Ebay prices

[RichardMott]

I was curious about Ebay prices for used Hodaka parts. Are they kidding???? Where do they come up with these prices. I am sure glad we have Paul, Bruce and other Hodaka folks as part suppliers. If I were just getting back into Hodakas today, I might have second thoughts after seeing these prices. I paid $50 for my Ace frame for the WomAce. $150 total for 2 used (03)Wombat motors.

[thrownchain]

What they ask for and what they get may be 2 different ideas. It's only worth what someone will pay, and if it is indeed "rare" ,the market will dictate price.

[squid on a 300]

The best is when they list the part incorrectly, it's ratty, and they are asking twice what Paul, Bruce or Dan are asking for an unused part. I just sent a message to a seller telling him what the part fit so he could at least list it correctly.

However sometimes when they don't know what they have you can catch a deal...Like a pretty good CW/DS tank for $50.00, or a super Rat Head for $25.00.

Bob

[thrownchain]

Sometimes they don't want to know what it actually is. That's why you need to know more than the seller, it is a buyer beware world.

[viclioce]

I've seen prices for Hodaka parts climb significantly on eBay since buying my first Model 03/93/94/95 in 2014.

My guess is, some folks believe since some of the bikes are now in the 50 age range, the parts are worth relatively the same kind of values as parts for 50 year old collector cars.

Shopppng for parts for Hodakas requires patience, knowledge, a resource like this forum & a bit of luck. Some parts can still be found at a great deal. Sometimes you can end up with a pig in a poke!

Example. A seller posted a set of Road Toad motor cases for an auction. They clearly identified the parts as having come out of a Model 99 Road Toad. I bought them for $20 plus $15 shipping. Now $35 is not a bad deal for a functional, undamaged pair of Road Toad cases.

However, even though the seller was a reputable salvage dealer, and even though he had checked the vin plate to determine the model of the frame, he wasn't aware that Ace 100 motors could be mounted in a Road Toad frame.

So when I received the cases I immediately contacted the seller. He apologized & stated the motor come out of a Road Toad so they assumed it had to be a Road Toad motor.

Lucky for me, he gave me a complete refund and told me not to bother mailing the cases back. So if anything ever happens to my Ace 100 B+ motor cases, I have a spare set I can rebuild a new bottom end with, free!

Caution, close reading & asking the seller questions & requesting additional photos goes a long way towards finding good items at reasonable or very good prices on eBay, but the best advise is still "Buyer beware." ; D Victor

[DesertRat54]

Well, probably a lot of us aren't inclined to reply because we, too, sell occasionally on fleabay, and would like to get as much for our parts as possible. I'll venture a reply, though. I guess my initial response is to just put our faith in the good ol' free market because of the power of "no." There's a seat for every butt, and only the butt knows the seat in which it wants to sit. If you want to pay $50 for an Ace frame, be my guest (although I'd happily sell you one for half that). If you can get two good 03 Wombat motors for $150, I'll share in your good fortune (and will also hope along with you that the internals aren't stuck, rusted or broken like some of the motors I've come across). But in the end, you decided at which point you would throw down the "no" card" or the "yes" card. It's all a crap shoot--that's the fun. It's even fun complaining about the high prices that we sometimes see on fleabay.

But on a more serious note, the demographics of our hobby is what concerns me. High prices for our Hodaka stuff just means that there is demand for it. This implies a healthy hobby--something we all want to see. What we don't want to see is a hobby where replacements don't keep up with the number of those exiting (in dollars and/or people). And as we all know, none of us is getting any younger. Not all of us can race anymore (or it's not smart to keep racing), so demand for replacement parts lessens. Leisure riding doesn't wear out our bikes very quickly (they are Hodakas, after all), so demand falls off there, too. As we move to keeping garage queens, well, they don't wear out at all. The younger generation generally isn't as interested in the old stuff as in the new, and besides, so many of these snowflakes are more interested in virtual reality than in the real variety. So where does this leave us old-timers? We know what happens to prices when demand drops off, so I guess I'd say that we should be careful what we wish for.

I've blathered on too much already. But to end on a happier note, Happy New Year to the collective! Rediscovering Hodakas came at a good time for me, and it's enriched my life in ways I couldn't even have imagined a decade ago.
Bill in VA

[viclioce]

I don't think I've purchased anything from a forum member on eBay. All though I can't swear to it equivocally. EBay is becoming more of a last resort for me now. Not because of prices but because of availability of what I've needed. I have used cables. I don't need to buy more, I need fresh cables. My last purchase was for an RT cylinder which is now assembled on the Red Toad. Sometimes I find good deals on new parts like levers, perchs, grips, etc. But my meat & potatoes used items come from Bruce more often than not, because he has kept his prices reasonable. The worst buys are trying to find piston rings which are accurately described & listed correctly. ; D Victor

[matt glascock]

I'll weigh in on this too, Bill. The main issue we have to resolve is to foster and enhance interest in the next generation of vintage motorcycle enthusiasts. The two immediately apparent places to start are, first, with kids. Who can't recall the first time they twisted a throttle? My life was changed forever in a million different and positive ways. Now, I agree things were different back in the 70's in terms of access to places for riding. Heck, we had dirt bike highways that paralleled automobile highways and any vacant lot became a de facto race track. Not so today. But the wonder of riding a dirt bike is probably the only thing cool enough to peel a kid away from an X-Box. The other group that needs to be mined for interest is guys like me. I raced dirt bikes in the 70's-early 80's and got away from it until the turn of the century. While I still enjoy it, many folks in the 50+ club don't want to line up next to an 18 year-old bullet-proof kid on a 65HP rocket. What we need are more vintage bike-friendly facilities for all disciplines of vintage off-road racing. I've been trying to convince the operators of a SX track where I race my modern bike to design in a vintage-friendly course which follows the same layout but avoids the jumps, etc. one finds on a modern SX track. Ideally, organizations like the AHRMA would be more focused on leading an effort to develop interest in expanding facilities which support vintage bike racing and in a wider geographical distribution. That would open opportunities for people like me who can't take the time to travel to the relatively handful of vintage events hundreds of miles away. When I was a kid, there were at lease a dozen racing facilities within a two hour drive so I could essentially race anytime my bike wasn't in pieces on the bench. In short, if we want to keep interest in vintage bikes alive, we need to recreate a culture and opportunities similar to the way is was when they were new. That part is easier said than done. What we can do is to foster interest in early teenagers in the way we were first introduced to the sport. Take a page from the Victor Lioce play book or read "Harry Hears a Hodaka" and get a kid involved with building up his or her OWN bike. I'm redoing a 94 Wombat with my 12 year-old daughter and its clear to see that she's totally HOOKED! I smile big when I think of that future day when she shows her grandson how to change the top end on his 100+ year-old Dirt Squirt.

[viclioce]

Thanks for the honorable mention Matt! ; D Victor

[matt glascock]

Victor, it was your Road Toad project that inspired me to get my daughter involved with the Wombat and she LOVES it. These kids are not only the future custodians of our old bikes, they are the future of US.

[viclioce]

So true Matt! And not only is it fun when they work with you, it's so much more rewarding than just doing it alone, for yourself! And this is before they helped me clean the garage for their bikes!!! ; D Victor

[matt glascock]

Indeed! BTW - we have the same shop - right down to the battery tender! I'm going to set my daughter on a Dirt Squirt this spring, and then the hooks are in for good!!

[viclioce]

I'm really trying to get the garage cleaned up. I think I need to buy a new tender. The Green charged light doesn't seem to be working any longer. I guess if they last a good 10 years each I must be doing good. I have a 6 volt kne for the Hodies too. ; D Victor

[matt glascock]

I have the same Die Hard 6V tenders and had the same problem with one after about 9 years but since they are in continuous service year 'round, that's pretty good I think. I can't find them so I switched to Schumacher 6V tender and it works great. If you can't find a replacement for your Die Hard, I'd check one out.

[viclioce]

My Die Hard is a 12 volt! I use it for my VL1500 & VS700. I have a different one for the 6 volts. ; D Victor

[taber hodaka]

The biggest factor in battery life is extreme hot or cold. The best temperature for keeping a battery is about 77 degrees. A uncharged battery will freeze and break but a charged one will not. Not on Ebay But.-----Clarence

[matt glascock]

Hi Clarence, Does this mean that to be protected the battery has to be attached to the tender or just be at a fully charged state? Sorry for my confusion on this. Victor, maybe Die Hard no longer makes the 6V version. What are you using for a 6V tender these days?

[viclioce]

I bought a cheap one on eBay which I bought just to start up a new battery. It only cost me $6.95 plus shipping, so around $12.00. ; D Victor

[DesertRat54]

Getting back to Matt's post yesterday: very good thoughts. I wonder if it'd be worth the time to coordinate such efforts as yours across all of the vintage clubs? An across-club "promotional brigade" of sorts? I'm sure there are a few riders in every brand doing the same thing as you're doing; why not work together? We all know that Hodakas are going to win on race day, anyway--right? Just a thought.
Bill in VA

[matt glascock]

Right on, Bill! That would take coordination but well worth the effort. Its those vintage racing organizations that have the most chips on the table if they want to see vintage racing outlive the current participants. I think what the track operators need to see is interest. That means numbers. Than means names. One of the problems presented to me is trying to add additional races to an already full card. I typically race 50+ 450 and open-class races, 2-3 motos each. That's an all day AND night affair. Most vintage racers can spend a lot more time under the green flag because of the number of classes available to us. At the same time, tracks won't open a race day if participation is limited to a handful of riders. Still, even modern SX tracks can easily be modified to provide a vintage-friendly course with minimal effort because the highest-maintenance portions of the track (jump faces, etc.) won't be effected - at least as much - since they will be bypassed. I've been trying to generate interest in a Saturday VMX race day to precede the usual Sunday races. To that end, I take my open-pipe, reeded Super Rat out for the pit bike class motos race and just scream the crap out of it, hit the table tops, roll around the doubles and triples, keep it on the pipe and the fans LOVE it, believe it or not. I've also taken my 1978.5 RM250 C-2 out for open class races. I think if we all work with our local tracks, appeal to vintage race organizations for support and endorsement, and prove commitment, we may get a foot in the door.

[RichardMott]

Well it seems I have fostered a good response from the group about parts and the continuation for the Hodaka experience.

Personally I have been trying to get my 12 year old grandson involved, If you read the Resonator Revisited you might remember the articles. With sports and video games as an alterative, the competition can be difficult if you don't strike while the iron is hot and keep their interest peaked.

[admin]

Great work Rick !! He is the future and you are a great teacher to instill the correct lessons in life.

[michael_perrett]

Rick, are those posters the reward for attending the Allegheny National Forest Hodaka trail ride, sponsored by the East Coast Hodaka Junk Yard Association?

ECHJYA pension fund manager
Mike Perrett

[RichardMott]

Yes Mike,

They are from the 2015 ride. That is the when Scott bent his handlebars.

[matt glascock]

Agreed, Paul. Involving youth in restoring a 45 year old basket to a cool, operable motorcycle teaches systematic and logical methodology, functional improvisation, mechanics and mechanical interactions, repurposing and preservation, appreciation for the past, an historical perspective on motorcycles and motorcycle racing, pride of ownership and in the investment of time and effort to make/keep something nice...hell, the list goes on and on and absolutely all of it is applicable to being successful in, among other things, life itself.