The Hodaka Club Forum

Holly Crap!!! She started!!!!! Dirty pilot jet was holding her back. Now it's clean!

Here's my observations now that she's running!
(Oh My God! Did I really say that?)

1. She has stock jetting. A 160 main jet & a 30 pilot jet. She started on 3 kicks! But she also started without the choke engaged, and if I tried enguaging the choke she would start to flood until I turned the choke off! So, I'm going to drop the main jet to a 140 and see if it starts & idles better. Right now the air screw is out 1.5 turns.

The overflow is also dropping fuel. So since this carb has the detached floats, I'm going to need some advice for correctly adjusting the gloat levels.

2. The key off does not turn the motor off. The OEM kill switch on the mirror mount does not function. But I bought a simple new one to put next to it, and wire it in place instead. I'll need to check the Black ground wire to the ignition switch to make sure it's properly connected. I hope it's not a bad switch.

But she made very light blue smoke and she rev's when you twist the throttle!!! YEAY!!!!

All I need for this bike to be conplete are the adjustments mentioned above, and a set of red rear reflectors for the rear rack! Anybody have a spare set they can part with??? Victor

P.S. go to the Hodaka Facebook page to see the video of her running! For some reason I can't copy the link with my phone!

I wouldn't change the main jet for starting problems. The main only effects almost wide open throttle positions. The problem is more likely associated to your floats and float needle not sealing or out of adjustment. Don't change the main jet until you see how it runs at near wide open throttle openings (and after you have corrected the float situation).

OK. The carb is overflowing out the overflow piece atcthe bottom. The plastic nipple is broken off so I can't even add a piece of fuel line to the overflow. Need to know the specific on how to adjust these black plastic floats. I've only done the one piece brass kind. Do they still adjust the same way? Flip it over and adjust the brass Ramon the pivot so that it stops parallel to the edge of the bowl? Thx! Victor

OK. Fuel dripping and all, I got on her and rode her! Also wired in the new kill switch and installed so I could shut off the engine.

Had to loosen the clutch cable at the case. It was way too tight and rev'ing without moving down the road. Got it adjusted and rode it back & forth in front of the house, stopping to adjust the slippage out of the clutch. Got the clutch working really well!

So, I took off down the street and ran it through all 5 gears. With that big rear sprocket, (I think it's a 62 or 65 tooth, maybe bigger) I got her up to between 35-40 mph on the speedo, depending on how accurate the speedo is working. Brakes are adjusted fairly well but could use some fine tuning. Down shifted through the gears, slowing down and hitting 1st gear. Made a 180* turn in the road and started heading back. Shifted into 2nd and accelerated. Went to shift into 3rd and all of a sudden, Pop! No power! No spark. Can't kick her over. Had to push her home.

With the key not turning the bike off and it starting in either the On or Off position, I need to check my ground wires & make sure nothing has come loose.

I did replace every single male & female bullet connector in the harness with exact matches. So, I'm hoping it's just something worked loose. The headlight is very dim until revving the motor up pretty good, but the horn, turn signals & tail light are not working. Didn't test the bulbs before so I could have some bad bulbs, but all of them? Also tried the AC/DC switch in both positions, no difference with the lights & horn. But, I'll get there. And the battery is provably toast. It sat for too long, unused. So I'll need to buy 3 new batteries!

And, of course, suggestions are always welcome! Victor

She has come a long way, from that empty frame, to this! Just need to buff the tank & add the tank badges & graphics! Oh yeah, & mount the front fender back on! LOL!!! Victor

viclioce wrote: ... all of a sudden, Pop! No power! No spark. Can't kick her over. Had to push her home.

This sounds like an ignition issue, unrelated to the battery/no turn, tail, or horn. Did you tighten the points down? Did a black wire come loose and ground against the frame?

... The headlight is very dim until revving the motor up pretty good, but the horn, turn signals & tail light are not working.

These run from the battery. If you have a bad battery they won't work, probably not even when the bike runs. They may, but very weak. Dim headlight is normal but should reach full brightness quickly and hold steady. If it's fluctuating with rev's a lot, the VR is not working correctly, not necessarily defective; make sure it is grounded correctly. If it still fluctuates with rev's too much it may be defective.

$0.02

Roger

As far as adjusting the float level, yes, you have it correct. The brass arm that is hinged to the card body, when the body is held upside down, should be parallel with the gasket surface. If it is still overflowing fuel, either there is still dirt or some other contaminate in the float valve assembly, or the valve itself is damaged/bad. Make sure you get that corrected before you try to do any jetting adjustments as a leaking float valve will usually cause the engine to run somewhat rich throughout the entire throttle range. It can also cause the sparkplug to foul out quickly.

Got it. Float needle is new as is the seat. They look fine. I've just never adjusted these independent floats before and needed the provided confirmation. Thanks! Victor

OK. I decided to take one picture of the amended seat bracket for which I did the better job of welding. The other is not nearly as clean looking. But here's what I did. Pretty easy to see! Victor

OK. I pulled the tank, the seat & the battery cover, and found absolutely no ground (or other) wires disconnected. I did check the fuse as well. It looked OK, but I changed it anyway. Wonder if I should check the headlight bucket?

So there's no explanation for the keyed switch not working, unless it's a bad switch. I was concerned that the back of the ignition switch was not covered. I guess the locksmith took it off, and couldn't put it back on.

I asked myself what can I do about it? I cut a cardboard circle to put inside it, then brushed on some "liquid tape!" Soon as it dries I will remount the switch. On to the points check to see if the screw loosened up? :megreen: Victor

I believe that the back of the switch was not originally covered.

Ahh. Berry interesting! Well mine is now! No moisture will get in there & it won't allow any solder joints to contact the switch mount bracket either. Don't know if it was, but it's at least proventitive now! Victor

Looks like the points for the Red Toad Broke! Started removing them last night but ran out of time. Had to go to choir practice. I'll be out there again this evening as soon as it starts to cool off a bit! Victor

Points didn't brake after all. I was able to pull the flywheel, remove & inspect and re-install. It got dark & I needed to make dinner, so I stopped for the night. I'll know more tomorrow! Victor

Yep. It was just the points screw loosened up! Got it tightened back down & gapped correctly again & she started right back up!

The nephew rode her today, up & down my street & around the neighborhood! Adjusted the clutch a little more, got the floats working right & also replaced the bowl gasket & one piece of fuel line. Turns out the clamp holding the fuel line to the intake tube on the carb had cut through the tube and it was dripping as well when I finished adjusting the carb.

She seems to like the 160 main jet! She starts in warm weather without the choke. Adjusted the idle down a bit so it wasn't so high, and she starts always with just one or 2 kicks and no throttle.

Also had to make a minor lossrning of the clutch cable. She was still slipping a bit on take off in first gear, but a couple of revolutions seemed to do the trick!

She's almost ready for the DMV! Still thinkin about changing the rear sprocket from a 62 to a 56 tooth. Victor

Great looking bike, Victor. Another one back from the abyss.

Thanks Matt! She's almost done. Still needs a new, functional battery, so I can test the lights & horn. The clutch cover is dripping a little bit of oil, so I need to drain the oil & check the gasket. Still have a spare if something happened to it.

The tank got a few screatches in it, down to the primer. Don't know how, but I'll need to sand, blend spray and clear coat again. Then buff it and add the graphics. But she doesn't leak fuel any more so that's a new plus. About 98.5% there. Also still need to pull the Triple Tree and extract 2 broken screws I missed during initial mock up. They were broken off inside below the surface so I didn't see it. Need to do it so I can mount the front fender mount at 4 points and not 2. New photos to follow with her all buffed out and decals & badges on the tank!

Man this bike sure frustrated me for a while! I had to walk away from it and clear my head to think straight again. It was all simple stuff which was keeping it from running, but I kept overthinking everything and assuming it was worse than what it really was!

Not if I can just find a good used RT pipe for the Green Toad! Victor

Details details. That's a lot of the fun though. I'm trying to put the gear together to build a painted tank Dirt Squirt sleeper and I'm having a tough time getting any of it together. I'm dreaming of the day where I can get the broken screw extractor out . That's a loooong way off for me. Great bike Victor. Now you can dream of the day your nephew's great great great great grandson turns the throttle for the first time! How cool is that?!?

Had never thought about it like that Matt! Kewlio!!! Victor

It's why we do what we do. Pulling the past back from the brink so we can project it into the future.

Spent 3 hours yesterday successfully dropping the Triple Trees & drilling, tapping & rethreading the lower tree for the fender mount bolts which were broken off inside the tree & put it all back together again. Also just about done with the repaint of the fuel tank! Just need to clear coat it now! Victor

Mounted front fender & front wheel last night. Guess I'm getting older! I couldn't mount the front wheel solo! Had to get my grandson to lift the front end for me to be able to line everything up. Trying to finish the tank paint redo. It got scratched up and there was one section of filler which had some air holes. If I don't get it this time, I'm going to strip the tank & start again! Pics to follow! Victor

I think the UFO front fender looks good!

Also got 2 good, heavy coats of clear on the fuel tank today! Almost done! Victor

Got the second coat of clear coat on today. Tomorrow is wet sand with 2000 grit and buff it out. Then I can apply the graphics I've been saving! I'm sure glad I did the air cleaner graphics just black & no colored background! Victor

Crap!!! Yesterday, my grandsons were putting away tools while I wasn't with them. And wouldn't you know it. The second brand new paint job on the tank! Yup. Someone scratched it! Right on the top edge! Damn!!!

Now I have to sand it and try to blend it. If it doesn't work, it will mean a 3rd repaint.

Uughhhh!!! Victor