Dear Hodaka: Your "Road Toad" is all
the dirt bike I need!
“No offense to
i-1 h6 9U^S W^° name
^wjyour bikes, but I think
they blew it on this one!
Pj “Sure, the Toad
Vs street le9al- ^Llt ca^*
png it a road bike is like
w***^^- Jcalling an exotic Euro-
pean GT an economy car — it may get
good mileage, but that’s not the main rea-
son for having one!
“My reason for having a Road Toad
is simple: I think it’s the best thing going
for what I like to do, which is explore back
country trails. It’s at home in the dirt like
the best pure trail machines I’ve tried, but
when I have to cross a stretch of civiliza-
tion the fact that I’m legal on the street
comes in mighty handy!
“I checked out a lot of bikes before
I bought my Road Toad. Compared ’em
feature for feature and spec for spec.
Learned some interesting things, too.
For instance, you don’t have to go to big
displacement to get exciting performance.
But if you stick with a light, maneuverable
lOOcc, you might get stuck with a kid-
sized frame.
“That’s why I like my Toad so much.
It’s big and comfortable with plenty of
power, but it still handles the tight spots
almost like it’s a part of me.
“Another thing I like is what the
Toad does to people’s ideas about bikes.
They see a lOOcc dual purpose machine
and figure it must be a little on the tame
side. They get surprised a lot (I’ve left my
share of 125’s in the dust).
“I’ve even been surprised a few
times. Like once when I was demonstrat-
ing some real riding to a certain lady friend.
I came blasting through this little stream,
and before I hit the far bank I downshifted
and grabbed a big handful of throttle. Very
impressive stuff, for sure, but I wasn’t quite
ready for all the power the Toad can crank
out. When the back tire hit solid ground
and took hold, up came the front end and
. . . well', just say the demonstration ended
a little sooner than I planned!
“No question about it — the Road
Toad is one hell of a dirt bike. With one
oddball name!”
The No-compromise Compromise
To some people, street/trail bikes
are a kind of unhappy compromise — not
really at home either on the road or off it.
We say nonsense. As you might
know, our background is mainly in trail
bikes. In fact, Hodakas have earned an
enviable worldwide reputation for off-road
performance and dependability.
We’re proud of that reputation, and we’re
not about to do anything to change it. So
when we decided to build the Road Toad,
we were determined not to sacrifice its
performance off the road.
Moral: We don’t compromise, so
why should you?
Beginning Toadology
Maybe you already own a street
bike that you like just fine, but you’re
finding that the idea of trail riding appeals
to you more and more. Say you’re not
out to race — you just want to spend some
time off the asphalt enjoying youself. What
do you look for in a bike?
Somewhere near the top of your
list you’ll probably put performance, de-
pendability, and comfort. And the Road
Toad is loaded with all three.
The Toad’s Performance comes
from the lOOcc oil injected engine and
rugged 5 speed gearbox. Together they
give truly amazing pulling power over an
extremely wide speed and RPM range.
So you’ve always got instant throttle re-
sponse — whether you’re really scram-
bling or just poking along taking in the
sights.
Dependability comes standard with
every Hodaka, and the Toad is no excep-
tion. Hodaka Dependability starts with
a time-tested design that’s sturdier than
it has to be, and ends up setting incredible
endurance records like Frank Wheeler’s:
ten thousand miles around Australia in 21
days — on a Hodaka 125 loaded down
with 6'6" of rider and 200 pounds of gear!
Hodaka Comfort starts with a man-
sized frame that won’t cramp your style,
a rear suspension that sets up six different
ways for different load and riding condi-
tions, wide 351 f MX-type bars, and steer-
ing geometry that’s designed so you don’t
need a wrestler’s arms to keep the Toad
pointed in the right direction.
- -^tii Comfort means
freedom from eye-
strain, too, so we gave
Toad a powerful
I headlight with an elec-
L IK tronic voltage regulator
r * f°r steacfy. even bright-
ness. It also means
peace of mind, which is why our extra-big
2.8 gallon tank is there (check the tank
sizes on the competition).
Advanced Toadology
Now that you have some idea of
the philosophy behind the Road Toad,
we’d like to call your attention to a few
of the many refinements that help turn
that unique philosophy into a truly unique
motorcycle.
Take our Alumiferric cylinder, for
example. We use a special patented pro-
cess that lets us make the cylinder liner
and all the port passages out of a single
Mehanite iron casting. Then we bond the
aluminum outer jacket (which contains
the cooling fins) around the iron center.
The result is a cylinder that has the long
wearing properties of cast iron with the
improved cooling of aluminum.
The Toad’s engine also features
reed valve induction for more torque at
low RPM, and a big 26mm Mikuni racing
carburetor that helps deliver the Toad’s
hot top end.
The drive train uses a heavy-duty
DAIDO chain protected by a braced guard
with a tough nylon idler. An oversize rear
tire puts all that Toad power where it be-
longs, while the big front shoe with conical
hub brake gives you stopping and turning
power to match the Toad’s go power. And
the rim locks front & rear and extra heavy-
duty 9 gauge spokes let the Toad take hard
knocks without breaking its stride.
There’s no lack of convenience fea-
tures, either — with a sturdy luggage rack,
enduro speedometer with trip mileage
meter, mud flaps, large tool box with tools,
turn signals, mirror, kill button, and oil'
level dipstick all standard equipment.
The Clincher
How much will it set you back to sit
on all this class and refinement? Well,
during Hodaka’s inventory clearance sale,
you can bag a Toad for only about $529!
(suggested U.S. retail at West Coast port
of entry, not including transportation,
dealer setup, state & local taxes.) Better
hurry, though, because they won’t last
long at these prices, and chances are
they’ll never be this low again.
HOCkKA
HODAKA MOTORCYCLES PABATCO
Box 327, Sherman Road Athena. Oregon 97813