Winterizing Hodies

[matt glascock]

Hey out there in Hodaka Land. For you 4-seasons kinda guys (and gals), what do you do to winterize your Hodies? Details please. For you temperate and subtropical zone folks, I'll just sit here, freeze, and be jealous. Thank you.

[RichardMott]

I basically just drain the fuel and run the engine dry until it stalls.

[hodakamax]

Hey Matt, Your question brings back fun memories from the sixties. Winter was just like Summer--Riding time! Hodakas on ice! What fun! An interesting trick was to attack the frozen pond at speed with quite a bit of throttle and start a fork locking slide that would start you into a series of ice skater like spins. The tighter you could tuck in, the faster you spun. Ten was a good number but with more entry speed you could get 15 or more. I tried to set a new record by attacking the ice on a wide open run. I think I set the record but I was still going about 20 MPH when I hit the other bank which launched me up the bank for a bad landing on the frozen ground. Being young, I survived which allowed me to tell the next story about racing down a shallow frozen creek, my friend fell through the ice at a riffle and submerged the rear wheel. When we drug it out it was so cold that the rear brake drum froze solid instantly and we had to build a fire and lay the bike in it to thaw the ice in the rear wheel. All true. More stories available but it's nearing bedtime--Maybe tomorrow.

I guess the answer to your question would be to to dress in layers.

Maxie

[matt glascock]

Maxie, I think we had the same days of youth. Dry Run Creek ran alongside our track and in the wintertime, that creek became the coolest single track race course ever. Sheet metal screws through the nobs, layer after layer of duct tape, the whole schmeer. I do ride all winter except when snow/ice abound, but the dedicated race and dirt-only bikes do take the winter off (I keep a squirt up front in the shed if a little trail riding is feasible). For Richard, do you fog the engine/cylinder?

[hodakamax]

Well Matt, I have become a fair weather rider as I grow older. Today I can't even imagine going out on a motorcycle below freezing. Ain't gonna happen, but back to your question. The internals of two-strokes always seem to be well coated in lubricants and even fuel should winter over with some stabilizer provided no ethanol is present. Running the carb dry also sounds like a good idea. There is one other theory to choke the engine to stall thereby putting extra oil in the cylinder. Then the carb can be emptied with a bowl drain if available. Of course batteries should be brought indoors or provided a charging device to keep it topped off. I notice storing of equipment in unheated environments can cause condensation to develop during the extreme temperature variations and by spring unprotected iron is starting to develop rust. Maybe a light wipe down on the metal parts with something like WD-40 would be in order. Fortunately, I have heated storage for the bikes but should one winter over in several heating/cooling cycles, the above methods will probably protect it for one season. Max's opinion!

Max

[matt glascock]

I've always appreciated Max's opinion. Its all sound advice and will be followed. Thanks!! I'm not a militant winter rider like my brother and as opposed to the days of my youth, would feel really bad about the severe torture of ice riding with my Hodies, but I do street and trail ride if snow/ice isn't an issue. I'll probably locally race my modern bike one last season as I have a practically new set of ice tires and it needs a new top end any way. As for winterizing my precious Hodies, your advice will be followed. As always, thanks Max!

Best,

Matt

[viclioce]

So far, I only have the Ace with a battery in it. I bought a 6 volt charger/tender to keep the battery up. Going to have to pull the motor out of the Ace though because I think it has a failed kick start bearing retainer. Late Fall project. ; D Victor

[matt glascock]

What make is that 6V tender, Victor. Mine has fried and I'm having trouble sourcing one locally so I'll have to likely try Amazon. Has yours been durable.

[hodakamax]

Ok, a little bored, one more story on how not to winterize your Hodaka. Back to the frozen pond not far from Good's Cycle shop. Fast forward a few weeks from the spin contest on ice. The pond is beginning to thaw but I think we can get one more adventure out of it before Spring. Two friends and I head for the frozen pond for some flat track racing on ice. A few sticks mark the course on the perimeter of the pond and all of us are putting in some hot laps around the course. A weird trio, a 250 Zundapp, a Honda 160 twin and me on the Hodaka 100. We've practiced our moves for over an hour and it's time for the Great Race. For the first time in the day we all assemble on our would be starting line all in one place. Bad idea, the ice begins to pop and creak all around us as I see the Zundapp submerging. I throw the Hodaka on its side and run. The Honda 160 goes in rear wheel first but hangs up on the frame. Luckily the depth is only a few feet deep in this part. I'm doing well in that I'm not even wet nor the Hodaka. No sign of the Zundapp and I jump in to rescue man and machine. We get the Honda on its side and drag it to safety and began to search for the Zundapp. Ah, right where he left it, on the bottom. The Zundapp has taken a big drink and is locked up. We get the Honda going and with a leather belt drag the Zundapp home. This all makes me cold just to think about it! We are all cold and wet to the waist but happy to get back to the shop unscathed. Hope you liked the story on not winterizing your Hodaka.

Max

PS--I have one more story If you are interested, not as funny as that one but entertaining. Again, maybe tomorrow.

[matt glascock]

Max, I'm always interested in your stories! We may be a state apart but some thing tells me we've chewed a lot of the same dirt - or ice in this case. However, I will not be trying that technique for winterizing although there may be some potential for very long-term storage. When I was 15, I was following a buddy on a Ski-Doo sled with my TM125 burning up some ice laps. He forgot about a spring that entered east end of the pond (actually an old borrow pit) where we had our track laid out until he was over the thin ice and, here's the wrong move, came off the gas. Realizing the mistake, gunned it followed be a shower of ice fragments and water then everything sort of went into slow motion and got really quiet. When the steam and mist cleared, the sled was gone, Bill was bobbing and thrashing and clawing and breaking the quarter-inch ice on his way to shore, and the sled was under 15' of water. He had to hire an ice diver to hook it up with a log chain and had it pulled it out with a wrecker. Oopsie. Them were the days!!! I'm looking forward to your next "winterizing" story!!
Best,

Matt

[hodakamax]

Hey Matt, great story! At least we didn't have to hire a ice diver. This is fun in that adventures turn into stories as you get older. People without stories must have led a dull life. OK, one more ice story and I'm done, at least for that subject.

Sunday rides were standard in most any season in my early motorcycle days. The local authorities allowed untagged motorcycles to travel to riding areas and to the car wash if we were good. We usually met at Sunday noon at a local precursor to the Dairy Queen of today. The era was the mid to late sixties and anything could show up. Hodakas were the thing, but there could be Triumps, Jawas, along with Italian things like Parillas and Ducatis. The Honda 250 twin scrambler was also popular. A few 250 Zundapps were usually present. Yamaha had just released the 250 DT-1 Enduro which is what this story is about.

We usually left in a pack down the adjoining railroad tracks to the local lake or in some cases hauled some bikes in trucks and trailers which was good at the time for bringing back bikes with Lucas electrics. That winter day we hauled everything (about 15 bikes) to a friends unexplored property for a Sunday ride. I helped a friend unload his new Yamaha 250 DT-1 with 12 miles showing on the odometer. We took off with me in the lead on my trusty modified Ace 100. We began to string out and soon I came upon a small frozen pond which I thought I'd better test by riding around the edges with my feet down to disperse my weight. My friend on the DT-1 saw me on the ice and proceeded to drive across the center and directly to the bottom of the pond. He flailed to the bank but all that could be seen of the new DT-1 was the clutch lever. The gang soon arrived and we piled several broken branches on the ice to reach the bike. Our friend was already wet so we sent him out first on our human chain to get a grip on the stricken machine and dragged it to dry ground. It had taken a big drink and was locked up. We removed the plug, turned it upside down like a bicycle and pumped the water from the crankcase and cylinder in a near steady stream. More than 250ccs came out due to the crankcase being filled also. Meanwhile a fire was being built to warm the rider and to reheat the only spark plug we had for that machine. After many pops and reheating the plug on a forked green stick the engine struggled back to life spraying a large amount of water from the exhaust for several minutes.

The story still goes around today on the breaking in of the new DT-1 by driving it into a pond with 13 miles on it.

OK, the last ice story, I drug it out so you could be cold also.

Max

[matt glascock]

Wow Max! We had the same days of your separated by about 8 years. Great story and yes, I can feel the cold. I think its wonderful that we were able to experience these things. Living to tell about it and later recall them fondly is the best thing ever. I look at typical teenagers today and feel bad that many won't have experiences like these and that's sad. Its times like that which makes us what we are and I feel kids today don't pursue or are not allowed the types of adventure we had when we were that age. All the places we rode over with not so much as a hassle are now posted "no motor vehicles" including the ditches and railroad rights-of-way that were the super highways for all of us kids with a dirt bike. They are off limits now. Those conduits were the way a kid like me in Cedar Falls could try to gain a little traction with a gal in New Hartford 20 miles away. Here's a non-ice related yet similar water-based happening. As I'm sure you are familiar with, we have thousands of miles of streams and creeks throughout the state. We cobbled a jump together to clear one that was about 15 feet across and 4 feet deep. Kind of a table-top design of sorts. Curt, on his 125 Carabella, opted in as guinea pig. He kicks the thing to life and takes off on a 100' run-up. He approaches the face. Petcock off. Power off. Altitude off. Distance off. Reminded me of Wyle E. Coyote going over a cliff. I've never laughed so hard as when seeing him drizzle off the lip of the up ramp and straight into Black Hawk Creek. Best use of a Carabella EVER!

[hodakamax]

Funny Matt, I started laughing at "petcock off" and am still giggling as we speak. Good story, that petcock thing has gotten all of us in trouble!

Thanks for the laugh!

Max

[matt glascock]

Ain't it so. I was doing my very best to entertain and impress a gal a few grades ahead of me with whom I was pathetically trying to generate a little heat using my well-honed wheelie skills. Petcocks off. Bike sputters. A handful of throttle grabbed. Then the last 17 molecules of fuel charged headlong through the transfer ports and WHAM! Astonishingly fast loop-out. "Did he get the girl?" you ask. No. Darn petcocks!!

Best,

Matt

[ossa95d]

Thanks for the stories guys! We had a lot of adventures in the '60s here in Vermont too, but I can't top your stories. I'm still laughing...

[viclioce]

Matt. Haven't had it long enough to talk about long term durability. I'll have to go out and find it in the garage. I can take a photo of it and post it when I find it. All I remember is I bought it on eBay! So, most likely, and because it was fairly inexpensive, I suspect I'll be lucky if it lasts a year or two! ; D Victor

[hodakamax]

Hey Matt, the petcock thing can work in many different scenarios, I think anyone who has raced has been first into the corner and approaching the back straight when it lays down and you are nearly or actually ran over. I've posted this before but the petcock thing can work both ways. After a night of short track racing I put the bike to bed with the petcock on. The next morning I attempt to start the bike and it's locked up. The Amal has filled the crankcase full of fuel. I do have sense enough to roll the bike out side before removing the plug and carefully positioning the plug wire safely to the side. (this is Victor's favorite story). Sitting on the bike and a swift kick to clear the cylinder causes 100cc of fuel to squirt on the under tank and front wheel. It somehow finds the needed spark and everything is on fire big time! Luckily I'm only about six giant steps from the fire extinguisher and all is saved but my eyebrows. (they did grow back). Ever since these experiences I've labeled the petcocks for slow learners namely Max. Yet another true story.

Max

[matt glascock]

Wow Max! The perfect storm. Fuel, spark, that's it. At least you had the situation covered at medium rare rather than well done. Scary!

Best,

Matt

[viclioce]

My favorite story?!?! Was that one YOU told or I did???? ; D Victor

[hodakamax]

One more short story about funny things that happened in my early days of motorcycling and it's probably happened to most of us depending on what you rode and how you dressed. The crash usually happens with a large group of people present and is most embarrassing. I have seen this happen more than once as our large group fired up for the Sunday ride. It goes like this. The rider/victim jumps on his machine and the kick starter lever goes up his pant leg. The bike tips in that direction and his foot won't go down. And there you have it, the first crash of the day without even starting the engine. Always good for a group laugh!

Minor story for the day---

Max

[Bill2001]

LOL!! Great stories, Matt and Max. I must be leading a boring life-- my tall tales cannot match yours. My BMW has opposed cylinders that stick out the sides. Each cylinder has a carb. The left carb has a Tickler button that is bad to catch a pant leg on. Leg goes down at a stop, catches on the tickler and won't reach the ground. Plunk. The bike goes over. Invariably in front of a crowd.

Matt-- I've used the 12v Deltran Battery Tender for years. I got their 6v model for the Hodie. My 12v charger is about 15 years old and is reliable. They are "smart chargers" so the charging rate varies depending on the charge state of the batt, so it can be left connected without cooking the battery.

[matt glascock]

I've been down that road too, Max. There must be a law of nature that dictates obligatory group observation whenever I do something like that. Then, of course, comes the "look-around" to see if anyone saw it ('everybody' is the standard answer). We haven' explored timing and application of sensibility though. Summer 1977. I was 14. Mitch, an older boy and real jerk had just got into a shoving match the day previously with my best friend over a less than charitable exchange of bars and paint at our local MX track. That day, I saw him at our practice track doing what he always did best - sitting on his bike looking snotty. Of course, I did the only logical thing - I buzzed him and roosted the living crap out of him and his sweet Kawi. It all looked pretty cool to the onlookers I'm sure til my sexy power slide took me crossways to a rut followed by the inevitable high-side up-wadding at which time Mitch proceeded on over and beat the crap out of me - post-roost rage in full force. Yep, that's how I do it. Hey Bill, thanks for the tip. I'll look for the Deltran tender. I have made harnesses that allow applying the tender for my Hodies so I don't have to pull the batteries but my tender hit the skids this spring and I haven't been able to find another one. Sounds like perhaps a personal experience has revealed the tip potential of the Beemer. My brother has one. He calls the opposed cylinders "foot warmers". I'll ask if one has ever sent him into the dirt - not that he'd 'fess up. As for bike and/or riding stories, they are essentially all a product of doing things in direct contradistinction to what sanity would suggest. Still fun to think about these years later - time has the potential to turn the WTF response of the day to humor very effectively. We were just young kids doing what essentially every young kid has done since the beginning of time - GO FASTER! Looking back, I guess I'm firmly in the "what don't kill ya only makes ya stronger" camp. And, in reality, that is the common thread here - we all did it on Hodaka dirt bikes. Cool!