Throughout his lifetime, John Steen made a number of significant contributions to the motorsport world – from being a successful off-road racer to an early pioneer in the synthetic oil market to helping pave the way in the mini bike scene to producing his namesake, Hodaka-powered two-wheelers. John Steen may have passed away in 2007, but the mark he left on the motorcycle world remains.
John’s father was a petrochemical engineer at Standard Oil who developed a formula for what was supposedly America’s very first synthetic oil. While Standard technically owned the rights to the formula, the company wasn’t particularly interested in producing synthetic oil, so for whatever reason, they handed it over to John’s father. After his father’s death, the formula was passed on to John who linked up with Union Carbide to start churning out small batches of the synthetic oil which became known as “Steen’s C”.
At this point John was enjoying a fruitful off-road racing career, taking part in the early West Coast MX scene, riding alongside the likes of Bud Ekins, Cliff Coleman, and Steve McQueen. This abruptly ceased towards the end of the 1950s however when John suffered a catastrophic crash that forced him to, at least temporarily, hang up his racing leathers. Not long after John took a job driving a delivery truck that he also happened to be living out of at the time.
John happened to have a few friends whose business was relocating a fortnight prior to their lease ending, so they allowed John to move into the shop for the remaining two week period, telling him he could take over the lease if he could get a business running in the next 14 days. So John started calling on connections he had in the racing and hot rod scene, locating racing parts to sell on consignment at his shop, in addition to his Steen’s C oil.
In 1957, the staff of a Southern California muffler shop, GP Mufflers of Monrovia, California, became aware of a new fad: the GoKart. Seeing the business potential of the little lawn-mower-engine-powered vehicles, the outfit began producing GoKarts. The folks at GP Mufflers also became aware of Steen’s C, and started using it in their karts. As GoKarts quickly rose in popularity over the next year, the demand for Steen’s oil did too.
In order to keep up with the ever-growing demand, Steen expanded the oil operation and began producing the stuff on a much larger scale. John’s friend Lynn Wineland, a graphic designer and (then) editor at Rod and Custom Magazine, was tasked with designing the packaging and graphics for Steen’s C’s new single quart can, as well as spearheading the marketing efforts for the synthetic oil. Wineland also happened to be one of several people in the GoKart scene who was experimenting with building pint-sized two-wheelers powered by kart (i.e. lawnmower) engines.
Within a couple years, what were eventually known as “mini bikes” became nearly as popular as GoKarts, and a handful of the companies manufacturing karts also started making mini bikes. Though business was booming for a period, one of the biggest outfits at the time, the GoKart Manufacturing Company, (which was started by the guys at GP Mufflers) went under, leaving a gap in the market. John was still shipping out tons of orders of his oil, leading him to believe there was indeed a demand for mini bikes.
So in 1964 Steen got to work designing his very own mini bike model, drawing from his own experience in off-road racing to develop the little runners. Production costs and shipping restraints largely dictated the mini’s design however, and in the end John decided to go with a relatively simple setup adorned in gold paint. The need for a patent and Parkinson’s Law are responsible for the “Taco” moniker that was given to the minis first introduced in the number four Steen’s Chemical and Lubricants company catalog.
Only one model was available, though buyers could pick from a number of different rims, engines, and suspensions setups. Steen’s first generation minis wore gold paint, though John’s buddy Lynn would change that. Lynn owned an old ’32 Ford Roadster, and wanting his ride to stand out from the crowd at car shows, he opted to paint it metallic purple. It just so happened that Lynn had mixed more paint than he needed to coat his Roadster, so he suggested Steen utilize his surplus of purple paint — a feature that became a trait of the Taco.
In the Summer of ’64 John and Lynn flew to East Germany to take part in the ISDT (supposedly the same year Steve McQueen joined the US team). It was on this trip that Lynn was introduced to the Ceriani family, leading to Steen becoming the US distributor for the high-end Italian components. The following summer, John and Lynn returned to Europe for the ISDT, this time held in Great Britain. It was during this trip that Steen was introduced to Derek and Don Rickman, resulting in Steen becoming the North American distributor for the brothers’ wares.
Around this same time John secured US distribution rights to Hodaka motorcycles. The Japanese marque’s Ace 90 and Ace 100 MX (aka “The Super Rat”) were incredibly popular, leading to a very active aftermarket scene. Steen was just one of several companies producing upgraded bits for the Aces. Though he probably didn’t realize it at the time, John was inadvertently setting the stage for what was to come next.
In ’65 Steen also released a trio of new mini bike models; the Burrito, Frijole, and Tacquito, all of which were wildly popular right out of the gate. Steen’s C was also flying off the shelves, and John was making a decent chunk of money via selling the Japanese bikes, and Italian and British components in the States. Later that same year the company relocated to a larger facility and hired additional staffers to keep up with the growing demand. In ’66 the Taco minis were updated with beefier welded frames, just one year prior to Steen pulling the plug on the Taco series entirely. In ’67, “Steen’s Chemical and Lubricants” also changed its name to “Steen’s Inc”.
As he closed the door on one two-wheeled project though, John opened the door on another. His company already made aftermarket goodies for Hodakas, and with his readily-available (and discounted) access to Ceriani and Rickman parts, John’s next endeavor sort of dictated itself. Starting with a stock Hodaka, Steen stripped the 100 down to the chassis, before replacing the factory suspension, exhaust, and controls. In their place he installed 30mm Ceriani forks and A2000 series alloy shocks, Rickman handlebars, and a Torque Engineering exhaust. He also jettisoned the stock head for a Webco unit, and added a larger carb, quick-turn throttle, Filtron filter, alloy bash-guard, number-plates, and the stock 15/17-inch wheels were replaced by 17/19-inch rims wrapped in Carlisle rubber.
The result was the “Steen Hodaka SS” (short for “Steen Special”). These were arguably the best out-of-the-box Hodaka desert racers money could buy at the time, so it probably won’t come as a surprise to hear Steen Hodakas carried a steep price — approximately double that of a stock Hodaka 100. Each Steen Hodaka was hand assembled in small batches in Southern California. The SS also had its frame repainted silver while its tank wore a deep navy blue hue. These machines reportedly made just under 10 horsepower and weighed in at only 125 pounds.
John’s business endeavors continued on successfully over the next year or two, but over time he started to notice he was working all the time. So in 1969 John sold Steen’s Inc to “Suburban Gas of Pomona” who continued producing John’s desert racers. A year or so later the company was sold again, this time to Alsport, resulting in the Alsport/Steen. Alsport went on to expand the product line, keeping Steen in production until ’77.
This particular 1968 example has undergone a very thorough restoration courtesy of Hodaka guru Lee Fabry. According to the seller, aside from the (stainless steel) spokes, every part on this bike is original/correct, including its NOS Carlisle tires. Making this example that much cooler is the fact its stamped with VIN# 20 (Steen stamped their own VINS), proving that it is indeed an early Steen Hodaka specimen. This example was also supposedly a competition class winner at the Hanford Classic Motorcycle Show.
John’s work led the way, convincing an array of marques to hop on the mini bike bandwagon — Honda’s iconic Z50 supposedly took a lot of “inspiration” from the Taco 55 — which in turn resulted in the production of an era of mini bikes that became an entire generation of riders’ introduction to the world of motorized two-wheelers.
It’s hard to lock down an exact figure, but it’s safe to say very few original Steen (i.e. non-Alsport) examples were produced. The seller of this example claims “fewer than 100” units left the Alhambra factory, and that “there are seven known to exist including this one”, though I’m not sure if they mean in the US or in the entire world (or if that’s accurate at all). Determining their value can be a little tricky, though one 1970 Steen Hodaka fetched $3,850 at a Mecum auction in January of 2018 while one 1969 Steen Hodaka sold at a January 2017 Bonhams auction for $7,475.
You can find this restored 1968 Steen Hodaka for sale here on Craigslist in Sacramento, California with a price of $8,200.