Pabatco a company located in Athena, Oregon first opened their doors in 1961, but it was not until Yamaguchi's bankruptcy that the Hodaka motorcycle would be built in the United States.
With Pabatco's experience in motorcycle building now coupled with Hodaka's engineers experience in transmissions, the Hodaka America was born and soon grew a large following as well as reputation. By 1964 their dream had become a reality and Hodaka had managed to design the perfect high-performance trial bike.
By 1965, Farm Chemicals of Oregon, who was the parent company of Hodaka, was purchased by a division of the Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company called Shell Chemical. At this time Shell had never had any experience in the motorcycle industry but seeing as Hodaka was at the time proving to be profitable, they were allowed to continue their work in peace and by 1969 Hodaka had prepared to release a crate racer that became an instant success. With the high level Shell executives closely monitoring their little toy company, Hodaka could now breathe a sigh of relief.
With an inability to adapt to new technology which was caused by Shell not wanting to help their toy project grow, Hodaka was forced to use obsolete components in their motorcycles and so by 1979 Hodaka was forced to shut their doors.
The Hodaka named was sold to a Korean based company the following year.
Original Authors: Nicholas
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 03/06/2008
