The Hodaka Club Forum

Hey guys!
I’ll try to make a long story short. I have a Super Combat that I restored about 20 years ago. It’s been sitting in my basement game room since that time. I’ve decided to take it down to the bare frame and restore it correctly this time.It was basically the first bike I ever restored, and although it’s nice, I want to make it nicer. I’ve restored quite a few bikes since then, mostly Honda’s, and a couple of Yamaha’s. My restorations are pretty accurate and what I consider to be “high end” restorations. I don’t restomod my bikes, and I don’t modify them much unless it’s to add stainless brake lines or something for safety’s sake. I do occasionally ride my restorations, but I probably won’t ride the Super Combat. I’ve had a couple of back surgeries over the years and my dirt days are pretty much behind me. My Honda’s always use genuine Honda hardware and I put factory type finishes on every part. I don’t polish aluminum to a chrome like shine when it came with a brushed look. I do tend to make my paint jobs a little shinier than the factory did, and I clear over decals. Other than that, I like to be as factory correct as possible.
That brings me to the problem with the Super Combat. When I restored it, I painted the hubs, (Paul told me to) I painted a lot of the hardware silver, and I replaced a bunch of the smaller hardware with hardware store stuff. I truly had no idea what I was doing! I also painted the cylinder and head because someone had bead blasted it and left a rather course finish on it. So… what I need from you Hodaka experts is guidance on what finishes these parts had. I’m planning on redoing the hubs and putting a brushed or slightly polished finish on them. I’m going to take the paint off of the sprocket and do it in a raw steel type of finish. Right off the top of my head, I need to know what kind of finish the foot pegs had, what type of finish did the foot peg brackets have? Did Hodaka use hardware with any kind of markings on them, such as the markings on Honda hardware? How about things such as the brake rod for the rear brakes? Brushed finish? I do have a Caswell zinc coating system, so anything that should be raw zinc can be done that way and not painted silver like I did 20 years ago.
I know there are a couple of the old factory guys on here, and I just think that is SO cool! What a wealth of knowledge you guys have available to you that pretty much no other brand has is a great thing. If ANYBODY has any photos of a new Super Combat that I can get clues off of, that would be fantastic. Or any of the factory guys that remember these things as new that would be willing to help me, I would be forever grateful. I’m sorry that I’m not fixing this thing up to ride like a lot of you have done, but I have other bikes that I ride, and I want this bike to be a museum piece.
Sorry this post is so long winded, but I know you guys are passionate about these bikes and wanted to give you as much detail I could as to where I’m headed with this bike.
Thanks for any help, and I’m sure I’ll have more questions as the process unfolds.

There are 2 or 3 vendors who likely have the NOS nuts and bolts cheaper than you can have them plated. They probably have everything you need. These fasteners were not consumable parts like engine or chassis pieces. The high wear parts are being reproduced but large inventories of NOS misc. hardware is still out there. Scott Hatch on the East coast. Terry Larson in the Midwest and Greg Watkins should be able to supply everything you need.

Thanks for the reply. I’m already working up a parts list for Hodakaparts.com, so adding some hardware won’t make much difference. Fortunately, all of the expensive stuff, tank, seat, pipe, etc. is in good shape. Do the factory bolts have any kind of marking on them that would make them different than hardware store stuff? You can see the Honda markings a mile away and tell if someone went to Lowe’s for the bolts.
Also, I’ve been looking at pictures on the internet of some really nice Super Combats and they appear to actually have painted hubs. I’ve already torn my wheels down and stripped the hubs, so it would suck if I just repainted them and put them back together, but not a big deal. I just want the bike to be correct. Paul used to have a NEW Super Combat in his museum I could use for a reference, but I don’t know how to see that bike since he shut down.
Again, any help is appreciated.

The model 97 hubs were a natural finish. The model 98 hubs were black. Over the years they end up on some SCs. Most of the top level restores have engine cases and things like hubs ball burnished. It slow tumbles the parts in a vessel filled with some type of media blast pellets. It leaves aluminum parts looking new. I was shocked the first time I saw a set of cases that were done with this method. There are small markings on original hardware that makes them stand out from hardware store replacements. When judging restored bikes at events like Hodaka Days original hardware can determine the winner. I have restored a number of 97 and 98s to show quality but its been many years. Terry should be able to ID the specific markings. .

I have never had a Super Combat but all the other Hodakas I’ve had hav all had plain bolts, that is no markings on them. The profile of the heads are slightly different than anything I have been able to find. The nuts are slightly taller and have sharper corners than hardware store stuff.. even the flat washers are different from the hardware store stuff, thinner and slightly larger diameter.
I had been saving up a bunch of HodKa hardware over the years and recently sent about 10 pounds of stuff in for re-plating.
The resolution if this photo is not great but most of this stuff is original Hodaka.

Thanks, guys. You’ve given me some things to think about now. I can rezinc my own hardware, so no need to send it out, and I have a tumbler, but not nearly large enough to do hubs, cases, etc. and I don’t have the correct media for that either. I think I’m going to look for someone that can do this work for me. I’ve seen it done on some old BMW airhead engine cases and it looked amazing. If I can’t find someone I might just clean off the paint and put a light polish or brushed finish on them. Not sure what I will do with the engine cases as I really don’t want to split the cases if I don’t have to. Things to think about…
I’ve noticed in some photos that the foot peg brackets appear to be painted the frame color. Does this sound right?

And I’m going to order some correct Hodaka hardware to replace the hardware store stuff I installed 20 years ago. The axles and the swingarm bolt will be redone and given a brushed type finish. Thanks for your guidance on this stuff also.

Foot peg mounts were painted frame color. The foot peg, spring and mounting bolt were all just plated.

Thank you! I had them painted silver like the foot pegs. I must have used a gallon of silver paint last time!