1974 Hodaka Super Combat
Model Information
In the 1950's PABATCO (Pacific Basin Trading Company) of Athena, Oregon, was importing and selling Yamaguchi motorcycles from Japan. In 1963 Yamaguchi went out of business, so PABATCO convinced Hodaka (the motor supplier to Yamaguchi) to produce a complete bike and to make them the exclusive Hodaka motorcycle distributor in 1964.
Many people remember Hodaka for their crazy model names like Dirt Squirt, Super Rat, Combat Wombat, and Road Toad. I could never seem to associate the correct name and model, probably because I never owned one. Many kids started out on the 1970 Super Rat 100cc Mx racer well before the big four Japanese manufacturers delved into motocross.
The first serious 125 Mx bike from Hodaka was the 1973 Combat Wombat. The title of the Dirt Bike test in 1973 was "Smile! You're on Combat Wombat – World's Fastest Toaster". In 1974, the orange-colored Super Combat was a significant improvement; they ditched the chrome tank and replaced the metal fenders with plastic units. But it was still clear that styling wasn't a priority for Hodaka.
Hodaka is a great American motorcycle success story, and although the doors closed at PABATCO in 1978, there are still many loyal Hodaka enthusiasts.
1974 Hodaka Super Combat
This is a really nice example of Super Combat. This bike was acquired in June 2008, and the owner was nice enough to deliver it to me at the AMA VMD in Ohio the following month.
The only change I made to the bike was to install a NOS set of fenders (the previous owner had painted the original fenders).
