[sethhoffman6984]

In the same vein as a TW200, there is the Rokon brand of motorcycles. I have been interested in the Rokons for a long time. For those who may not know, the Rokon motorcycle offers a 2 wheel drive, fat tired "utility" motorcycle with a bullet-proof Kohler or Honda engine, hollow rims to store water or fuel, and geared for pulling stumps:

My dad has a hunting cabin in Montana and has been looking for a vehicle that can both be run on the road (no paperwork is needed for road use in Montana) and to use for hunting, working and exploring. I showed him my new TW200 and he liked it, and is considering buying one. I'm trying to talk him into the Rokon Trailbreaker. Although they only go about 25mph, they will go anywhere. They just look like so much fun to me. The thought of exploring the Montana bush on one sounds amazing.



What do you guys think? Rokon or TW200? Obviously this is a biased forum, but both have their strengths.

 

[nfpgasmask]

I've always liked the Rokons as well. I think I would have to take one for a ride in the woods or in the mountains first, and then make my decision. I guess for me, if I needed/wanted a little goat like this for camping/exploring/etc, I would be torn between this and a quad that could haul more gear. Either way, these bikes are damn cool.



Bart

 

[sethhoffman6984]

I mentioned going with a quad or a side by side but for most of the woods/trails they're too wide. The motorcycle would be able to find it's way a lot easier.

 

[assquatch20]

Rokons are neat for all the well-known reasons, plus they sell a load of accessories nowadays. You can get a uni-trailer from them, a sidecar, skidder, plow, mower, sprayer, etc.



It can really be your tractor. The only issues are longevity and price. TW's have been mostly the same, so parts are easy. Rokons have switched motors over the years and the old Chrysler 2 strokes are hard to find parts for. I think they use Kohler nowadays, so you have to hope Kohler keeps their parts in stock over the years. The Rokon stuff itself is easy to get and a lot of the unique parts could be fabbed up by any shade tree mechanic in a pinch. And the price, it's expensive, but a specialty vehicle I suppose.



If I had one, I'd set out to making money with it right away to offset the cost.



I hate pullstarts as well but I think the modern ones have an e-start. Not sure.

 

[mtkd]

I am pretty sure a couple forum members actually have Rokons, I can't remember for the life of me who does though.

 

[sethhoffman6984]

They sell an EFI model now as well, which would be great for Montana. I'll have to look if they're electric start, I think they are now.



Side note: I have a 22hp Kohler lawn tractor that's 16 years old. It was my dads before me, and he never changed the break-in oil. In 16 years it's had 1 oil change (by me) and it starts and runs like a champ. The oil was like cottage cheese when I drained it.

 

[sethhoffman6984]

OK I was wrong there is no EFI, I don't know where I thought I saw that.



The Trail-Breaker model has electric start and a Kohler 208cc 7hp engine. The Ranger model has a Honda 160cc 5hp engine pull start.



All models are carbed with high altitude adjustments.



The Trail-Breaker has front suspension too.



Their site says the Trail-Breaker will go 35mph, and the Ranger will go 30mph. There is a Scout model that uses the Kohler 7 horse engine without some of the gadgets.

 

[mrbracket]

I really like the Rokons, growing up my friends dad had one and a few goat-totes. Very useful and fun, but definitely not as well rounded as a TW. Rokons are more specific in what they do, kind of like a motocross motorcycle is specific in what it does well. They are masters at what they do, the TW is a Jack of all riding....

 

[sethhoffman6984]

$6600 for a new Trail-Breaker, that's a bit ridiculous. I guess when it's a niche market you can't sell the volume to lower your margins.

 

[rm_hm]

What are the top speeds on those, I can only find 25-40mph wot range listed across the web.

 

[sethhoffman6984]

The 200cc engine will do 35, the 160cc engine will do 30. I bet they're just screaming though.

 

[TW-Brian]

Here are a couple of pictures of my 1969 Rokon Trail-Breaker. While the newer ones are somewhat more civilized than mine, they are essentially the same machine.

Rokons are unique little bikes and excel at what they were designed to do, but they are a very narrowly focused vehicle - best suited to riding in very rugged terrain and dragging dead animals out of the woods.



Before seriously considering buying a Rokon I would strongly recommend taking a test ride on one. Mine is loud, smoky and smelly due to its 2 stroke engine, and agonizingly slow. Top speed is probably not more than 15mph. The first (and last time) that I took it to an OHV park it certainly got a lot of attention, but really was not that much fun - imagine if you could only ride your TW in first gear.

 

[sethhoffman6984]

This is so awesome, an off-road side car:

 

[sethhoffman6984]

I need the tires off the 1969 model posted above on my T-Dub...

 

[assquatch20]

From what I understand, top speed isn't much more aggressive than idling, as it's a fixed throttle thing. You get hours per gallon as opposed to miles per gallon. The gearing does the rest, similar to other agri. equipment.

 

[RockyTFS]

I am pretty sure a couple forum members actually have Rokons, I can't remember for the life of me who does though.

I do! As other posters have said, the Rokon is unique, but it only fits one niche, that of going slowly through the ruggedest terrain possible. On dirt roads or smoother trails, quad or single, it isn't much fun. Since I got my TW, I've only ridden it once in two years, it is so uncomfortable compared to the T-dub, even with the new front suspension (and that's giving it some slack!). I can only ride it about two hours compared to 5 or 6 for the TW.



My experience with it reliability wise was less than satisfactory....it took a lot of maintenance, and had several failures of stuff that just shouldn't have failed at 50 hours, like the bearing supporting the front drive shaft. I was trying to make it be a slow motorcycle, and did lots of 25 mph riding.....it didn't like that at all. The fastest I ever got mine up to was 28mph on the GPS and that was downhill with the engine about 1,000 RPM over redline....(which redline I only found out about after consulting Kohler)! Then the front suspension broke in half after a year.

Thank God I was only 400 yds from the truck when it happened and I was able to half drag, half push and half motor it back.



That pretty well cured me of ever trusting the Rokon again in the boonies, and I got the T-dub more or less as a replacement that would allow me to use it on highways and in National Parks. I've never had any kind of mechanical issue with the T-dub in 3,000 miles and hundreds of hours and I routinely take it solo 50 miles back into the boondocks.



There is one thing the Rokon will do, and that is to go up or down the steepest, rockiest, badliest washed out trail you can find anywhere in the world, and bring out your deer or half an elk on the back! Like another poster said, it is like a two wheel drive tractor. Just don't expect it to act like a motorcycle in any way. You must slow to a crawl for even a 3" pothole or it will buck you right off. Another bad habit is that since the front wheel is driven, it will instantly take off in whatever direction the front is pointed, and I had several low speed crashes caused by a root or a rock bouncing the front sideways causing the Rokon to leave the trail instantly!

I'd say it takes at least double the amount of concentration the T-dub does to ride in rough terrain, one more reason I'm only good for 2 hours.



The only use I can think of where it will really shine is as a utility vehicle on single tracks where quads can't go. It will tow 500 lbs in the trailer as well as 300 on the back, and no moto I've ever heard of will do that in really rough dirt.



Mine's for sale.....

At nearly twice the cost of a new T-dub it just doesn't make sense to most folks. ($6500? More like $7500 equipped and delivered.)

 

[PlacerLode]

ROKON is a specialized machine best suited for specialized applications. It's true that having the front wheel "pull" takes some getting used to and they are a very "physical" machine to operate. I plan to use mine for the rare locations where a TW wouldn't make it or where I have to move prospecting gear or mineral samples up or down steep terrain. I like to describe the ROKON as a machine to "Boldy go where no man has gone before" ie no trails. Any riding over 10 mph is not ideal for a ROKON but for getting a dredge down steep trails to a river or for climbing up steep trails in the Arizona desert to metal detect etc there is nothing better that I know of. If nothing else they look really cool sitting in your rec room

Electric start is optional and so is the "auto-grab" front suspension which most people say they don't like anyway



I also have a "single track trailer" when I have extra gear to haul



Pics are my 2008 Trail-Breaker with optional 15" drum wheels (no longer available) 6.6 hp Kohler

 

[Gerry]

Another one of our TW members also has a Rokon. I was recently informed that he purchased one of these. With luck he will let us know how much this design might change our off-road experience. I am pretty excited to get a run-down as to the pluses and minuses between the three bikes. Gerry.



http://www.christini.com/

 

[old white truck]

Now that thing looks great! It looks like it should be in a museum of contemporary art.



Do you ever fill up the wheels with fluid?

 

[joeband]

ROKON is a specialized machine best suited for specialized applications. I like to describe the ROKON as a machine to "Boldy go where no man has gone before" ie no trails.

i think the rokon are the only motor vehicles that have crossed the darien gap! despite that they don't sound as practical as a t-dub. something about the line about "imagine riding a t-dub only in 1st gear".... turns me off.