Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

c -, '" ~ w Z W ..J U >U With t he right holes in the right pieces of metal, E.C. manages to nearly do ub le the stock Wombat pow er and . w it h rew orke d clu tch, maint ains reliab ility. b v E . C . Birt F o r you ' o ld d esert rats a nd d y ed-in -th e-w o o l trail riders, some o f th is will b e o ld hat. But for yo u n ew rider s wh o arc ju st s tartin g o ut o n Hodak as or are thinking abou t ge tt ing a bike, maybe this article will b e o f so me help to yo u. H odaka h as been somewhat like a m otorc yclin g V.W. The y built on e b ike then buill o n th at d esign. Sin ce d ay o ne, l lodaka h as re m a ine d th e sa me b asic bike. T h ousands o f mil e s of ra cin g ha ve brought o u t th e we a k p oin ts an d th en the weak po int s wer e fixe d . mak ing a 5 0 y ears. Frank had th e fi rst H odaka. He bough t it in ~Iay o f 19 64 , th e d ay b efore Mo ther's Day, as h is wi fe's ~I oth er ' s Day present. H o w m an y time s . h ave yo u h ea rd o ne of yo u r buddies sa y , .. Well, Moth er 's Day (T h ey w ill so me times use Christm as. to o .) is co m in g up. G uess I b ette r ge t her a n e w 4 0 0c c Mai co and ma ybe she will le t me rid e it." Well, Fr ank dragged hi s lillie b ike o ve r to broth er J a c k 's h o use to show him his ne w to y. Jack' s firs t react ion wa s, " H al H a ! Wh at th e h ell is tha t Trailb ik e rider eve r has or eve r WI ll . Frank? Well, yo u'd have t o kno w Frank as I d o to under stand him . He ro de for the fu n o f racin g; he j ust w asn 't interested in being th e be st . When h e d id c om e o ut to th e ra ce s, y o u knew it w ould probabl y b e broth e r J ac k o r Fran k in th e ' fro n t o f the Trailb ike s whe n it was all o ve r. T h is H odaka is th e li ttle bi k e th a t star te d o f f s o me o f o u r h eroes in i od ay 's m oto cro ss: .rid ers lik e Bryar H olcomb , Mark Bla ckwell, Gary Bailey and J ef f Wri ght, just to n ame a fe w . BRINGING IT UP TO DATE Today w e have a I 2 5 cc Hodaka ca lled th e Womb at and a whol e new thing fo r th e new heroes for tom orrow . A t th is point, yo u can ma ke a selection o f what you w ant and usuall y that ha s to d o with h ow mu ch m oney you've go t to sp end. For S I OOO you c an go and buy a T . J.S~O b " -, r 1 c '3 0 . J3co ;;a.R J sf A7 e eA. u 0. /.; e, w/IJ s iDe f 'p/$fe,"; ~ .f::>I< . bi ke th a t d o esn ' t ap pear to b e, b u t is, o ne o f th e m o st bull etpr o of m o to rcyc le s on th e mark et. IN THE BEGI NNING When the first H o d ak as a rriv ed in th e Un i t ed States (T he H odak a wa s d esi gn e d o n a table nap kin in a b en c h racin g se ssio n o ve r a cup o f co ff ee in a rest auran t. ) they we re fun ny little red and ch ro m e 90c c putt-putts. I don' t kn ow if Hodaka planned it that wa y or it just happe ned, but the time w as righ t. I t was ,19 6 4 when thi s little bike found its wa y into u sage it was never me ant for . This was during the days whe n we still h ad a desert to rid e in and th e I OOcc Trailb ike class was co m ing back strong. At that time our desert h ere in th e West was w ide open and we h ad l Otl-mi le Hare and H ounds over th e b est ridin g d esert that c o u ld be asked for. T hat funn y little red and ch ro m e bike was due for a bi g surprise b ec ause we also had some up-and-c orning heroes wh o h ad a n eye o n it. RACING Tw o riders who were relati vel y unkn own at that tim e have sinc e made legend fo r th e wh o le wo rld. T h e y ha ve es tablished a sc o rching trail across the desert for e ve ry 1OOcc Trail hike rid er to foll o w. In m y o p in io n , J ack an d Fran k th e M o r g a n d id more to w ar d d evel op men t o f th e ne w H o d a ka th at yo u b uy to d ay th en a wh o le a rmy of J ap an e se engi ne e rs cou ld have d o ne in .... . . ... . . . .... - th in g?" Bu t after a lit tle b en ch ra cing. J ac k got th e id ea th a t it might be a fun b ike to p lay w i th ; idl e away some of his spare time and give him so me good exe rcise. Just wh a t h e ne eded : to bu ild up hi s mu scle s. With ou t hi s shirt on he lo o ks lik e M r. A tlas and if you d on't b eli eve me, c h oose h im o ff righ t n ow fo r a 10 0-m ile Ha re an d H ound across th e ro ughes t c h u n k o f d esert yo u c an fin d . Y ou will soon fin d out wh at kin d o f a racer he is. Well , th ese little bike s w ith th ei r runn y lirtle tires and h eadlights were pulled into th e ga rage . The " idl e time " so o n became man y lo ng ni gh ts o f burn ing t he midnight o il and skinned knu ckles : but when th e y w ere d one th ey h ad 100cc ra cers th at made th e b est of 2 50cc bikes work fo r their go ld . It was 19 6 5. J ack's d esert numbe r was 13 . Fr ank w as 1\'0 . 6 8 . For th e y ear 19 6 6, J ack e arn ed th e Number I pl ate an d Fran k. Number 6 (He got o ff an d hu r t hi s sho u ld er an d wa s o u t of it for h alf the season. ) . The Hodaka wa s h ere to stay bec au se th e w o u ld-be racers, the Fath e r wh o wa n te d to play t uner, th e rider wh o had been b e a ting h is b ody ac ro ss th e des ert on 65 0cc bi k es w as ready fo r some thi ng n ew. H odaka, a S4 0 0 bike (at th at tim e ), had pu t th e fun back into deser t raci ng. Jack Morgan wa s a se rious race r. He d id n ' t li ke to b e b eat, H e held the X urnbe r O ne De sert T ra ilbike pl a te for five ye ars st raig h t , and p rob ably w on j ncre.. d esert ra c es, then an.y. o the r :fAJ/ f/; /rt F ijuye 2- G~O ). I· 6 . 7 t 66D 1/ ~ ._ .~ tf" ' , r . D ;)0 BDDJ ?OR! f;R ,.f€e ~ u,dtJ€., tiS'€. c..u,'/J L'OM :ba.t 10'/ ?/SJO N Fi.jure 3 :fpl rb.e f

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