new owner, need advice

[hodakagirl]

Yes the link I sent you IS for the correct manual. Jump on it quick! It won’t last long!!! Victor

Got it. Thx!

[socalhodaka]

I have a collection of old seats, if I don't have the one I can probably find one in Arizona the next time I go in a few weeks. I'm north of downtown about 20 miles call Rancho Penasquitos, retired so I have a lot of free time so give me a call. PM me, how long will you be in San Diego?

[hodakagirl]

You are too kind, socal. I'll be there between the 6th and the 9th of November. Not sure yet what day we're flying in. Graduation is on the 9th and my son wants to fly home asap after graduation, of course. PM me if you find a seat, but you don't have to go out of your way or anything. I have some time before I need to sit on the bike!

[dirty_rat]

Strictly Hodaka ( www.strictlyhodaka.com ) has the manual that covers the early bikes ( Ace 90, Ace 100 and early Super Rat) listed on their site for sale. Here is the information on it:

Workshop Manual- Ace 90/100 /100MX- Part# 209000 $57.95

Well worth the price for the information it contains.

[hodakagirl]

Thank you, dirty rat! It's ordered

[taber hodaka]

Good good choice> the Ace 100 manual is only a supplement to the Ace 90 manual. -----Clarence

[Hydraulic Jack]

The front fender on the Ace 100 sits naturally with the front aspect tilted slightly up with relation to the tire. I always thought it looked a little odd, like the fender is the wrong size for the tire, but that's the way they were made. Here is a photo that shows the front fender, and if you notice, it appears to be higher in front, as if there is more space between the fender and tire at the front than at the rear of the front fender.

Ace 100 Customer Photo File, Strictly Hodaka

[Bullfrog]

That configuration for the front fender was taken from British off-road practices of the era. By orienting the back edge of the front fender close to the tire, and the front of the fender farther away from the tire - no "funneling" of sticky clay mud into a tighter clearance area took place. Any mud which got by the rear of the fender could easily pass by the rest of the fender. In addition, the rear edge of the fender would "slice off" mud which came up, helping assure no mud "packing" between fender and tire. It was definitely a design feature which followed the concept of "form follows function". (ie, design it so it works/functions . . . and how it looks is, well, how it looks).

This has been your Hodaka History lesson for the day.

Ed

[olddogs]

THANKS for the front fender explanation. I have been wondering "what in the heck were they thinking with that thing" for the last 50 years.

[hodakagirl]

Thanks for that fender history, Ed. I knew there had to be a purpose for the angle of the front fender.

Workshop manual is on the way and carb is coming soon. Took a look at the better of two fuel tanks I have and started cleaning tonight. What's the best product/procedure to get rust out?

Checked old posts about these brass petcocks. It seems maybe they have a tendency to leak ... Is it possible/safe to use them? How best to clean them? They're so cool and vintage-y. I want to use them if it's safe. What do you think?

[matt glascock]

They are cool for sure, but for ease, dependability, and rebuildability, the new pot metal petcocks are good. I've lapped the brass petcocks which improved but did not eliminate the fuel seepage. For rust removal, depending on how bad it is, it can be as simple as throwing in a handful of nuts or drywall screws and shaking the tank for 10 or 20 minutes, removing the hardware and flushing the tank. I've also used Evaporust with good results. There are a lot of folks who prefer electrolysis and an equal number of descriptions covering the technique for you to consider. I've not tried it, but you may well have the materials to do it in your possession right now and it is by report easy and very inexpensive. Now is a good time to mention the advisability of ALWAYS using an in-line fuel filter between the "Y" connector and carb.

[hodakagirl]

Now is a good time to mention the advisability of ALWAYS using an in-line fuel filter between the "Y" connector and carb.

Thank you for the suggestion, I'll put that on my growing list of stuff to get. Bummer about the petcocks! I'll have to get some new ones. Thanks for your suggestions about cleaning the tank. I hadn't thought about electrolysis but I will look into that.

[Bill2001]

The brass can be lapped and might be made to be leakproof. No guarantees. I'd save the brass ones for "vintage use" and get the new potmetal ones for daily use. I'm saving the brass ones for use with my pristine show tank.

[hodakagirl]

The brass can be lapped and might be made to be leakproof. No guarantees. I'd save the brass ones for "vintage use" and get the new potmetal ones for daily use. I'm saving the brass ones for use with my pristine show tank.

I will definitely keep them

[Bullfrog]

I would suggest that the proper choice of words would be something like, "Lapping can sometimes return the brass petcocks to leak free operation."

Ed

[hodakagirl]

Can you tell me what part of it needs to be lapped? Pics would probably help!

[rlkarren]

You have an excellent start for a rejuvenation. Like Kelly (socalhodaka), if it were me, I would bring it back to functional before attempting a full restore. This way you can have fun riding while you acquire or prepare for a more intensive rebuild.

A couple thoughts:
In my opinion, the seat foam can be salvaged if most of it is still pliable. Just shave off the top and replace with a new piece of firm or soft foam, whichever you prefer and place a new seat cover on it and no one will ever know the difference. The Ace 90/100 Seats were flat on the top so very little contouring would be necessary.

I would suggest that new bearings, seals, points and condenser are the minimum required to get it running and ride-able. The engine is incredibly simple as engines go, and you could probably do it yourself with the right tools and specs. Then as mentioned before, I would carefully evaluate the condition of any other consumable parts, i.e rubber parts, cables, lights, etc.

In your downtime, study the wiring diagrams and how to correctly jet your carburetor. This info will come in very handy later.

$0.02

Roger

[matt glascock]

I don't have the means right now at my disposal to provide any photos (actually, I'm diddling around when in reality I should be working ). First, disassemble the petcock by removing the small nut opposite the "handle" or "lever" that starts/stops the flow of fuel. That will allow you to remove the handle/valve assembly from the housing (the part that screws into the tank. The actual valve is a truncated cone which fits into the housing. The cone and bore need to be lapped together. Cover the cone-shaped part with the lapping compound, reinsert it into the housing, and start-a twirlin'. Needless to say, make sure all lapping compound is removed prior to reinstallation.

[hodakagirl]

Perfect explanation. Thank you, Matt

[hodakagirl]

Roger -
I'm still in the cleaning phase cuz I haven't gotten the workshop manual or carb yet. I'll also need to order several more things before I can get it running.

The seat is definitely toast. Foam is crumbling. Maybe I'll see if an upholstery shop can recreate the seat. I also need to make contact with a local machine shop to create/re-weld brackets on the fuel tank after I get it cleaned out. Three brackets are bent on the tank I have and one is chewed off. Otherwise the tank looks pretty good.

I'm really looking forward to replacing seals and bearings. I've never done that before I hope the workshop manual is very detailed!

[matt glascock]

The workshop manual is highly detailed and there are many people on this forum who will help you every step of the way!

[Makotosun]

another petcock option which is both vintage appearing, and actually seals nicely are the RUPP mini bike ones available from Ebay and other sellers. They do require you to run a taper pipe tap into the tank hose, as the stock ones are a straight 1/8 pipe thread. Plus you get a full set for under $25 shipped to your door! We are running these on all of chrome tanks right now.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-MiniBi ... 236d78e83f

And here is what it looks like installed:

[hodakagirl]

Those look good, makotosun. I'm not sure what you mean by a taper pipe tap, but I can probably figure it out. I am going to try to clean up these brass ones and see how they well they seal when I clean the rust out of the tank.

[Hydraulic Jack]

There are two kinds of pipe thread, straight and tapered (NPS and NPT respectively.) Most common pipe threads are tapered (NPT), so the farther a piece is turned into place, the fatter the insert gets and the tighter the threads get, helping to form a seal. Straight and tapered threads of the same pitch, such as 1/8", are not interchangeable, although sometimes it appears one will thread into the other. That appearance is misleading. Mixing styles almost always leads to leaks and pressure failures.

So if your tank is tapped for 1/8" straight thread, running an NPT tap into the hole will sort of realign things and allow the NPT style fuel shut off to screw into the old tank and make a seal around the threads. I would still use Teflon or pipe dope, or both, on the threads if you do this. (Teflon tape techically isn't intended as a sealant, but rather a lubricant to allow NPT threads to fully seat. Some plumbers use both dope and tape thinking you get the best of both worlds. Personally, I think dope serves both purposes, whereas Teflon tape sometimes does not, but the choice is up to you.)

[Makotosun]

I did use a bit of teflon tape on the threads and after about 6 months, have not had any leakage from the threads or from the petcocks.

The tanks are originally the straight thread version. The NPT tap is very commonly available at any plumbing shop or big box Home Improvement store. It was also included in a cheap Harbor Freight tap set I had laying around.

I could never get the brass ones to stop seeping, even with new ones, so was looking for a good rider replacement. There is another type that will also work after using the tap which I saw in use on a nice Combat at Hodaka days last year. They are available online and look a bit more modern. I have seen this both straight through as in the picture, and with a 90 degree angle.

mnp-12-0039.jpg (11.8 KiB) Viewed 6120 times

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mnp- ... A-EALw_wcB

It is not clear from that ad that this is the 1/8" size, but they are available - just check the size before you buy!