Lighten a Hodaka

[ammodave]

A stock 100B+ weighs about a 185 lbs. How much can you lighten it by switching to a plastic tank and fenders, removing the battery box, etc. and still end up with a reliable street legal bike? I'm sure lots of folks have done this but I can't find anything by searching the forum.

[viclioce]

I wouldn’t worry about the weight of the battery/battery box. With lights on the Ace, the battery acts as the voltage regulator. No battery, no lights. Victor

[MTrat]

The part that most effects performance and is the heaviest is the nut that holds on the handlebars! =)

[ammodave]

Didn't there used to be something called a "battery eliminator" that allowed you to remove the battery without blowing out your lights due to unregulated voltage?

[dirty_rat]

Changing the steel tank to a plastic tank will save you about 5 lbs. (depending on which plastic tank you use), with no effect on reliability. Fenders, another lb. or two. Removing the metal plate and bracket that the footpegs mount to will save approx. another 5 lbs. (Cut off the footpeg mounts and weld to the frame, many of the trials Hodaka's have this done. Another advantage of this, is it makes it much easier to remove and re-mount the shifter case). Many of these changes are listed in an old issue of Dirt Bike magazine, if you can find a copy it's a good read.

I wouldn't worry about the battery as it's not that heavy and it helps with keeping the lighting system working well. On some of the bikes that have a very large taillight, you can replace it with a light from an older English bike and save another couple of pounds.

I found the cheapest way to lighten my bikes was to watch my diet and work out regularly.

[dirty_rat]

I think the old "battery eliminators" were more for bikes that required a battery to run.

[matt glascock]

If you can find them, alloy wheels are a sweet way to lighten the bike, and with a drive train bonus.

[ammodave]

Thanks for the info. I'd forgotten how heavy that footpeg mount probably is.