The Hodaka Club Forum

OK, I picked up a battery at a local Honda shop in Edmonton, only $18 which surprised me (mind you, it's not much of a battery). Anyways, here's what's happening now with everything and my conclusions for the difficulties which are still with me (pretty obvious conclusions I think) ...

1) I do have a double filament bulb in the rear tail light assembly after all. The running light in the back tail light (low intensity filament) is on all the time when the bike is running (which I think it should). The high intensity filament (brake light) in the rear tail light is also now on full time once the battery was installed and the bike running, I figured one or both of the brake activator switches was stuck in the on/closed position. After a bit of trouble shooting, it looks like it's the front one, the rear brake switch works properly and turns that bright filament on and off with the foot pedal (when the front switch is disconnected). Working the front brake lever (back switch disconnected) results in no change, the brake light stays on when that front switch is wired up. I'll have to take that little front switch off (and maybe apart if it allows me to do that) and see what the issue is. Maybe it is corroded shut or something like that. It doesn't appear to be frozen, it pulls open and closes with the hand brake lever being worked on and off. Any comments are welcome.

2) Signal lights ..... hooked all four lights up and now when the bike is running and I flip the signal switch on the handlebars to turn left, the little indicator light goes on (steady) and so do the front and rear left signal lights ..... BUT no flashing, just on steady with no on/off happening. Same thing when I flip the switch to the right turn position, the indicator light goes on (steady) and so do the front and rear right turn signals but they're on steady. So, looks like a flasher unit is on the fritz probably? I would guess that a small 6V flasher off any older Japanese bike would work OK if I can't locate an exact replacement? Once again, comments welcomed.

Thanks, MIKE

The front brake switch is similar in construction to the rear. The mounting holes are slotted to allow for adjustment and the switch mechanism is attached to the brake arm by a spring to allow for movement. Try blasting away with some contact cleaner on the switch and make sure the little plunger mechanism moves freely. On mine, I set up a little circuit with a flashlight battery and bulb and kept activating the switch and hitting it with the contact cleaner until proper function was consistent. Also make sure the spring is completely relaxed after the switch is mounted. They really are fairly bullet proof switches unless they have been smacked and broken or are horribly corroded. Replacements are available.

Took the switch off, lubed it up a bit (probably didn't need it) and replaced it in a slightly different location. Fiddled until the brake light came on with about 3/4" of the hand lever pulled in .... works great, thanks for the help with this. I'll move on to the flasher later this week.

Took the old flasher off and was testing some wiring, etc. Put it back on and the signal lights work fine now. Great bikes these little Hodakas ..... I suspect that they were more than the equal when compared with other bikes back in the day for quality of build and design. They really are put together nicely.

Indeed. Very smart bikes from the git and relentless improvements to the original sound design. That's what you get when dirt bike people design dirt bikes. Its a good idea to give all the contact points on the wiring harness as well as the harness in general a good cleaning and inspection. Lots can happen to a shelved bike being put back into service. Its one of those "ounce of prevention..." things.