediately stripped & modified into what was basically Super Rat. Just as fast (maybe even a little faster) as a SR, with the "casual observer" not being able to tell the difference between mine and a showroom SR, except for badging. The only real issue I ever had was the "dry" gearbox side-case mechanism, but other than that, I loved that bike! There was SO much room to ride in SoCal back then; it was heaven for dirt riders. Now there's hardly anything left. :/
The Goon of poetry. Your videos seem to get better with each release. Please, keep 'em coming.
thank you I appreciate the kind words
Agreed
Thank you for another great video! I wondered what happened to Hodaka, My 125cc Combat Wombat was my first race bike for high school motocross at Orange County International Raceway back in the early 70’s. Loved my 100cc Super Rat also! You brought back some great memories!
My first bike was a Bonanza 1500 with Hodaka ACE100 motor, boy that mini bike would move.
Bought a used Combat Wombat for $200 with my savings from a summer of lawn care work, when I was a kid. Think it was 1976. My dad had a fit, but my argument that I bought it with money I earned was persuasive, and I became the envy of all the motorcycle kids on my end of town. It was fast, and I won a lot of trail races with it. If I didn't win, it was because I wiped out. Wish we could go back to times that simple.
✌️🐸💨
That was a great history lesson! I had a Hodaka 100 briefly as a kid. Unfortunately, circumstances dictated that I liquidate it. Oh, the mistakes of the past... I did manage to hold onto a mid seventies Kawasaki 125. But it's not the same thing. ✌️
"Kawasaki let the good times roll!"
@@Stephen2846
The old ad slogan... My first motorcycle was a Kawasaki. 100 trail boss. I rode it daily from age ten to age 15. I didn't choose it because I'd researched all the brands or anything, I just saw it in the store, brought home a brochure, and looked for anything the neighbors would pay me to do until I amassed the five hundred dollars or so to get it.
@@elgringoec Back in the mid 70's we used to all meet up at a diner in New Jersey nears the Tacony-Palmara Bridge. People from New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and sometimes Virginia would trailer their bikes to the diner and we'd all ride the hardpack, and sand between the Tacony-Palmara Bridge and the Betsy Ross Bridge.
It was a great area and offered lots of different surfaces to ride on. People would switch bikes without much though and so we got to ride a little of everything. I rode Bultaco's, Hodaka's, Suzuki's, Husquvarna's, Yamaha's YZ's, Kawasaki's, including a KM-500, Honda's, and Harley X-90's and a SX-175, among many others.
Lots of 2-cycle bikes with compression releases, full knobby's, and a quart of oil stored under the seat. Back in the day we'd ride morning to night and swap bikes and stories. In those days it wasn't unusual to dump a bike and get branded with the grill that was supposed to save you from a hot muffler. Most bikes had their baffles removed promptly and changing gear rings wasn't uncommon.
We were 15 and 16 year old kids then and I'll never forget an older guy just letting you "borrow" a bike that you could barely sit on. When I rode the KM-500 I weighed about 110 lbs. and couldn't reach the ground. The guy told me if I could start it, I could ride it. I got it started and had to sit halfway on the gas tank and halfway on the seat just to keep the front end down.
Good times back in the day. That was long before mono shocks were everywhere and bikes were a bit heavier. I still have my motorcycle license but haven't ridden in 10 years or so. I miss the old days of eating dirt while winding out the gears on a bike that seemed to be part of you. Back in the day I put on many a bike. Most of them fit like a glove.
I had one! $425 brand new for an Ace 100 b+ in 1970. I lived about 40 miles from Weston Oregon where they were imported too. Weston is also the town featured in On Any Sunday where the hound and hare race went right through town. I believe the Hodaka company was originally Yamaguchi. I think that bike may be in a shed on my ex Mother in laws farm. My ex Father in law was the local Hodaka dealer and is who I bought it from.
Go get it! I’ve got a couple brothers still living nearish to there if you needed a hand to move it. We grew up outside of Adams about seven miles from Athena. Been to Weston many times.
Started out with a b+ myself , 1971 IIRC...
@@electrichellion5946 Thank you for the offer! My daughter and grandsons live there now and I will ask her if it is still there. I had a 51 chevy that sat in the barn there for 17 years. That was 30 years ago!
The first bike I ever bought. Got a '68 Ace100 that was long forgotten in the back if a Harley shop for $50.
Brought it home and had it running in under a half hour.
I had a 125 Elsinore, a relative that lived next door had the 125 super combat. The bikes were very close in performance and handling. My Elsinore seemed to be more refined and possibly a little better handling. But the Hodaka had an edge in torque. There was a slate dump near our homes the was a popular hill climb for the area. My little 125 Honda would usually run out of steam at about 15 to 20 feet from the top. I could ride his Hodaka and clear the top, barely, but it did, on multiple occasions.
I have an all original ACE 100, and it still runs great and looks even better. I love this bike, light weight, easy to work on and so much fun to ride. Wish I could find a wombat in the same kind of condition.
Right on!
My favorite bike was a Hodaka 125cc Combat Wombat I had a Yamaguchi 70cc would love to see Hodaka back in this modern age.
I absolutely loved my wombat! Still my favorite bike ever, young dumb me traded it for a mean suzuki that tossed a rod.
.@@joshgreen2164 That wombat would cost a fortune nowadays and or give u a fun dirt ride.
A couple Chinese companys approched Strictly Hodaka who had the rites to Hodaka in the 90sand later. They wanted to make cheap Honda knock offs with the Hodaka name. Paul said no way. Glad he did
Great video. I bought a brand new Super Rat in 1970 on the basis of their off road racing success. I had 2 weeks of bliss until the motor spat a wrist pin clip and seized. From that point on, I never could go a weekend without breaking, including 5 transmission shafts (those ball lock trannies were fragile) and front forks that bent FORWARD! I did get an apprenticeship in motorcycle repair though! Likeable bike, but bad memories for me.
The first brand new bike I bought was the Hodaka 100B for $385 in the early 70's. That bike started my life long love of enduro riding.
My brothers friend bought an ex Hodaka shop and it had loads of tanks, frames and parts. When I asked what happened they said poor alloy quality. All those parts went to the tip.
You had me at Malcolm Smith! If Malcolm said that it's the bike to have, then it's the one for me. The man knows motorcycles better than most.
Thanks for all the research and cool vintage footage. My first dirt bike had an Ace 100 motor somebody put in a Suzuki 90 frame. It was the first 2 stroke engine I ever rebuilt. It was not very fast, but it would climb like a mountain goat.
My first running motorcycle was a '73 Dirt Squirt 100. It wasn't the fastest, but I learned how to work on bikes by owning it. I always wondered what happened exactly to the parent company. Your explanation was good, thanks!
I loved those things
Just stirred up a lost memory! "Hodaka Dad !" ... "Come-on Son..Let's get one !"
This video brings back many memories. In 1973 my dad and mom brought home a ‘71 Ace 100 for me and my brothers, over the next couple years we road and modified that thing and had a blast. To this day at age 62 I’m still riding just about every day. Thanks mom and dad for all the memories.
In the mid sixties my buddy and I got into dirt bikes and desert racing in Southern California. He was a little older and his parents bought him an Ace 90. My little stripped down Honda S90 with a big rear sproket, knobbies, and a straight up pipe was no challenge. Still, he had a drivers license and my father loaned us a 1952 chevy pick up to transport the bikes out to Lancaster and Palmdale. Still friends with old George to this day and we share many fond memories of plowing through the sand whoops. That little Ace 90 was ready to race right from the dealers floor.
Its stories like this that take me back, almost as if in a time machine, thanks for sharing man! I got my Wombat when I was 14 in 1979, stepdad bought it at a garage sale in Montana when we were in a motorhome on vacation. He must have had to buy a carrier for the back of the hitch, I don't clearly remember. He paid $300 I think with travelers checks, I rode that thing for three years back in Washington State. What a blast! I remember riding thru our small one stop light town, no license, no helmet, no hassles from anyone, just heading out to the logging roads and trails. Fast forward to 2006, I bought the first Kawasaki KLX 250s from a local dealer, before he even got one in the shop. I have 18,500 miles on it and its just as fun to ride this bike today as that Hodaka was back in 1979. I jumped on it the other day and did a quick 30 miles on it. They say you can never go home again, but why would you if you're out riding having a blast living in the past. I have a couple of posters in my shop, one of them is the Dirt Squirt, I need to find one of the Wombat, and of course I would love to find that actual bike from all those years ago....
My dad still speaks nostalgic about his Super Rat. It was his first "big" bike after moving up from a mini bike. Lots of stories about burning out pistons. One time he only got half a mile on a piston.
It was a big deal for him when he bought a new 1981 yz250. He still has it and it still runs.
He should have learned from his hodaka, but no, he bought me a new 2006 "X-Rage 200" that never worked, so I rode his sister's old 1977 XL175 instead, because it worked. Bless him though, he's awesome for buying me a bike.
wow that is awesome
I started my motocross racing years in 1972 on a 125 Combat, in 1975 moving to Bultaco where I went to the front consistently.
Had a Hodaka 100. Bullet proof pile of fun
Hodakas were neat little bikes. A friend had one and it was a blast to ride..
That they were
Man, your channel is a gem. I love these stories and your narration is top notch. Cheers brother 🍻
Much appreciated!
Who didn't love Hodaka's chrome tank? I rode a dual sprocket Ace 100 in the mid-70's and loved it. Easy to maintain.
Goon, you are the best my friend! 🦾🫡💚💚💚
This series has been informative and solves some long uninformed speculation on my part. I remember all these brands as a kid. I lusted after the Hodaka bikes like crazy. That chrome tank looked so good. They were beyond my means back then by a long way. My bikes were used nasty things that like an F-16, need many hours of maintenance for every hour used.
I have owned dozens (still own a couple) Hodakas. From 90cc to 250s
Great bikes the crash in the motorcycle market took down a number of smaller bike companys in the late 70s early 80s
Thanks for the memories!
Growing up in New York, My Ride - 1970 B+ in '71, I was 13.
Blew the engine in '72, throttle stuck after wiping out on the rail road tracks racing train.
Grinning back and forth with the engineer who knew me by then.
Taught me to respect steel under my wheels from the tracks.
My dad took me to the motorcycle shop in Nanuet they had a 16 hp Rat engine brand new 180.00 bucks in stock. and was one of the best days in my life excited.uncorked the exhaust jetted the carb and no one could catch me .Rode that through high school tenth grade had it plated when i turned 16 put a smaller rear sprocket and drove on the palisades parkway it would hold 70 mph on a flat.
Almost bought one a year ago guy wanted 3000.00 it was nice but i opted for an old Kx 250. might have to down size again.to increase my longevity.
Still have my original Hodaka Shop manual from 1971 with the Rat engine receipt folded between the pages after 52 years.
Loved that Bike..
What I always say is " Nothing good lasts forever ", great video and yes being an aging baby boomer I did love the Hodaka's !
Mr. Goon - your storytelling and research just keep getting better and better!
thank you for the kind words
So I had two of them. First was a Combat Wombat bought brand new. Road it in Sierras and the Santa Cruz mountains. It was stolen out of a locked building behind my apt. A few years later I bought an SL250 (their biggest streetable model) and road that for many years. It was a tough bike but a bit too heavy to be more than a big trail bike. But it hauled me around a LOT. Still have the owners manuals for both. The SL was under water in a flood for to long. Sold for salvage and gone. Of the two, I miss the Combat Wombat the most. That bike had a balance and a nimbleness that I have never felt on any other bike, and I have owned about 50 over my longish riding career. To those that still have them, keep on Keepin on 😁
As always an excellent piece of motorcycle history. Some people hate most people agree... But facts are facts and opinions don't matter!!
What a cool story, would’ve been really sweet to have been around at the time.
Cheers for sharing Greg from Coolangatta Australia 🇦🇺
Awesome as always. I had a Suzuki TC90 back then but longed for a Road Toad. Never happened though. I think every male yute had that poster of Farah back then.
Additional video content: Greeves & AJS. I liked Hodaka but I wish they'd offer a 250cc much sooner but the simple bike concept just wasn't going to survive thanks to the Big Four. Single-shock giraffe bikes w/ water cooling, disc brakes, yearly changing frame geometries & near infinitely adjustable suspensions adds a lot to a purchase price. Speed costs! At least the purists can say that the '60's was the decade of Hodaka. I agree!
The only problem with the early models was the cast iron cylinders, they later changed to a steel liner inside an aluminum barrel
Most underrated channel on YT. Great content!
I bought an Ace 90 in 1966....never loved any of my bikes more. Rode it everywhere.
I remember riding with Hodaka's. They were a legend. I did not know, until now, the rest of the story as to what happened.
great bikes they were
Appreciate the time you put into this motorcycle history.
Your analogies and rare footage you piece together are intruiging .. 👍👍🇦🇺
"Only the good die young". I was born in 1956 and became a motorcycle fanatic in the late '60s. Lived in rural upstate NY and there were great riding trails everywhere. I still remember coming home from school and trying to power through my homework as quickly as possible so I could get out and ride. Sitting at our dining room table with the window open and hearing the brap brap, ringading ding of other guys out riding while I was stuck inside.
I never owned a Hodaka but remember the ads in Cycle World magazine with great fondness. I wonder who owns the Hodaka name now along with all the model names. I would think if someone resurrected it making simple and affordable dirt bikes that they'd sell a ton of them. Look at the Honda Monkey and how popular it is. If they could sell them for around $4K like the RE Himalayan, I'd buy one.