Mona Ehnes’ 1974 Hodaka Combat Wombat

Longtime champion of off-road riders’ rights, Mona Ehnes, rode this 1974 Hodaka 125 Combat Wombat in the hills and mountains of Montana that she helped keep open.

Used by Ehnes as her main trail bike from 1979 to 1995, the two-stroke motorcycle is a highly modified version of the popular Hodaka model.

It features a wide-ratio five-speed transmission, a weighted flywheel, a compression release, a deep-water air-intake snorkel, re-valved KYB shocks from a 250 Hodaka, a lengthened swingarm, a Preston Petty headlight, Preston Petty “Tony D” front fender, and a Wombat luggage rack and tool box.

The bike also has a Mototek capacitator discharge ignition, 70-tooth rear sprocket, shortened footpegs and clutch plates that are drilled and hub machined for increased oil flow.

Ehnes charged into the fight for motorcyclists’ rights in 1967, when controversial legislation was introduced that would have restricted off-highway riding opportunities in her home state of Montana.

She has been at the front lines of the OHV rights battle ever since, as a founding member of both the Great Falls Trail Bike Riders Association and the Montana Trail Vehicle Association. Ehnes, a 2011 Hall of Fame inductee, is still an active advocate and off-highway motorcyclist today.

This Combat Wombat is currently on loan from Ehnes for display at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio.