The Hodaka Club Forum

Hi Guys,

I just picked up a pair of hodakas this week. A 73 Combat Wombat and a 72 Wombat. I believe the combat has been raced a little previously in AHRMA and the Wombat is a low mileage garage find with only 352 miles on it, that was included as a "parts" bike with the Combat.

Anyways. I'm working first on the Combat. It needs very little at the moment. New stem bearings and maybe a chain is really all it needs to be rideable mechanically. Fired it up for the first time tonight and I'd say the jetting is off, or the carb needs a good cleaning. Idle is high with choke on and screams with the choke off. Backed the idle stop all the way out and cranked the air screw in and neither helped.

Second it has a Torque Engineering expansion chamber on it, wow its loud. Is there any bolt on options to help quiet it some. I'll pull the end cap this week to see if there is any place for exhaust packing, but it looks minimal.

The Wombat needs a clutch cable and a little cleaning. Overall its in really nice mechanical shape, just has sat forever. I hope to get it back on the road this spring.

High idle with choke off means it's massively lean, check for crankseal leak. Also make sure slide goes all the way down.

Sounds like it could be a massive air leak due to worn crank seals also.

However, before you do that check one other simple thing first. Remove the rubber boot that goes from the rear of the carb to the air cleaner. With the engine off, look in the rear of the carb and rotate the throttle. You should see the round throttle valve moving up and down as you rotate and release the throttle. If the throttle valve is stuck or not installed properly it will cause the problem you describe.

Danny

I'm with thrownchain, sounds like an air leak.

There is one extremely slim chance of working things out sort of easily that you could try first. I really don't think it will help, but the work won't be wasted.

Do a thorough carb cleaning, including removing all jets and cleaning them AND cleaning ALL passages for fuel and air in the carb body. (Why am I recommending this???) Because it is very easy for the pilot air passage and/or the pilot jet to get clogged due to scrunge coming from the 4 decade old steel tank. Seeing no effect from adjusting the pilot air screw all the way in suggests one (or both) of the following: pilot air passage is plugged and not flowing any air (so adjusting the pilot air screw has no effect) AND/OR the air leak is overpowering any adjustments you try with the pilot circuit.

If you install a nice new in-line fuel filter before trying to start the engine with the newly cleaned carb, that will keep scrunge out of the carb. If it still has the problem, you can be pretty sure the carb is not at fault (and the carb is still nice and clean for when you finish the necessary engine repair). Um, it is a good idea to check that the slide is dropping with a thunk to the bottom AND check that the throttle cable has some slack when the throttle is "off". (You can still get a thunk at the "bottom" when the cable is coming tight and not allowing the slide to go all the way to the "closed" throttle position . . . so it is important to check for slack. Don't ask me how I know. )
Ed

Thanks, Yes I didn't even think about the crank seals but that does make sense. Jetting shouldn't be this far off. I am going to start with the carb, but will probably just order some crank seals to have ready.