Hodaka Days News

Hodaka Days trials start at 8:30AM sharp Saturday June 29.  If you’re not registered and ready to go at that time, you may find yourself a spectator instead of a participant.

Avoid the Saturday morning rush and be prepared.  Take advantage of pre-registration on Friday afternoon between 1:00 and 4:00 PM.  You can take care of your liability release, class choice, and number assignment all in just a few minutes.

And don’t forget to have your AMA card to present when registering.  We cannot just take your AMA number verbally.  If you don’t have a current AMA membership, you can purchase or renew it at pre-registration or better yet, go to www.americanmotorcyclist.com or call 800-AMA-JOIN and take care of it online before Hodaka Days.

The official 2024 Hodaka Days Programs are now available for download at

Hope to see everyone there!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION
PLEASE READ

TRAVEL - PLANNING ON COMING FOR THE FIRST TIME? AIRPORTS NEAR ATHENA - Pendleton, OR (PDT), about 20 miles south, service by Boutique Air, some rental cars available. Walla Walla, WA (ALW), 25 miles north, service by Alaska/Horizon, some rental cars available. Pasco, WA (PSC), about 65 miles northeast, service by Alaska/Horizon, United shuttle, Delta, car rental agencies.  Portland, OR (PDX), closest MAJOR airport, 3.5-hour drive west, via spectacular Columbia Gorge.

LODGING –   Hotels - There are no motels in Athena. The Red Lion Hotel in Pendleton is the official hotel of Hodaka Days. Call 541-276-6111 and ask for special Hodaka Days rates. Special rates must be booked by June 13th!

Camping is available at the Athena City Park, which has a pool house with showers which will be available for campers. Please, no camping or parking on the grass on the school grounds.

For RVs, parking is available just across a footbridge from the park. There are a limited number of electrical and water hookups for RVs; no wastewater hookups are available. Additional parking is available in the high school parking lot across the street, but there are no hooks – “dry camping”.  There are several full-service RV parks within reasonable driving distance. Mountain View RV Park - 1375 SE 3rd, Pendleton, OR 97801 (approx. 20 miles from Athena) Exit 210 off I-84 (next to Red Lion) 541-276-1041, 866-302-3311 www.nwfamilyrvresorts.com  Wildhorse Resort & Casino - 72777 Highway 331, Pendleton, OR 97801 (Approx. 18 miles from Athena - right next to I-84 just east of Pendleton) 800-654-9453. Trails West RV Park - 1420 S. Main, Milton-Freewater, OR 97862 (approx. 12 miles from Athena) Phone: 509-301-2400 509-200-9796

FOOD -  There are a limited number of food options in Athena, so you may want to bring some snacks and breakfast food, especially if camping. The One Stop has sandwiches, burgers, a hot case, etc. and also sells a limited number of items from the Skippers Sea Food chain menu.  The Athena Grocery has Sandwiches, Pizza, Wraps, a hot case, and an on-site bakery. And the Long Branch restaurant is located across highway 11and three miles east, in Weston.

Our caterer, Calvert’s Sugar Shack on Main Street in Athena will be open from 7 am - 2 pm Saturday and from 7 am – noon Sunday. They have soups, sandwiches, salads, and hot meal specials. They will also have prepared sandwiches, salads, muffins and drinks available in the park for lunch Saturday 11 am- 1:30 pm.  And serving coffee and breakfast snacks at the MX on Sunday.

They’ll be catering the Saturday evening awards dinner at the Athena elementary school cafeteria and courtyard. Dinner will include sliced roast pork loin, salad, roasted potatoes, dessert and iced tea or lemonade, tickets will be $22 each.

BAD ROCK SIGNUP-  Worried about the difficulty of the big, bad, Bad Rock trail ride? Although we do get to cover some of the “sacred ground” as the original ISDT qualifier from the ‘70’s and it’s not a “walk in the park”, this is not meant to be a test of endurance for you or your bike. Don’t let the name scare you off. It’s about a 50-mile ride with “social stops” to relax with fellow riders, through country roads up into the Blue Mountains. Street legality is not required, though spark arrestors are. Registration is now open to the public, so pass the word to your friends, neighbors, and fellow dirt bike enthusiasts. The link to the signup is:
http://hodakaclub.org/event-4759626 , and, if haven't signed up already,  do it now. While the number of riders is limited, space is still available.

STILL SEEKING AUCTION DONATIONS – For both good fun and to help finance HD’24, the Saturday swap meet, and evening awards banquet include auctioning off contributions from vendors and participants. Got cool parts (used, in good condition is OK), Hodaka memorabilia, a special Hodaka project, or services you are willing to donate? Bring them to the Club booth in the park on Friday or Saturday morning, so we can display and auction them off. Donors will be credited as sponsors and help us keep going!

HELP, HELP, HELP! – “Many hands make light work” is so true. We’re always in need of volunteer helpers at Hodaka Days. We need help managing waivers, installing banners, moving tables & chairs, moving parade barriers, putting up track fencing, serving ice cream… You get the picture! If you can offer some help, our highly paid (occasional free beer) executive staff really appreciate it. Watch for a follow up email listing specific tasks that we need volunteers for. Or just let us know when you arrive and/or check in at the club park booth. A few hours of volunteer time enable all of us to enjoy the week more.

IMPORTANT DETAILS & PAPERWORK! Hodaka Days insurance is provided through the American Motorcycle Association, which requires:

FULL FACE HELMETS AND GOGGLES - If you’re planning to race MX – or even just practice – per AMA requirements for racing, you must wear a full-face helmet and goggles, no one will be allowed on the track without one! Open face helmets are OK for all other events.

RELEASES (WAIVERS) FOR MINORS– Releases must be signed by both parents (if applicable). There is one releases for recreational events (poker run, trail ride, and parade); MX and trials each have a separate form. If you need a release and both parents – with legal custody – won’t be at Hodaka Days, the needed forms can be downloaded at www.hodakaclub.org  and must be notarized if signatures can’t be witnessed at the event! If no legal guardian will be attending the event, we’ll need a notarized letter authorizing an attending adult as a guardian for the event.

AMA MEMBERSHIP– Required for trials, MX track practice or MX racing. Membership can be renewed on-line at www.americanmotorcyclist.com. Forms for single annual ($39) or single event membership ($20). Annual membership is only $9 more than two (trials and track activity) single‑event memberships and covers both trials and track activity, as well as other AMA events for 12 months. Please sign up or renew online ahead of time to reduce the bottleneck during the trials and MX signups.

EVENT ENTRY FORM – All participants in the poker run, Bad Rock ride or parade need to complete an “Event Entry Form”, which provides demographic information we submit to AMA. The form can be downloaded at www.hodakaclub.org .One form covers all of the previously mentioned events; once we have a completed form, you’ll receive a gold wrist band and won’t need to complete another one for the other events. If you can fill out the attached form in advance and bring it to the event, it will save you time during registration.

HODAKA CLUB MEMBERSHIP– Save yourself and our volunteers time and renew your club membership online at http://www.hodakaclub.org/Join_or_renew_Online .

See you in Athena!

June 13th is the last day to book special Hodaka Days Rates at the Red Lion Hotel in Pendleton.

Over the last several years, we're had to compete for accommodations with folks going the big "Jackalope Jamboree" music festival. So, demand for rooms is high and available rooms are limited.

Our group rates are $121 for single king and $136 for double kings. Make sure you are talking to someone at the hotel and not the corporate reservation desk. You should be able to just tell them you want the special Hodaka Days rate. There's no promo code or anything like that. If for some reason they have problems, ask to talk to Cheryl or Lauren.

The phone number is: (541) 276-6111

And follow the latest Hodaka Days news at https://hodakaclub.org/Hodaka_Days_News/

Hot of the (electronic) press!

The new posters for Hodaka Days 2024 and the 2024 Bad Rock Reunion Trail Ride are available for download at www.hodakadays.org.

Hang 'em on your wall.  Trade 'em with your friends.  And, they make the perfect Father's Day gift ;-).

Note:  Best results will be achieved printing on Tabloid (11 x 17) paper.

We’re excited to announce some Special Guests for Hodaka Days this year.

Making his first trip to Hodaka Days, will be “That guy” riding the XS11 in the opening sequence of the award-winning Peter Starr film, “Take it to the Limit”, Don Emde. Don is an AMA Hall of Fame member, Daytona 200 Winner, and former Hodaka road racer.

Also making the journey, a long-time friend of Hodaka, Washington State Motorcycle Hall of Fame member, and former factory Team Bultaco rider, Ron Pomeroy.

Another Hodaka fan favorite joining the fun will be 1978 US MX des Nations team member, former factory Team Honda rider,  and Hodaka MX racer, Tommy Croft.

And… all the way from Australia, VMX Magazine editor and author of “Hodaka – the Complete History of America’s Favorite Trail Bike”, Ken Smith.  There will be a limited supply of Ken’s book available at the event.  This is your chance to get a signed copy.

Plus, many former PABATCO folks including Jim Gentry (Warranty Manager), Marv Foster (Promotion Department Manager), and Ed Chesnut (Service Manager).

Come join the fun at Hodaka Days June 27 – 30 in Athena and Weston, OR.

Bad Rock Reunion Trail Ride 2024 Weston, Oregon Date: 28 Jun 2024 9:00 AM PDT

YOU MUST LOGIN TO REGISTER!

Welcome to Bad Rock 2024.

All makes of "vintage"* - twin shock, air cooled, drum brake - bikes welcome!

This is your chance to ride through some of the back country and actual trails used during the original Bad Rock ISDT qualifiers of the 1970's.  This is where Hodaka motorcycles were designed, developed and put to the ultimate test.

The event takes off from the intersection of Broad and High Street in the historic town of Weston, Oregon, approximately four miles east of Athena. 

It's about a 50-mile course, designed to be an easy ride for someone who has not been riding regularly or who wants to protect their investment in some of those hard to find Hodaka parts.  The club will provide a trailer at several points along the route to transport bikes with mechanical problems or bikes of riders who, for whatever reason, just don't wish to finish the course.

The course does include several sections where the route uses county roads.   Special arrangements have been made with the local authorities to allow trail bikes to use these sections during the event.   Other than county roads, all the off road sections are on private property and will not require an ORV permit.  However, all bikes must be equipped with a working silencer and spark arrestor.

This event is an AMA sanctioned recreational event.  You do not need to be an AMA member to participate.  However, without the help of the AMA, we could not afford to put on events like this and we encourage you to consider joining.  Their web site is www.americanmotorcyclist.com.

You need to pre-register.  This ride is limited to 150 entries and will be open to all makes of vintage (twin shock, drum brake, air cooled) bikes. Sorry, due to insurance restrictions, no passengers allowed.

Fee is $25 for Hodaka Club members and $30 for non-members and must be paid via PayPal at time of registration or we must receive payment within two weeks of signup if you request an invoice.

*Kids may ride "modern" bikes providing they are 14 years or younger, riding bikes 100cc or smaller, and accompanied by an adult on a qualifying vintage bike.  The ride coordinator may make additional exceptions to the "vintage" rule for ISDT/ISDE veterans and legends.

More information and online registration: Bad Rock Reunion Trail Ride 2024

As in several prior years, we've made arrangement for a group rate at the Red Lion Hotel in Pendleton. And as in the last several years, we're competing for accommodations with folks going the big "Jackalope Jamboree" music festival. So, demand for rooms is high.

Our group rates are $121 for single king and $136 for double queens. Make sure you are talking to someone at the hotel and not the corporate reservation desk. You should be able to just tell them you want the special Hodaka Days rate. There's no promo code or anything like that. If for some reason they have problems, ask to talk to Cheryl.

The phone number is: (541) 276-6111

There are a limited number of rooms and the last date to make reservations at this rate is June 13th.

The pool should be open by June, - it was when I was there in September, but the restaurant and lounge may not be open by summer.

Follow the latest Hodaka Days news at https://hodakaclub.org/Hodaka_Days_News/

For those of you still wondering...

Hodaka Days is ALWAYS Thursday - Sunday of the last FULL weekend in June.  In other words, the Sunday of Hodaka Days always falls on the last Sunday in June.

So, Hodaka Days 2024 is scheduled for June 27 - 30 back in Athena and Weston Oregon.

Please note that, as usual, we are still in the process of getting "formal approval" from local municipalities, land owners, and other misc. parties at this time.

Follow the latest Hodaka Days news at https://hodakaclub.org/Hodaka_Days_News/