As Good as it Gets
Ken Kaplan Jr. of sellers Kaplan Cycles described the gleaming Combat Wombat:
We might get a few Hodakas in over a year, but they’re super-rare. We’re selling this one on behalf of a very good customer. It’s been a static exhibit in Chip Watkins’ renowned private collection in Florida for a few years. Believe me, this is as good as it gets. It needs nothing.
The listing’s images support Kaplan’s words. This machine benefited from a ground-up restoration by Hodaka guru Greg Watkins. As usual with Kaplan’s listings, there’s an entertaining video of Ken Sr. showcasing the bike. It leaves a clear impression of the restoration’s quality.
What Was Hodaka?
Though not as famous as Harley-Davidson or Indian, Hodaka earned a rightful place in the firmament of US bike builders. The Pacific Basin Trading Company (PABATCO) sold Japanese Yamaguchi motorcycles out of Athena, Ore., in the ’50s. Yamaguchi folded in 1963. PABATCO, impressed with the Hodaka engines, designed its own machines around them.
Hodaka cylinders have an iron core and aluminum fins, which the company called “Alumiferric.” They had great cooling and therefore great durability. The Combat Wombat motors had a single-ring piston, five transfer ports, and 8,500-rpm capability. They were straightforward, strong, easy to maintain, and ready to race out of the box. Some were re-housed in Rickman frames, as if to prove their worth beyond doubt.
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Combat Wombat
Hodaka made the Combat Wombat for only one year in 1973. It’s a race-ready version of its Wombat street machine. Removing the lights and gauges was part of a weight-saving exercise that made these bikes competitive and agile.
As David to the Japanese Goliaths, there was no Hodaka factory-supported race effort. Despite this, enduro, scrambling, and motocross events across the country saw Combat Wombats regularly outdoing their Japanese rivals.
For a while in the ’70s, Hodaka took on the fight against big budgets and factory support. In the end, the Honda CR125 and Yamaha YZ125 could no longer be denied. Hodakas became cult machines. To this day, there is a vibrant following that gathers every year in Athena.
