Hodaka - The American Dream
By John Dickinson on 26th Dec 16
HANDS-up if youve got a Hodaka tucked away in the garage? Thought not. OK, hands-up if youve even heard of Hodaka? Not many!
Well, we know a man who hasn't just got one Hodaka but half a dozen, several of which are in show condition and have won many awards at prestigious motorcycle shows.
Dennis Price is that man and while the quiet, unassuming off-road enthusiast owns a small but eclectic collection of dirt bikes that includes a couple of Bultaco trials models, a 250 Sherpa and a more rare 175 and an even more rare 125 Villa trail/ enduro bike - but Hodakas are his real passion.
First though, a brief Hodaka history lesson, so listen up at the back. Believe it or not but from from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s Hodaka was THE off-road bike to own in America.
They were designed in America by a company called PABATCO, the letters standing for Pacific Basin Trading Company of Oregon but were assembled by the Hodaka company in Japan and they also supplied the engines.
The frame design is reputed to be based on the British Cotton.
From 1964 to the closure in 1978 over 150,000 Hodakas were produced and then sold in America in what was an incredibly successful collaboration.
Hodaka are credited for a major part in creating the dirt bike boom which swept America in the 1970s as their neat and tough little two-strokes were raced and trailed by a fanatic fan base.
All the Hodaka engines were simple piston-ported two-strokes and it is this inherent simplicity that was a major draw. Capacities ranged from 90cc to 250cc but it is really the 100cc and 125cc models that prevailed.
Hodaka drew customer attention with some amazing model names that included Dirt Squirt, Road Toad, Super Rat and Combat Wombat. With killer names like that who wouldn't want to own a Hodaka?
PABATCO were masters at marketing and aimed their little strokers at families, offering trail rides for dad, racing for teenagers and even mom could have a ride round the ‘back yard' on the lightweight, low-slung (pre-long travel suspension in those days) beauties.
Hodakas really were all things to all men - and women. The American magazines of the day were full of Hodaka tests - and they loved them!
This was of course in those much simpler times before the Japanese "Big Four” got heavily involved in off-road and it suddenly became all serious and professional (not to mention expensive) whereas in the (relatively briefly in the great scheme of things) halcyon days of Hodaka it was all about FUN.
That's the brief history of Hodaka. Moving back to Britain, Dennis' s affair with the marque began in 1996 when he bought one - a 1971 Super Rat - at the Stafford Classic Bike Show. He has supported the show since the very first and must be one of the very few that has attended every single one.
The first restoration took him four years, on and off as he acquired the parts required from America (without use of the internet) and when he took the finished article to Stafford in 2000 he was surprised but immensely proud when the bike won Best Off-Road machine in Show. The bike subsequently won the title twice more, in 2003 and 2006.
The collection began to grow and now includes a pair of really nice 125s, an iron-barrelled Dirt Squirt and a Wombat Combat which sports a large alloy barrel and head, both 1973 models. All Hodakas featured a chrome plated steel tank and Denis has refurbed all his tanks and they really draw the eye.
These three were wheeled out for our photo session and they really are awesome little bikes. Just so simple and straightforward and you just want to fire one up and ride it away.
