The Hodaka Club Forum

Just went on a 100-mile return gravel road ride on my 94 Wombat to the old fishing village of Winter Harbor, North America's western-most settlement. While there I topped up from a Tidy Tank at the village store to make sure I could get back before running out of fuel. On return it looked like I would've had the range with the 10 liter tank-- but it might have been tight.

Anyway, one of the other riders (on a big deluxe KTM) was the first to notice my footpegs had started tipping downwards. Where might the stress or weak point be? Could the footpeg bar fatigue and droop? Another possible issue may be that the pinch, or stop point, of the folding pegs is squashing. Which could be rectified by building up the contact points with a weld beads to realign the peg elevations.

What is the Hodaka Think Tank experience in this matter?

Many thanks in advance.

Darrell from Nanaimo BC

Pics?

Definitely pics, please! Victor

I could take pics, but there's no obvious abnormalities visible in the pegs and/or bar -- except that the ends of the pegs are perceptibly off level and tipping downward a few degrees now.

My first guesstimation is pivot bolt wear and pivot bolt bore wear.
Ed

Thanks Ed, I didn't think of that. The pivot holes could be worn oval from pressure, grit, and vibration. If so, building up the footpeg stops could move the pegs back to position, in a hacked sort of way.

I'm not a heavyweight (180-190 lbs) so the bar would likely not be bending anything.

Trip sounds like a Resonator tale (hint, hint).
Bob

yeah, I would like to read about that adventure too.

Darrell, might I inquire as to what the "sticker" on the left side of the head is? I was thinking a temp gauge, but I wouldn't think that it would have much of a service life at temp. Or would it?

Also, I have the same bike and my pegs are doing the same thing too. I was gonna just chalk it up to being a 220 lb guy on a bike that weighs less than I do... and figured I could bend it back and brace it.

Bev

TheBevman wrote:Darrell, might I inquire as to what the "sticker" on the left side of the head is? I was thinking a temp gauge, but I wouldn't think that it would have much of a service life at temp. Or would it?

Also, I have the same bike and my pegs are doing the same thing too. I was gonna just chalk it up to being a 220 lb guy on a bike that weighs less than I do... and figured I could bend it back and brace it.

Bev

Yes the sticker is a temp gauge -- but it only reads reads as high as 245 degrees. The normal operating temp of the head is over 300 degrees; however, the sticker has survived for a long time so far.

Instead, I use an infrared heat sensor to check the head temps on my bikes, aiming for the top of the combustion chamber. Remarkably, my 250SL runs relatively cool (<300) in spite of the abbreviated finning to make room for the expansion chamber.

I'm curious if your footpeg bar is actually bending. If so, an almost imperceptible bend at the frame may be quite exaggerated at the outer tips of the pegs.