Rokon motorcyles

[Martinjmpr]

I think the real question to ask would be: What can the Rokon do that a more modern dirt bike or ATV can't? My guess would be very little, maybe the deep mud as pictured or something else involving an extremely slow climb (where a more modern bike couldn't use momentum to get it over the hill.) Although as to slow climbs - ever see a Trials bike? They can go really slow and still get up the hill.

I think the Rokon is interesting but as near as I can tell the design hasn't been updated since the 1950's, while modern dirtbikes are head and shoulders above what they were back then. And I can't imagine that the Rokon is street legal, which would limit its usefulness to a lot of people (like me) who are interested in a trail riding bike but need to have the ability to occasionally ride on a paved road.

The Rokon seems more like an engineering experiment than anything else, i.e. something that somebody came up with just to see if they could do it.

 

[77blazerchalet]

Rokons aren't for everyone, that's for certain. My dad had one for years, my only memories of it as a little kid was that it was awfully noisy. He swears it was fabulous for crawling around offroad, around and over obstacles where a quad rider would have lots of trouble. Nowadays the company brags of having quieter mufflers, and the big diameter spongy tires leave little environmental impact and basically make a suspension unnecessary since its speed is inherently slow - call that "40 year old low-tech political correctness".

I would disagree with Martin about them being an engineering experiment, perhaps the prototypes were, but since they have been in regular production for such a long time, the supposedly outdated design works quite well today.

However, here's a couple of links that seem to indicate Rokon is considering hydraulic drive systems - Ian Drysdale says in his 2x2 motorcycle site ( http://home.mira.net/~iwd/2x2x2/intro.html )

"We have recently been contacted by the founder of the ROKON company Mr.Orla Larsen - he wasn't the inventor of this innovative 2WD but was the first to market the vehicle through a full dealer network. He worked on a hydraulic drive for the ROKON but it never went into production. It seems that the ROKON was the first to use the one way clutch idea to drive the front wheel that has now become standard issue on chain drive 2WD's."​

The co-designer of a hydrostatic drive motorcycle (see http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2007/05/22/hydrostatic-drive-diesel-motorcycle/ ) says of hydraulic vs mechanical:

"I have sold a lot of my videos to Rokon guys. The Rokon is a mechanical 2WD trail bike. A bunch of those guys have told me they are starting to build that type of bike hydraulically instead of mechanically. I would like to build one myself someday. When you're only using less than 10 HP, the hydraulic components are very small and light weight."​

My own expedition camper setup will be complete when I get one of the current Rokons, see photo below. I'm a little tired of just walking up mountain roads or bicycling up abandoned railroad grades. I only intend to ride on established nasty 4x4 roads at walking pace or slightly faster, so I don't need a speedy dirt bike. If I was going fast, I'd be concentrating on the road too much and would miss the scenery! As for this final comment, sue me if you don't like it: all the various ATVs I've seen on nasty 4x4 roads appear to be too tippy. I watched one guy in particular look so uncomfortable on a uneven sidehill slope where a Rokon would have been just fine.

 

[ShearPin]

Rokon

Below is a link to an article with some cool Rokon photos from the previously mentioned Darien Gap trip. If you're in the mood to kill some time have a look around the rest of the site. Interesting guy with some life philosophies I think would fit in well around Exped. Portal....

http://www.motivation-tools.com/adventures/darien_gap.htm


Henry

 

[Clutch]

Blazerchalet,

Saw your attached photos. I saw this on eBay the other day...cure for that low clearance VW

day...http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Volk...010QQitemZ200123318780QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

 

[77blazerchalet]

Warren,

Ah yes, the VW Golf Country, a vehicle modified at the request of VW by Steyr Daimler Puch before they changed to doing military-only work ( http://www.steyr-ssf.com/ ), more fun info here: http://p3racing.net/vw/country.html I'd like to have one, problem with these is they would be gray market cars. Most VW nuts guess it's too much trouble to convert them to US D.O.T. specs.

Another irony of my X-ed out one wheel trailer photo above, some guy currently has a custom Rokon chopper on eBay..... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cust...yZ147901QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Martinjmpr]

My own expedition camper setup will be complete when I get one of the current Rokons, see photo below. I'm a little tired of just walking up mountain roads or bicycling up abandoned railroad grades. I only intend to ride on established nasty 4x4 roads at walking pace or slightly faster, so I don't need a speedy dirt bike. If I was going fast, I'd be concentrating on the road too much and would miss the scenery! As for this final comment, sue me if you don't like it: all the various ATVs I've seen on nasty 4x4 roads appear to be too tippy. I watched one guy in particular look so uncomfortable on a uneven sidehill slope where a Rokon would have been just fine.

So...I'm still not sure what the Rokon can do that a modern, 125-200cc dual-sport bike cannot. Plus the modern d/s will be lighter so that if/when you go down it's easier to pick up. Of course, the d/s is street legal as well. If you don't need a street legal bike then there are numerous 100-200cc dirt bikes that should do as well.

I'm actually considering a small DS to take to the mountains, as well as to drive to work. Right now the main contender is the Yamaha TW200, with its funky fat tires, I figure it would be perfect for slow-speed mountain riding. As a plus, it's street legal!

 

[77blazerchalet]

At just a bit over 200 lbs, Rokons would have a weight disability. I think their single advantage, for whatever it's worth, is crawling ability. I've briefly watched trials riders scramble up impossible obstacles in their bikes, but it sure takes lots of skill and they still have to gun the engine to do their hops, or otherwise do some quick maneuvers. In the real world, that might mean an average d/s rider would have to punch it to get over a coffee table-height shelf running across a nasty 4x4 road, and probably leave some kind of furrow in the road and / or tire burnout mark up the face of the shelf.

A couple of years ago, I walked up the Burns Gulch road near Animas Forks, CO - steep road with a crumbly surface. For a long time, I heard a d/s rider coming up behind me, and sure enough he came flying by eventually, leaving plenty of evidence of the momentum and horsepower he needed to get up the road.

Perhaps a better rider could have gone slower and still not tear up the road much. Myself, I want to just crawl along that road, stop and start frequently, and leave practically no evidence that I was ever there.

 

[Lynn]

I have vague memories of a childhood neighbor having something like that Rokon, but it seems like it was called a goatsomething, or somethinggoat? Anybody know what I’m talking about?

 

[Martinjmpr]

I have vague memories of a childhood neighbor having something like that Rokon, but it seems like it was called a goatsomething, or somethinggoat? Anybody know what I’m talking about?

Wasn't there a motorcycle called the Tote Goat?

Found it: Here's a photo. Not much like a Rokon, though.

 

[Lynn]

Wasn't there a motorcycle called the Tote Goat?

Found it: Here's a photo. Not much like a Rokon, though.

OK, so my memory didn't serve me well.

I was confusing the ToteGoat that my neighbor had (just like the one you pictured) with the two or three Rokons I've seen over the years.

Thanks, Martin.

 

[77blazerchalet]

Lynn,

A month or two ago in an eBay Rokon listing, there was a similar looking thing to what Martin shows, except it had a pair of tandem rear wheels that were definitely Rokon style, and a smaller wheel in front. I didn't pay much attention to it, since it wasn't what I'm looking for, but it seemed more like a cross between Martin's photo and a regular Rokon.....

 

[unimogmike]

I will chime in here. I have both a Rokon and a TW200. They are totally different machines. The Rokon is more two wheel tractor than motorbike. For all the information on Rokons go to www.rokonworld.com. There is more than anyone would want to know. The TW is a great, although dated, trail bike. No major changes since it was introduced.

I am in the Phoenix area and if you are interested in checking out a Rokon, contact me. You really need to ride one before buying one. They are not for everyone.

 

[Colorado Ron]

So...I'm still not sure what the Rokon can do that a modern, 125-200cc dual-sport bike cannot. Plus the modern d/s will be lighter so that if/when you go down it's easier to pick up. Of course, the d/s is street legal as well. If you don't need a street legal bike then there are numerous 100-200cc dirt bikes that should do as well.

I'm actually considering a small DS to take to the mountains, as well as to drive to work. Right now the main contender is the Yamaha TW200, with its funky fat tires, I figure it would be perfect for slow-speed mountain riding. As a plus, it's street legal!

Since your in Denver, just a heads up there is one here at Longmont Kawasaki that seemed cheap last time I was there.

 

[dan chain]

i would just go with a new trials bike like the gas gas 280 pro. i use my brothers to go where a full on rock crawler can only dream of going. if you want to see a trials bike in action go to google and do search for adam raga, should be able to find some videos of him going up some insane stuff

 

[paulj]

Here's something in the same spirit, with an even lighter foot print (2psi), the Scotish made Ecorider

http://www.ecorider.us/


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