OVBSAOC

"This bike is the second in a series of research and development projects that all started with my uncle Whitey

"Hacksaw" Hartman, who is a significant character in NW motorcycle circles. " In 1964 Whitey took delivery of the #00004 Hodaka Ace 90 which he proceeded to modify into probably the first Hodaka Trials bike ever built. With it he won the 1964 Wyoming State Trials Championship. Being a mover and a shaker in the motorcycle world, he soon traded it off and pursued other bikes and modes of riding them. Fast forward to 1972 when I became too large for my Honda 50 at age 13, Whitey came to the rescue, tracking down the now dilapidated Ace 90 and resurrecting it enough for me to ride although a bit homely. It had a badly bent frame so the wheels tracked in two different ruts and the tank was smashed in and the forks leaked black spooge all over the front wheel that it sprayed across the riders shirt and face due to having no front fender, much to the chagrin of my mother. Amazing as it may sound, by the following summer I was a new man and the Hodaka was completely revamped becoming jewel-like in its beauty and very functional too. I was the 1973 Expert Champion in the Colville, WA Trials club which at that time was called the Can-Am Trials Assn. which stood for Canadian-American, as we had never heard of CAN-AM motorcycles at the time. I still have the patch and the two foot tall year end award trophy.

Of course, time marches on and by 1974 I was too tall for the little Hooey Duck and was riding a shiny new OSSA MAR and living near Missoula, MT. Anyhow, the Ace 90 had served very well and slipped into oblivion at the hands of a neighborhood kid who bought it for $150 and proceeded to try and turn it into a chopper. What seemed like a lifetime had passed before I began to miss my little Hodaka and felt a keen sense of urgency to try and get back to my Trials riding roots. It was the year 2000 that the Type 1 began to take shape, utilizing a whole cooler full of neat parts from the Hodaka Days swap meet, a 125 Wombat engine, and a poor old '73 Dirt Squirt which I had bought from a friend. I had given the Wassell tank to a friend for his Triumph Cub project (which never materialized) and ten years later he gave it back to me for the T-1. The carb. is a 24mm off of possibly a Yamaha GT 80 although I'm not sure. The air cleaners are Ace 100 B and the mufflers are from a donor Cota 348. Originally Type 1 was equipped with chrome Hodaka shocks but they proved grossly insuitable even with layed down, forward mounting and what have you, they just don't work well enough for this job. I discovered 13 inch Girlings "ala" Husqvarna or Maico, circa 1969 or 70 were perfect for the leveraged position providing absolutely fantastic action and so far reliability too. The swingarms on both bikes are extended 1 1/2" and the engines have to be moved to the left 10 mm with a 10mm spacer for the sprocket as well to provide additional chain clearance for the big modern Michelin Radial tire. I am certain the engine move-over mod is needed for the Ace or Dirt Squirt frame but I think maybe it is not needed on the Wombat frame. I also spaced the left hand shock absorber outward to allow for chain clearance. the chain tensioner is my own design, the first of which I built for the old Ace 90 at age 14. It is very functional, simple and cheap to build. This tensioner design gets an A+ from Hodaka guru Ed Chesnut, who also had a hand in the design of the 1 1/2" type 2 exhaust header pipe.

This smaller diameter pipe has improved the low end snap versus the larger 2" pipe on the Type-1. The muffler on the T-2 is from a Chinese 50cc 4-wheeler which had been recalled, and the local Chang Xyang (?) dealer gave me a sack full of the old mufflers. They are a switchback design and not a glass pack. Of course they have to be reworked quite a bit to provide enough flow for the "big" 125cc motor, but are VERY quiet and look so "trick". The seat foam on the T-2 is cut from an Equine saddle pad (neoprene) and glued to an aluminum base. The fenders are stainless steel from a '73 Wombat, although the T-2 features a homemade mounting bracket which allows mounting of the high mount front fender on a low mount position without leaving any unsightly unused holes. The low front fender like on the Ace 100B is very hard to find and the modern tire hasn't enough room not to rub or ball up mud. My homemade setup works better although its not a Hodaka part. The forks are standard issue Road Toad with 30 weight in them and are sufficient, but not plush on the initial stroke to state it diplomatically. I strived to use as many Hodaka parts as is possible and to create a machine which Hodaka could have built had they the funding, the time, and the inspiration. The lessons learned in the creation of the Type-1 were applied to the Type-2 and it is a substantially better working trials bike. T-2 is 8 1/2 lbs lighter, runs better and steers more neutrally as it is not so ridiculously oversteep. Also the T-2 footpegs are further back. Both bikes have very close to 52" wheelbases. The T-1 has 22 degrees rake (with shorter girlings not shown in photos), and the T-2 has 24 degrees rake. The T-1 has 2.7 " trial and the T-2 has 3.2" trail. T-1 ground clearance with shorter rear shocks is 11.5" and the T-2 has 11.75" of ground clearance. Seat height on the T-1 is 31 inches and on the T-2 is 28 1/2". I am very satisfied with the results.

I will be participating in a HodakaTrials bike building seminar, putting on a Trials school (again), and helping to lay out the Hodaka Trials this coming June at Hodaka Days in Athena, Oregon. We had around 200 spectators at the Trials event last year! My uncle Whitey is putting the finishing touches on his Yamaguchi 55cc and Ed wil be riding his (one of five original) Bullfrog Trials machine." Much thanks to Jay for sharing his Hodaka projects with us. The bikes look great. I wish we of MAVT were closer so we could really check them out. Best of luck to you Jay!