The Hodaka Club Forum

We're off on a mini-adventure Auction this morning. I have the camera and several $100 bills and directions. The listings says several Super Rats that I may have sold decades ago. I'm skeptical but maybe it will be fun to check it out. Hmm, raining as we speak, add boots and rain gear. Stay tuned!

Max and Eweleen

Yay! We've returned from the sale with treasure or at least a potential project. It's a small world and the two bikes for sale were ones I had sold in the early '70s and had raced against the two brothers in the same period of time. Both are deceased but I did get to talk to the families and meet their wives and offspring. Both bikes were Super Rats, one stock and one had been turned into a short tracker that I recognized from 45 years ago. The stock Rat was rusty and worn with no compression and bad noises when kicked. Strangely the tank had no dents, emblems intact and shiney steel inside. Fenders were even good and the pipe was all fixable. It was a good candidate for a complete restoration. The short tracker came up first and I bought it for $65. The stock one was a different story. I quit at $500 when I discovered the other guy bidding was the son of the owner and all turned out well. He had his Dad's bike and I had a project.

So the mini-adventure was fun and Eweleen and had a good time. Here's a few shots from the day.

Max

Say, is that a Webco head on the flat tracker engine?

You are a good man Maxie . . . it is neat that the Rat went to family.

Ed

That is a really cool story and a happy ending!

Looks like Webco head and cylinder. Should be fun. 100cc or 125 conversion?

Hydraulic Jack wrote:Looks like Webco head and cylinder. Should be fun. 100cc or 125 conversion?

Jack, it looks earlier than the Webco heads I sold at the time. It appears to be a 100cc Rat barrel. Both the plug and release come in from the side. I'll try to get it apart and post a picture tomorrow. It is reeded. There's a really large mud/wasp nest in the bore that fell into the crankcase when I poked on it, LOL!.

Max

It is a Webco according to my memory. Looks like a real fun auction tractors and a old cushman frame.------Clarence

Clarence, you would have went home with something from this sale. Another thing we bid on was an old plunger type box to set off dynamite. We thought it would look good setting around the house with wires leading somewhere. Not to be at $150. All fun! Plenty of weird and mechanical stuff. Your kinda place.

Max

PS--Now that I have a new project to write about you won't have to endure all those raccoon and zucchini stories, or at least not as many.

Max-
Great catch; that is one of the last chrome rats, with that quiet pipe.
Bob

So far, so good! It looks to be a 93 Rat barrel .020 over with G.E.M. reed and porting not too bad. The head is an early Webco that I've not seen before. The plug(s) come in from the sides. Weird. I can't see this being totally efficient compared to a centered plug. It has a fixable low pipe which I've been looking for, all good.

What to do with this assemblage? It could be restored to a flat tracker but I have one of those. Maybe a Hodaka 100cc road racer which has been in my brain for years. I do have a close ratio 5-speed and now a low pipe for such things. First I'll disassemble this mess and do an inventory on what I have and what I'll need. All food for thought on a new project to keep me out of trouble as my wife says. It looks like a new post is needed for a new project. My projects always get out of hand but I'll say it one more time to make you laugh. I think this will be an economy build to use up all these parts. Done.

Maxie

Excellent Maxie. Sure looking forward to your next project. Are you thinking of resurrection the Partridge Family tank for this build? Hmm....

matt glascock wrote:Excellent Maxie. Sure looking forward to your next project. Are you thinking of resurrection the Partridge Family tank for this build? Hmm....

Hey thanks Matt! As for the Partridge Family tank, even the mice think it's too windy inside due to rust perfs. Also I need to cut down on weight and wind resistance if we're going to try to push this thing past the "ton" mark. Dreaming probably but one does need goals!

Maxie

If anyone can get get it into the "dollar club", its you, Maxie! Anyway, the P.F. tank looks too cool on the exercycle to cannibalize it at this time.

PS - Its too cool that the bike passed through Good's Cycle Shop those many years ago. Its like its coming home! Love it!!!

Oops, my pipe comment was about the one that got away. Ah well, you wanted a low pipe!
Bob

Yep, I'm sure that of all the things Maxie's pipe is, quiet is not one of them. Looks like a Torque Engineering "Competition Only" model low pipe. I have one that Hodaka Dave converted to a high mount on my reeded Super Rat. It will peel the enamel off your teeth.

Hey Matt, the pipe does have the Torque Engineering look. I think you're right. Some miscellaneous dents need fixing but it's just what I needed. Some new shots under the Max's New Project post. I need to get this all funneled into one post and get this underway.

Max

Looking forward to it Maxie. I always learn a ton of great stuff from your work and your posts on this forum.