The Hodaka Club Forum

Well a few days ago I was rummaging around in the sub-freezing Hodaka parts shed and found part of an "old friend". It was the remains of my old short tracker. (You've seen the bike on previous posts and in the "Your Bikes" on the SH site -- the one hanging from our ceiling.) I thought you might be interested in some mods from the past – Here's how we did a reed valve piston for the short tracker. Top holes are mostly transfer and angled for the flow. The bottom holes are mostly crankcase intake and are as large as possible. Notice the curved cut on the back skirt for more intake. This one is "medium radical". Others were more radical with less reliability. Check out the bladed rod. (What's left of it--You get this patina by selling your racer to some who breaks it,takes it all apart and throws it outdoors for decades. It was a tough restoration!)
Hope you enjoyed my ramblings today.

Maxie

Pretty cool....I can't wait to see the "radical" modified piston.

Danny

Thanks for your comment Danny--the "more radical" piston lived a short life and only one was made. We inspected the engine after every race and found small cracks where it was trying to shed the skirt. The piston shown was about the limit for reliability. The rectangular holes were already as wide as the intake manifold as was the curved cut in the skirt.

Maxie

Reminds me of the reed valve piston mods on my Ace 100 with reed valve back in the day. Brings back a lot of good memories. Reed valve, super rat head and piston.....had to be the loudest motorcycle I ever heard. Ran Blendzall 2 stroke bean oil and smelled as good as it ran.

Danny

Max
Thought I would add one . 68 ace 100. Has a extra steering neck welded on, early fork conversion kit . Super Rat engine F-1296 w/ reed valve. This pic was taken right after I picked it up. Filed the points, fresh gas It fired right up. K.C.

kc57 wrote:Has a extra steering neck welded on, early fork conversion kit .

YIKES!

I'm trying to type a comment but I'm speechless! YIKES! was already taken--Hmmmm, same patina though--definitely a mod from the past!

Maxie

I am particularly impressed by what appears to be a high mount air cleaner on the sport rack.

These Mods from the Past ( Deep water AC and fork head extensions) I've not seen before--I think we're breaking new ground here!
WOW!

Maxie

Now that we've had big fun with your new find KC, can we see the other side? (more pixs)-- Seriously--I'm always amazed at the number of mods that were made to early Hodakas--Probably no motorcycle in history had as many after-market parts available (Think Webco, Bassani etc.) over a period of years, plus all the factory parts such as R pistons, HC heads and straight cut gears before the 93 Super Rat. Not only that, it's still happening today with Paul's SH! Ignitions, Pipes, R pistons and parts are still flowing over 50 years later-- Amazing history! and of course-- Great motorcycle!
as always--
Maxie

And speaking of history--Happy Birthday AZ!

I will try to get a couple more pics. Granted the bike is not much to look at currently. But I think about someone in 68 buying a new Ace and completely changing it to make themselves a racer. The steering neck extension is not that unusual , at least in the NW. I have seen several examples over the years ( Clarence has one of the nicest I have seen )

Seriously KC, I've never seen that modification in all my years and types of racing. Tell us more about the supposed advantages of this mod (besides lengthening the wheelbase) if you can. Clarence--any input on this? Just curious--I thought I'd tried everything!
Max

Friends I will try and explain this. It was always told to us that a longer swing arm made the machine handle better, no crow hop. This modification came about more by accident than the science of the engineer and his slide rule. The hopped up 90 could not be ridden considering the weight and short wheel base, you could not go through the gears without being upside dawn. So the rear swing arm was extended. To gain more length we wielded another piece of pipe to the front remounting the front forks out ahead, this seemed to make the machine more balanced and stable, it also let you turn a little sharper and kept the handle bars out of the gas tank. I only rode the old ace 90 it was my only race bike. this is a list of some of the mods. Stock forks modified to give a inch or two more travel. High bars with the brace, BN expansion chamber, compression brake, Webco Al skid plate, larger front wheel, Webco rear sprocket with cush hub, girling rear shocks, hodaka fork brace, hand ported cylinder and later reeded. shaved head and later hodaka racing head not super rat. 32mm plus or minus amal carb and when it wore out I used about a 28mm mikuni . Many other mods I could mention later. The 90 won about 70 races cross country and motocross. There was one Idaho off road bike hill climb being the only 90 I was the last to go and the first to make the top I made the hill all three runs for the first place trophy. Sorry Maico, Bultaco Greeves Yamaha, Honda Montesa and others.. The list above is about half of the modifications. There were two races I did not finish and one of them every one else quit first then so did I. And I did not finish Badrock about 1973?? I gave up racing in about 72. I never was on a track again until last summer at Hodaka Days. Sorry I got a little winded--------------Clarence ---A Hodaka dealer at 22

Hey Clarence, thanks for explaining the theory of extended fork heads. Sounds as if we lived in parallel universes--the first 90 modified continuously to the hilt for years of dominant racing fun. My muti-purpose 90 $lowly evolved into a dedicated Short-tracker and with the arrival of the 93 Super Rat I began to build some full tilt MXers which my teammate and I did very well on.--Fun times for sure. I gave up racing about the same time you did and did appear at the ISDTRR in Oklahoma last year for the "Last Great Race" (maybe). We might be getting a little old for this but it sure was fun! I asked my wife if I should race one more time and her answer was; "Not many summers left--you should go for it." Funny.
Just rambling----

Max----A Hodaka dealer at 23