The Hodaka Club Forum

While on a job I came across a classy chrome-tanked machine tucked behind some old windows and doors and covered in dust in a dark corner of an old barn. I pulled the bike out of the corner and dusted it off to find it was a model 94 wombat with a 1973 manufacture date. To my surprise, the motor was free and had great compression, the seat was tear free,  and the tires, which looked original, held air. To make things better, the odometer read 482 miles and the trip read 481.3. No dents or dings and a quick buff would bring out the shine in the tank and fenders. When I got the bike home and further inspected it I found it was only missing the battery, air filter, the filter cover screw and fuel lines; all easily replaced. Since the gas tank was spotless inside, I put some fuel in and kicked it over a few times to find no spark. A little luck with a yamaha flywheel puller helped me figure out that the points were seized open. Again easy fix. I got everything put back together and three kicks and a mouse nest out the pipe later, it fired right up, easier than my '97 yz. I put 2 miles on it zipping around the yard, great throttle response, shifts silky smooth through all gears and is a blast to ride. I have to know, what is a bike like this worth?

Hi great find...

You need to post pictures if you want us to give constructive input

IMHO. The bike is worth exactly what you can sell it for... You can search completed sales on EBAY, check out Craigs List, and we can tell you what we sold our bikes for BUT.... At the end of the day it depends on WHERE you are selling, WHO is looking right now, and the luck of the draw at the time of the sale.

Here are pictures of a Wombat that I had and loved too. I ended up thinning the herd and it was sold for 1200 bucks in a combo deal with my Sweet 175SL which brought much more as it is way more RARE... This bike was original right down to the Nitto Tires... Miles on Speedo are cool but only indicate how many were put on until the cable was disconnected right?





Show us pics of yours and congrats on you find! Maybe you should keep it as it sounds like you like it. AND you should as they are fun bikes!

Bob in MD

Nice find, however the economy is very slow for vintage bikes right now. Ones that are completely restored with new chrome and paint seem to be bringing less than $2000. I would value it in the $700 to $800 range and even then you would have to sell it local. Of course, like Bob said, what you can get for it has a lot of variables.

Sorry, I posted from my phone and didn't notice the image link was broken. I fixed it and found a little better picture of the bike.

When I took this picture, the bike was purring away.

Based on the story I got from the guy I bought the bike from, it was his brothers, who bought it new and a year or so later he enlisted and stored it in the barn. When he came back he didn't have any interest in the bike and there it sat until I came across it.

What an excellent find!
Like the guys said, value is probably in the $700-$1,000 range - all the original stuff is way cool, running bike is way cool, but 40 year old seals and bearings and gaskets and rubber and...
Nice work getting her running - they are definitely great fun to ride!
-Laurie

Thanks everyone. I must admit, I was pretty giddy when it fired right up. At that value, do you think it would hurt to get a new set of tires (hold on to the old) and put the bike back into regular use?

I would be disappointed if you didn't... Enjoy it however it puts a smile on your face.
Dale