Hodaka

Hodaka Trail Bikes

Hodaka was a joint Japanese and American company that manufactured motorcycles in the 1960s and 1970s.

The company also went by the name PABATCO, for Pacific Basin Trading Company.^[1] Its headquarters were in the rural town of Athena, Oregon. Pabatco was owned by Shell Oil Company from 1965 to 1978.^[2] The name Hodaka is rumored to have been borrowed from a mountain near the factory. Opening its doors in 1964, Hodaka is credited by some with starting the trail bike craze in the United States. Hodaka models included the Ace 90, Ace 100, Wombat, Combat Wombat, Super Combat, Super Rat, Dirt Squirt, Road Toad and Thunderdog.

In the late 1970s, a combination of events led to the demise of Hodaka. Falling US dollar exchange rates against the Japanese yen, a shift in demand from dirt bikes to larger road bikes, and general economic weakness fatally wounded the company. Hodaka attempted a purchase of Fuji Heavy Industries —the Japanese company which manufactured most Hodaka engines—but were rebuffed. Around 1980, Hodaka ceased all operations. Its tooling was later sold to the Korean company Daelim.

Hodaka Motorcycles

List of Hodaka motorcycles

• Hodaka Ace 90
• Hodaka Ace 100A
• Hodaka Ace 100B
• Hodaka Ace 100B+
• Hodaka Ace 125
• Hodaka 100 Dirt Squirt
• Hodaka 100 Road Toad
• Hodaka 100 Super Rat
• Hodaka 125 Super Combat
• Hodaka 125 Combat Wombat
• Hodaka 125 Wombat
• Hodaka 175SL
• Hodaka 250SL
• Hodaka 250ED
• Hodaka 80 Dirt Squirt
• Hodaka Zen 50

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hodaka motorcycles.

• Motorcycle Classics article on Hodaka Motorcycles