Why oh why...

[olddogs]

The defination of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. What are the odds that you got a defective heat treated main shaft, and by some odds got a second defective heat treated main shaft, when no one else seems to have?.

I restored a SL250 this summer for a guy who had 14,000 miles on an origanal sl250 and I would have caught a worn shaft during the rebuild. I also raced a 250ED for years in the buddy class at many vintage enduros. Riding double through mud and sand for 75 miles with 2 people on the bike. Never had a drivetrain issue. You may want to go back to looking for enviormental conditions to explain the issue. Chain way to tight? Are you adjusting the chain tension with your weight on the bike? Is the tensioner working properly? Do you have a habit of blipping or snapping the throttle when in traffic or high speed cruising? Is the chain whipping as you drive?

Occams Razor states that in explaining a thing, no more assumptions should be made than are nessesary.

[Darrell]

The defination of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. What are the odds that you got a defective heat treated main shaft, and by some odds got a second defective heat treated main shaft, when no one else seems to have?.

I restored a SL250 this summer for a guy who had 14,000 miles on an origanal sl250 and I would have caught a worn shaft during the rebuild. I also raced a 250ED for years in the buddy class at many vintage enduros. Riding double through mud and sand for 75 miles with 2 people on the bike. Never had a drivetrain issue. You may want to go back to looking for enviormental conditions to explain the issue. Chain way to tight? Are you adjusting the chain tension with your weight on the bike? Is the tensioner working properly? Do you have a habit of blipping or snapping the throttle when in traffic or high speed cruising? Is the chain whipping as you drive?

Occams Razor states that in explaining a thing, no more assumptions should be made than are nessesary.

Hi Old Dog,

I wish I was insane -- instead of really, really unlucky when it comes to parts and orders. If there were only two defective shafts out there -- then they would find me!

I'm pretty diligent about chain maintenance and adjustment, but sure would like to know what the correct torque value of the countershaft nut is. Suzuki TS250s of the same vintage are 35 ft.-lbs. I've been told.

In any event, I wish that 14,000 mile shaft was up for grabs.

Darrell

[Joe Ormonde]

Same here! A local Motorcycle Shop sold me all the Hodaka parts they had. There were 7 Kick Roller Retainers Part #904714. I looked them over and of the 7, 3 had tiny itsy bitsy cracks on the corners of the 5 cutouts. New old stock parts. I only use the Heavy Duty ones from Terry Larsen. When you can visually see a bad part it`s not so bad. Can you buy 2 bad parts in a row? Had I sold those defective Retainers the buyer would have 3 bad parts. Most people would not have seen the cracks they were so tiny. I smashed them flat so they could never be used by anyone ever! Joe.

[taber hodaka]

Why were there so many hodaka's set aside with low miles and hardly ridden? Hodaka and small 100 motorcycles were also a trend everyone was having fun on them. The 90 and 100 aces were wiping up on all makes, models and classes. The aggressive younger kids wore them out completely and they went in the scrap pile, The guy at the office was afraid of his and it sat in the garage until it was given to the paper boy. Many with low miles were leaned up against the garage fell over, the tires rotted and got thrown out back in the junk pile, some were put in the pump house or the old barn only to rust or be covered with pigeon poop. So many with low miles were kept better and not thrown out in the scrap. One person bought a combat wombat for his wife, the dealer installed a lighting kit, she just didn't ride it, I weakened and paid $ 800.00 way to much for it. ----- Clarence

[olddogs]

I have bought and sold dozens of Hodakas over the last 50 years. The story i heard most was it lost spark, so we fooled with the points but never got it running. Thats why so many barn finds are missing the shift covers or have buggered up flywheel threads. . On oil injected models it was piston seizures and the dealer was now a lawn equipment shop. so no parts .

On the stripped shaft I would still weld on a sprocket patch and consider it an updated service item. Use the clutch and brakes when slowing down on paved surfaces. Using engine braking puts major strain on the drivetrain. When you hear houves, think horses not zebras.