jaylael

John: Glad to hear you enjoyed seeing the Sherdaka! It was nice to meet you also! The Sherdaka has been allot of fun for sure. The Aprilia sat around my garage since I saw you last, and I finally realized the best answer was to donate it to someone who had a strong heartfelt desire to restore and ride the M-312. This is a good friend who I have known since the mid seventies when we both rode OSSA 350 MARs in Pacific Northwest Trials Championships. We were teenagers then. My friend Keith has subsequently owned an Aprilia M-312 on which he had won some sort of Championship. You should have seen his face when I showed up and gave him the Aprilia! Trust me, this is the right choice, and I feel good about it all the way down to my shoes! Keith intends to restore it nicely and get it running. I never knew for sure just why in the world I was driving out to Yelm, Washington to pick up a complete, non running Aprilia trials bike, but the loop is complete and now I wonder no more. Due to forces larger than you or me, the bike is where it should be, doing the most good, for someone who appreciates it and dare I say, needed it to fulfill some sort of emptiness in his garage which only that bike could fill. If you want I can give you his contact info. Just send me a message on Facebook or via Trials Central. Thanks again for the cool bike. Let me know if you make it up our way, there is usually a trial to go to around here. Best regards, JL

Well I'll be... Someone does read this stuff! Well I have been riding other Hodakas quite a bit, and the Sherdaka has been residing in the back of the bike room. I occasionally give her a pat on the fender and fondly remember some of our adventures together. She had seen me through a really tough club trial at Lolo Pass Oregon last summer and developed a loud engine tap, which had me convinced something was gone wrong down in the bowels of the engine. I had been revving the poor thing mercilessly to get up these big rocks on the little 125. Long story short, it turned out to be a loosened up retaining nut on the clutch hub. Since I was already in there, I fitted the old girl with a set screw to secure the crank bearing from jumping up and down in the case, even though this problem had not actually occurred, I considered it a good preventative measure. If any of you (Woody) recall your 1970's OSSA tech, there was a bulletin out refferring to drilling a hole down through the case and fitting a 1/4" set screw to the final drive bearing behind the countershaft sprocket. This involves grinding a flat spot on the outside of the bearing, and loctiting the set screw. Tighten it very gently while feeling the bearing for drag. Loosen it until the drag is gone, but the bearing is trapped by the screw. The following spring, 2009 I rode it in a two day PNTA points event at Dallesport, Washington. There were a handful of guys in the senior advanced class who were probably a little chafed to be beaten by the Hodaka in a points event trial, which are very tough by my standards. The Hodie and I slammed up every wicked vertical rock face they threw at us. I had to replace one master link as it seemed to loose it's side clip and began to clunk with every revolution of the back wheel, and changed the spark plug at least three times during the trial!. At the end I managed fourth senior advanced on the Hodaka on Saturday and seventh or something not so good on Sunday. Since that trial I have resorted to riding the Sherco in these types of events as my original plan to fade back to the advanced class was dead on arrival, when I got kicked out of advanced for winning the first day of the Columbia cup. (on the Sherco) The trial organizers "convinced" me to ride Senior Expert on day two of the Columbia cup, where I finished a very strong second, so I decided to quit handicapping myself with the Hodaka and just get busy trying to kick some butt, which I have done albeit in a less ambitious schedule of trials. I skipped almost all the COTA modern Sunday Trials in 2009 opting to only ride the Wednesday night series, where I was able to secure the EXPERT class championship in the COTA summer series! Also I have been riding AHRMA trials, winning the Powroll/Redwood engineering Northwest Vintage Trials Championship in modern classic expert, which was tied going to the last round with Oregon's Scott Stewart coming out second by a mere whisker. A very hard fought summers trialing there which has left me with a great deal of respect for the current competition. Beyond that I raced the RM 400 posing as Roger DeCoster in five different races, winning some of them, and always behaving in a way so as not to make Roger look bad. The most incedible thing happened at a race at Washougal Washington called "Top Gun" where they had a vintage class at a modern race, and hardly any vintage riders turned up. As Roger it seemed perfectly natural to get the holeshot and win both motos, while throngs of screaming fans cheered me thunderously at evry corner! Turns out the announcer was telling everyone that I WAS Roger DeCoster! After the race young girls were getting their pictures taken with "Roger"and the RM and saying things like, "MY dad loves you!" and guy about 50 years old came up, shook my hand and said, "I remember when you used to be the MAN!" So now I have a good idea what it feels like to be Roger D. The latest project I have been working on my own Hodaka Wolverine 125 which is a cross between a 1977 Honda 125 Elsinore and parts of assorted Hodakas. So do I need to pay up with Andy to post photos still? Best regards to all, Jay

Welcome to the trials scene here in Oregon. The best place to get involved is www.observedtrials.com There is a trial this coming Sunday, November 8th at Dallesport. You may as well show up and ride that TY if you can swing it. Best regards, Jay

Just looking ahead to the next Hodaka Days, June 26, 27 and 28, in Athena Oregon. I will be laying out the trial and anticipate there will be allot of nifty Hodakas to look at as usual. The Sherco-Hodaka Hybrid is running very well, even placing fourth in the senior advanced class in a PNTA (Pacific Northwest Trials association) points event recently. I have been quite busy building yet another Hodaka Trialer for a guy in Spkane Washington, which is going to be delivered to it's new owner in kit form at Hodaka Days. He will be in charge of painting, finish work and final assembly. See you there, JL

Hello James. Good to see you. No I doubt it, but if this guy showed up I'd try to talk the boss into letting him run. It's pretty far off from being a Hodaka really, but I have a great deal of respect for someone who will go this far and work this hard to build a trials bike.

I've been busy creating the latest vintage Hodaka Trialer for a guy in Spokane. I owe him for doing machine work and porting services etc. The new bike is almost roughed out and just needs a couple working days put into it before it will be delivered to Ron for final assy as a frame kit, sort of like a Rickman, but not as pretty. I will post photos of it at some point when my camera is working again.

You have to admit this old guy is plucky as can be! You can bet he's old, creaky and has a bad back or he would never have resorted to the foam seat thingy. Kudos to him for doing all this work, whether it be misguided or not. I think overall it's awesome, because it kept this old duffer out from underfoot in his wife's kitchen for a good part of the winter or longer. Just to have a project can keep a guy interested in getting out of bed in the morning. Then to show up at a trial with it is just so bold! God bless this man and his unusual bike.

This very unique home made trials bike has recently surfaced at a local trial in Connel Washington. It was built by Frank Theim of Idaho and uses a KX 80 bottom end mated to a very customized Hodaka cylinder and head. Apparently Frank made his own frame and almost everything else!

Yep, I've seen it alright. It's won the bike show at Hodaka Days at least twice and may continue to do so indefinitely! Danny has shown that he can build trials bikes with the best of 'em. His build quality and finish are truly second to none! When complimented he usually looks down at his shoes and mumbles something to the effect of, "Aw... it's just allot of elbow grease is all." This guy is tough too! A couple of years back he broke his wrist in the first section of the trial at Hodaka Days, then proceeded to finish the trial! I think he even got an award for third place if memory serves correctly. I guess that's how they do it in Minot. The bike is a KT 250/Thunderdog 250 hybrid. The amazing part is the way this bike runs and rides! It is truly an impressive performer and not just a trailer queen.

It is key to brace your arms, shoulders, legs etc then use bar input through your braced body all the way down to the insides of your boots against the bike. If you can do a nose wheelie first, then work into the above described manuever. Once nose wheelie turns are mastered, try to do the same with clutch against brakes, and a suspension bounce combined with the braced body input to pegs and bars, while stopped. What I mean is a subtle gassing of the engine against rear brake to compress the back end, and bounce the back end once its loaded and ready to rebound with your body jump. Clear as mud I suppose.

No. I have only beaten Stan one time ever. It was a "Gate Trial" put on by our resident Yorkeshireman some years back. I was absolutely insufferable until day two when the world righted itself.

I had a chance to ride the last trial in a group check with Stan last month. Our third guy, Vance Walker wound up crashing so bad the ground shook! Vance was lucky and only cracked a few ribs. He is tough as nails, but he had to call it a day. Stan and I soldiered on through the mud and rain to finish out the trial. I'd say he is still riding pretty well for a guy his age. Stan is definitely one of my heroes! Go Stan!

Hank/Rehab song on youtube Hey everyone. Hope you are all getting by ok. Happy Holidays! Check out the Hank Junior and Rehab song. They've got hot chicks, a Vintage Chevrolet, a Trailer park, and liquor a plenty. It's a whole collection of Americana all rolled into one snappy video. Enjoy. Jay Lael

This thread and the emotionally charged direction it has taken, speak volumes of some of the basic arguments that AHRMA founders are faced with constantly. I don't agree that complaining about what bad guys Dick Mann and Jeff Smith are with regard to these rules as they stand today, could have any productive merit. This is a big country and AHRMA has so many veried participants, that it seems impossible that they could please "everyone".

Since about 1999 I have been riding a few AHRMA trials each year. During that time I have gotten a feel for how these events are run, the section difficulty and the general ambience at these events. My take on this is that AHRMA have really gotten something special going on. At the events I have attended there has been a very well organized effort to not only have fun, but to preserve the feel of riding trials back in the early days. The events are much shorter in distance, and nowhere near as difficult, but hey' we're all getting older so that's ok too isn't it? The bulk of the riders in AHRMA events are generally not super talented at trials riding. This provides a great place for these guys to have a good time and not be scared off by too hard of loops, and scary sections. In COTA trials events the loop length and difficulty is usually FAR greater than most AHRMA trials. This alone can make a huge difference, to a wobbly old guy on some 1974 Japanese trials bike he bought at a garage sale, like ten years ago and just got running. The easier layouts are just what the bulk of the riders really want to ride. ITSA sounds like a hoot to me since it isn't super serious, and riding trials with your friends is a pretty fun way to spend a weekend. I think it's great that guys who own bikes which are not AHRMA legal can have somewhere to ride them. Owners of big old twinshockers like the SWM Jumbo and the like are in need of trials events to ride. I'm sure events in which these bikes can be ridden are a huge asset to their value and contribute to their preservation.

If you haven't bothered to look at these links yet, I recomend them very much! The first one is mostly a crash and burn style video. What I like to refer to as a "wreck tape". I haven't seen so many semi spectacular trials wrecks in sequence anywhere like this before! Also did anyone notice the tiny (I guess) Japanese rider on the 1987 Merlin DG-350? What a lot of motorcycle for a diminutive rider on sections of this difficulty! It reminds me of those old "Mister Bill" animations from saturday night live back in the late '70s. I could see getting into some doozy wrecks on such a machine. Clive can probably testify to this.

This photo is from the first Hodaka Days Trial at Athena Oregon in 2002. This trial was laid out in the town of Athena by former Hodaka employee, Jim Gentry. It turned out to be rather difficult as you can see by this photo. The observer here is none other than Harry Taylor, one of the worlds most knowlegable two stroke tuners, and former Hodaka test engineer. Harry had a direct hand in the development of bikes such as the Super Rat 100 and Combat Wombat 125. In 1972 Harry was racing a direct prototype of the Combat Wombat 125 which was disguised to look like a Super Rat with red frame, silver preston Petty fenders and a super thin handmade alloy tank. At that time Harry used to have very dark hair. He evn dyed it pitch black one time when he had noticed a few gray hairs. I was personally introduced to Harry in 1972 at the age of thirteen. We met at a motocross race in Colville washington in 1972. Harry wore Buddy Holly glasses, and sported a crew cut which seemed to be pitch black. At that time he had to have been older than most of his competitors in the 125 expert class. I don't recall how he did in the race, but I do recall his kindly and warm demeanor. He is a wonderful human being. Can you just imagine what this poor guy attempting to ride his first trials on his trusty Hodaka 250 Thunderdog must be thinking? I suspect that from here on this guy will steer clear of trials riding in "big competitions" such as Hodaka Days.

I found myself "hoping" quite a bit, that I would get anything less than a five!

That "cheater line" on the left looks allot more do-able. It was really allot bigger in real life.

I actually rode in that trial! There is a section which contains a leap down into a rubble pile on a steep downhill followed by an uphill shot at the great big wall. As I was walking the section, a woman behind me whispered to her friend, "This guy's a squid!" She was probably right, and I really didn't take offense at all, but smiled to myself and acted as if I didn't hear her. Upon leaping off that step, which doesn't look like much in the video, The aluminum cups on the ends of the damping rods inside the forks, were shattered into small bits! I found out upon seal replacement much later. It was in the low 90's that day and very humid. It was like riding trials in a furnace. I had never seen sections of this magnitude at that time. These same sections are probably in use today as club level expert sections. They were much harder on these kinds of bikes.

Those bikes are beautiful! My Compliments to you both! I bet those things are a hoot to ride!

The 125 Beta is vastly better for actual trials riding, and probably would be ok for occasional green-laning. Really it's down to whether you favor trials riding or trail riding. As I understand it the 125 Beta is considered the best 125 trials bike. Riders of Shercos and Gas Gas 125s will likely disagree with this claim. The which bike is best argument has been done to death. Good luck deciding which bike to buy.

Your decision depends on how much you value actual trials performance in sections. It sounds as if a fair bit of road work is in your plan, putting the Scorpa ahead due to being a more roadworthy bike, but trials performance of the Beta would be allot better, so it's down to that.

Found these Sherdaka photos and decided to post them. The riding is just so beautiful here. We are so lucky to be riding trials in this pacific paradise.