The Hodaka Club Forum

Thank you so much. I just need someone who can refinish the chrome on the tank, racks, handle bars, and wheels (are they stainless or chrome?). I am in southern VT and would like to keep the work near the area if I can, so if you do know of anyone who does good chrome refinishing and has a big enough tanks for those parts I'm open to suggestions.

Curtis I am also all about finding someone that can do quality affordable chrome work. Let me know how we can help.
See you soon
Paul

Paul and Ivan (and anyone else near the Green Mountain State). Classic Metal Resto in Shaftsbury cannot take anything over 7 inches wide. Just an FYI. I'll keep looking around.
-Curtis

All,

Alex Snoop recommended to me the following place for chroming.
He indicated they have reasonable prices and he uses them.

I have not had them do any work for me yet so would be interested in any reviews.

http://barchromeplating.com/Home.html
Bar Plating (203)630-1046

BAR Plating
30 - 7 Powers Drive
Meriden, Connecticut
06451

I had the day off and got started. Everything is coming about pretty easy. Is there a trick to getting the 2 pieces of the muffler apart? I did get the heat shield off.

Not sure if you are talking about the insert or the header pipe, but either way, I would soak it in a tub of mineral spirits for 24 hours or more. I use a heavy plastic tub made for mixing concrete. These are available at Home Depot and the like and are very reasonably priced. After soaking, another treatment with a good penetrating oil such as Kroil will help.
Dale

I bet you're talking about the silencer insert. Soaking like Dale said is great. I usually use heat and some penetrating oil to loosen things up - then careful tapping, tugging, twisting, make a goofy face... It WILL slide out
They just get kinda gunked and stuck with carbon over time
Looks like great bones on that bike - off to a good start!
-Laurie

Wonderful, thanks guys. Looking ahead at paint which is preferred, powder coat or old fashion primer, paint, clear? I have the equipment to do old fashion but not powder coating, that I'd have to out source...

Well I am from the old school of hodaka. The factory did not have powder coating It is not original. The old paint was not a problem looked great and held up well. If you can spray paint yourself I would do that. I had a few frames sand blasted and you need to prime them quickly. I would use a quality auto paint. I feel the more you can do on a hodaka the more it was you that restored it even if it is not perfect. Some of us may not be mechanical and need some help with the whole process, but then we all appreciate the finished result. To me powder coating you send it out it is done and comes back finished, quick and could be cheaper. I do not see it as a better product compared to quality auto paint. Clarence

I do have the equipment to paint and have painted my 69 VW Beetle so paint I shall. Thank you.
~Curtis

Hey guys,
The tear down is coming along. Slow moving because of the full time job and grad school. I hope to have every nut and bolt off by the end of the weekend (being careful to organize, label, and take pictures). Still looking for chrome. I do have a lead for someone in OH and one in northern VT. Engine is out for restoration. I will be painting myself, likely single stage (unless this is objectable). I need some advice on wheel restoration, fork restoration, a name or code of the original red color (if available), restoration of the muffler (I couldn't find them new), putting on handle bars with a higher rise for comfort (of course keeping the original around), and shock restoration (or purchase). Looking for 2 cents.
Thank you for your help everyone! I'm having a blast with this bike.
-Curtis

Curtis,
Looking good so far.

Paint - Paul has it right here on Strictly Hodaka for sale. I would recommend it.

Shocks - There has been some other posts here regarding replacement shocks. Try the search feature to locate these posts.

Forks - The forks are easy to clean up and re-assemble. You will want to order new seals and o-rings. Order replacement packing too if you can locate them. These are the rubber grommets that sit at the top of the tubes. There is a trick to getting the forks installed back on the bike with the Ace 90. The manual shows a "T-wrench", but a long metric bolt works just fine. You have to put the bolt down through the top of the shroud and thread it into the fork tube and then pull the fork up into place and hold it while tightening the fork pinch bolt. It was difficult the first time for me, but once I figured it all out, there is nothing to it... I would recommend a second set of hands to help to keep from scratching any new red paint.
Dale

Everything Dale said, and:
Is the muffler okay? Should be able to torch it to remove carbon - once cleaned up, it ought to work nicely.
On shocks, I've found NJB's (Matt has them at Speed and Sport) to work best on the Ace 90's. Other's may have luck with different shocks. If you want things nice and stock, you could clean up your originals, maybe re-chrome, and they would look cool. BUT if you want to enjoy riding the bike, I'd recommend some new shocks. On the later Aces (with different fender), they need to be mounted upside down. On my early Ace, I have them right-side up - be sure to call Matt and get the low-down on which shocks to order.
On bars, the high ones are fairly easy to find, not sure if you're looking to go even higher - easy thing to check once the bike is together and swap later.
On your wheels, the spokes and bearings are available and easy to do yourself. Give the rear hub a good look - sometimes things get chewed up in there on those early style hubs. There are probably folks out there happy to rebuild the wheels, someone else might chime in with a source.
Looks like great progress! Keep us posted...
-Laurie

Thanks everyone. I do think the muffler is okay. Do I just put the heat to the outside and have it rechromed? It'll be for riding, I'm not much into restoring to "trailer queen" status. So I will look into some new shocks.
-Curtis

Ok, I thought by muffler, you meant the internal silencer - that one you can torch with a flame until it's way hot - the carbon will burn/dry, then just knock/wire brush all the loose stuff off.
As for the chrome pipe, heating it up real hot with a torch will discolor the chrome. If it's rusted and needs re-finishing anyway, then go for it. If not, go easy on the heat - you can direct the flame to the interior (both ends) and heat the left side (the side against the bike that's less visible). Then run a bicycle chain/wire brush/etc. inside to help knock the loose stuff off and out.
There are other ways to clean pipes (chemically) I don't have any experience with that, so you'll have to hear those details from someone else.
-Laurie

If your chrome is not peeling off or too pitted, you can buff and polish it after you get the carbon out of it. There are at least two different ways to remove the carbon and not damage the chrome. Apply a torch to the inside, from either end, to burn the carbon out. Don't get it red hot, but just enough to burn the carbon out. Another method that I have used is to soak and brush. The Ace 90 pipe is a straight through shot. Soak it for several days in a tub of mineral spirits and then get yourself a bottle brush, a piece of small rope and a large nut. Tie the rope to the bottle brush handle on one end and to the nut on the other. Then drop the nut through the pipe and pull the brush through. Rinse and repeat until all the crud is gone. This second method is a little messy but the chrome will not be dis-colored by heat.
Dale

Cool tip Dale - I'm going to try that on the next one.
You worked some magic on the chrome for your Ace project - what's your preferred material and method for buff/polish rehab?
-Laurie

Laurie, Well I have tried a number of methods. I have used crumpled tin foil with baking soda water and also with a vinegar solution. To remove surface rust, I usually start with very fine steel wool (0000) saturated with Kroil penetrating oil. Kroil is well worth the price. I then use a loose fabric buffing wheel on a grinder and apply a polishing stick (different grits available) to the wheel. This removes surface scratches and brings the shine back. And then I usually use a Mothers polishing ball on a drill with Mothers Chrome Polish. All this to make a rust bucket presentable and by no means show quality.

Someone pointed out, I beleive on the old chat site, to always follow the contour of the chrome piece and do not make any circular motions. This was very helpful. Once you get a swirl pattern in the chrome, it is really difficult to polish out.
Dale

I feel the mothers mag & aluminum polish gives a very good shine. It seems to work better than mothers power metal scratch removing polish. Clarence

Wow!!! Thank you for the tips! That is knowledge one can only get through experience. Thank you for sharing.
-Curtis

How difficult would it be to get two gears on the rear wheel (high and low) and how do you change between the 2?

Two sprockets on the rear? That was the original setup of the Ace 90. See picture below.
To change between the two, you need to pull the rear wheel and add or remove the overlay sprocket with 4 bolts. To run the larger overlay, an extra chunk of chain and a second master link are used.

For trail riding the larger sprocket is great, but keep in mind that your top speed will be about 22 mph! Okay maybe 25 if you push it.

There were some brands (Bridgestone for one) that had dual sprockets that did not require you to remove the wheel to swap between the two. And then other brands (Honda and Kawasaki for two) that offered dual range transmissions.

Where do I find the larger sprocket and links? I would love to have it set up with both.

Check the parts list right here at Strictly Hodaka. If you already have the 32T small sprocket, then you would need the Overlay sprocket (there are different sizes), 4 bolts with washers, a length of 420 chain and a 420 Master Link. Other options would be Bill at Hodaka-Parts.com or Bruce at Hodakaparts.com. Between them, you should be able to source your parts.
Dale

I still have my original sprocket with overlay hanging on my garage wall.