Hello everyone, very interesting video! I was very fortunate to race for Rokon in 1974-75 MX season in the USA . I appreciate all the attention to the vintage motorcycles . Rokon was a great company with great people ! The Rokon I raced had lay down shocks. I did have a practice bike like the one in your video . I had good success racing the Rokon, it was very good in the sand and mud. Keep up the great videos I enjoy your comments and enthusiasm !

Around 1974, I was riding enduros out of the local Suzuki dealer. The owner of the shop was a Enduro rider too. One day a Rokon dist came by the shop trying convince the owner to take on the Rokon Enduro bike and race it. He had demonstrator bike and asked if we had some local trails he could take us on to show what the bike could do. Several of us went out with Rokon guy to see what it would do......he would ride the Rokon and we would follow on our regular Enduro rides. The Rokon came to a very steep rocky hill that was about 60 yards to the top. He led us up the hill single file and when he got about half way up came to a complete stop. He looked over his shoulder to make sure we were all stopped on the hill. He then just rolled the throttle on and the Rokon just tractored the rest of the way to the top.....no wheel spin, no paddling. When he was at the top he got off and looked down at the rest of us fanning clutches, paddling and pushing to get to the top. Pretty impressive!!

I own a Rokon 340 RTII. I rip around the New Mexico desert with it. It works great in sand. You are welcome to ride it if you come here. It was raced in the Pike's Peak Hillclimb on December 30th 1978 by David Beck, the second owner. I do not know who the first owner is. It was used also for bare tire oval track ice racing throughout Colorado until 2005, as well as in the October 1977 Grand Junction 8 hour Hare Scramble. There is an extensive journal that accompanies the bike. I have returned it to desert-racing form and it is fun to ride. I run period Fox air shox on the rear end. I ride pretty hard, and keep up with all of my friends on modern bikes no problem. The handlebar vibration is an issue for rides over an hour or so. I worry about the condition of the connecting rod, it is made out of aluminum and has a limited lifespan. The SA340R engine was a racing snowmobile motor and is extremely hard to find mechanical spares for. I suppose I will eventually have a billet steel rod made and rebalance the crank to solve that issue. I really should take some pictures and make a video of it being ridden properly hard. It's a great bike.

I was a teenager in the mid 70's I remember seeing Rokon advertisements in my magazines I subscribed to like Field & Stream. I never owned one but always thought they were interesting.

Another fascinating bike Max, you're finds are unbelievable, god knows what bike you will feature next.

Great job on the overview here guys. Too bad it did not have a chain on it, serious you got to ride one to truly feel what they got. I bought out a Nor-Cal dealer of these back in the mid 90's. In the buy got one RT (enduro) NOS never started, 2 miles on oddometer from rolling it in and out of dealer show room in the day (1975) got one Short Tracker Cobra (40 horse hopped up) it was frame number 10000001 (this dealer had a in with Rokon in New Hampshire). Also got one MX Cobra with wire wheels and 4 1973 RT enduros. I was racing American Historic Racing Association "AHRMA" then. A group of us(4) decided to campaigin the RT's in 500cc open motorcross West Coast Series for a few years. Friends, we started winning races on these bikes, yep a bit heavy but truly the HOLE Shot , every moto made the difference. Actually one a AHRMA national in Eugene Orgeon. Until riding the Rokons truly best finish was 15-18's. A shot of ether went a long way in one pull starting, keeping the carb spotless made the big difference too. Ahead of its time in some respects, no need to buy aftermarket stuff, it had Preston Petty plastics in 4 places, Magura controls, Hurst Brakes, Carlisle tires, Mikuni carb, all the neat stuff stock on it. The 73-74 ISDT team did gold and at local AHRMA event Dick Mann told me that the riders Rokon hired, could have won gold on anything, they were that good. (kinda like buying up a trophy huh). The Flat tracker frame Number 1 is still being raced with a Texas owner now in AHRMA and last I looked he was Class winner for a few years in a row , (I bet on the short track, again that hole shot is key) the bike is at max toruque all the time, and the rear is just trying to catch up. keep up the good stuff you doo, loved the TM 400 video, (in 74 you could buy a 400 cheaper than the 250 , reason was no one could ride the two stage rocket which could lite at any time and never at the same rpm. your friend in Nor-Cal Wes "Rokon" Baker 54x

If you are into checking out vintage dirt bikes made in the USA look into Hodaka. They were manufactured in my home state of Oregon. They were a combination of part Japanese part American made bikes so not unlike the US made Rokon with the German Sachs engine.

I saw one of the Rokon enduro models on display at the 1973 ISDT in Dalton, Mass. I also got to see my heroes Malcom Smith and Dick Burleson ride at that event. A year in a half after that event I fell in a enduro accident and broke my spine and I traded in my two wheels for first four, and then three wheels on my racing wheelchairs. I've been fortunate to have spent the last 48 years being a part of the development of the latest in racing wheelchair development. Three years after my accident I traveled the world as a wheelchair athlete and then as a coach at the two Olympic Games and the three Paralympic Games. I still miss the time I spent riding the woods on my enduro bike. Here's another oddball bike for you. The bike I was riding when I got hurt was a 1975 Can Am 250. They were also supporting Hall of Fame rider Jimmy Ellis with his MX effort. They only made bikes for a short time. I really liked the Can Am but the rear suspension was useless compared to what people are riding today. You guys did a great job with this story. Thank you for bringing back great memories of my previous life before I needed a wheelchair for mobility.

I raced a 1976 RT360 for many years. They can be made to run very fast! They are very heavy but go like stink!!! I miss mine.

I raced a Rokon back in the mid 70's. In fact, I still have my Rokon. It changed me from a C-class rider to a B-class immediately after purchasing it. 100 mile cross country races went from difficult to finish to easy once I started riding Rokons. It was a great bike in its day. I wasn't too impressed with your sidekick who was obviously negative as well as totally clueless about Rokons. The pull start was not a problem. Mine always started first pull, and once started it was next to impossible to kill the engine, even when you crashed. That was a huge advantage. No one on any size dirt bike could beat me in a dirt drag race, and I could climb hills that others only wished they could climb. In the mud they were fantastic. You could have compression braking going downhill if you were smart enough to lightly blip the throttle when it started to freewheel. In fact, rear wheel braking was incredible if you developed the technique of giving it slight throttle while braking. This would prevent the wheel from locking up giving excellent stopping ability in low traction conditions. No serious racer would use the mag wheels but would use the optional spoked wheels instead. It was indeed an exceptional enduro bike. As an MXer, its potential was never realized only because no top-quality racers ever raced one.

I grew up in the hot bed of MX, Enduro and Trials in New England between 1968-80. One story I would be interested in would be on MX legend and AMA Hall of Fame rider Jimmy Ellis. He raced against all the great talent of that era. His work with Can Am, won the 1975 Super Bowl of MX, raced at the first MX race at Daytona, along with his racing dominance at his home track in the early days of Southwick 338. He immigrated to Australia where he also raced and last I heard was living down under. Keep up the great content.

The Rokon has always been at the top of my ‘Quirky List’ so thanx for presenting it and another good double-act👏👏

Really not sure why modern dirtbike motorcycles don't give the torque-converter CVT belt drive a try. Eliminate gears and just adjust clutch weights. The snowmobile world has perfected the systems for a long time. Rev, and go. No thinking about gears. Instead, a lot of dirtbike riders are putting Recluse clutch systems on the bikes to "simulate" what these snowmobile CVT systems do naturally.

I love this channel so much I would have never heard of this bike otherwise 😂 great video!!

Nice find. Try and get a Wilcomoto 500. My dad grew up near where they built them in Holme lacy, Herefordshire. They were manufactured from scratch and sold by the Wilco family. It seems like a unique wholesome story to be told by you.

I race a Rokon once in a motocross. I was friends with the dealer and he wanted me to race it. The plus of the Rokon was the disc brakes, they were much better than any of the other mx bikes I have ridden at that point in time. Another plus was it was near impossible to stall. Of course it had plenty of power, but so did my regular race bike, MX2 CAN-AM. I did have one problem with the bike, it free wheels down hill. This was a real problem for me as the second turn on the track I was racing was a right hand off chamber turn at the bottom of a down hill. I felt a need to put down my right foot for this turn, which left me without a rear brake. I felt like they should have put the rear brake where the clutch would have been.

I’ve seen Rokons being raced at vintage AHRMA events here in the states. I grew up in Florida and remember Don, he was a big deal back in the day.

Great video. I have a 1974 340RT, built for me by Mike "Rokon" Murphy. It's my second one. I love it. It took a little while to adjust to not having a clutch to fan or gear lever to shift. But once I really figured it out, I realized and appreciated that you simply accelerate, brake, turn, and accelerate. Don't have to think about the right gear you need to be in because it's always in the right gear; that's the true magic for me. And, as someone else mentioned, its ability to climb and traverse steep inclines from a dead stop is impressive, and that is what sold me on this bike. A fantastic woods bike. I sold my first one (another pristine 74 340RT), but I certainly won't be letting this one go anytime soon.

Add to your list . The Can-Am black widow. 1977 MX-3

I wanted one of these so freaking bad. But I just graduated in '75 and didn't have a job yet to afford one. Oh well... Thanks for bringing this memory back.

The US Army experimented with this model Rokon in 70's at Fort Hood Texas. They were mounted on helicopter skids with engines running and scouts would drive off the rails in the LZ.

I knew Don when he came to Texas to race Huston Astro Dome. I raced there with him as I was also on a Rokon racing the high school support class they had that year. He came to our shop Texas and stayed there and rode with me for a time, Deano Mizes

Don Kudalski could actually win or at least podium on those things. They called him “Rokon Don”

Saw one of these in person around 1975-76 at the Penton Dealer. I was a young kid and those MotoMag wheels definitely caught my eye, the pull start was an oddity my young brain couldn't comprehend.

what a interesting video another completely unknown machine well done max keep em coming

Great video as always max,I love the unusual old bikes,I have a 72 maico 501 you guys can have a look at and have a ride of,you just have to come over to Australia to do it 😅

If you are ever in Rapid City South Dakota Rosco's Cycle is a current Rokon dealer. He has several in stock and I've ridden them on a few occasions. I'm sure he would be more than happy to take you out for a ride in the Black Hills anytime!

The distributor for Hodaka was in Oregon but they were very much a Japanese product. And yes, I do know a fair amount about Hodaka.

Very good video informative I like that

This is great entertainment, well done!

Great to see a Rokon as read about them in excellent American Dirt Bike around 1979/80, another very enjoyable video 📹 looking forward to the next one.

My father sold, and raced, Rokons in eastern Iowa. He stuck to enduro and hare scrambles. He went pretty well on them. I distinctly remember these odd bikes around the shop.

Interesting video vaguely remember reading about. lots of contraptions have been dreamed up.

I have a friend here in rural Western Massachusetts who collects Rokon bikes. He lives near the New Hampshire southern border & even has some still in the shipping crates. I believe they are all 2 wheel drive & some early models are two cycle engines. My Uncle owned one as well They are quite unique with high/low range 4 speed transmissions & hollow wheel rims that will hold fuel or even drinking water. There are models called "Trailbreaker", "Mototractor", "Ranger", "For Hunters", "For Preppers" & "Scout". I would have loved one, but they are not registerable in Massachusetts, which means that they would have to be trailered or carried to a trail head.

That's a weird bird, thank you for making these vids there's probably no other way I would have heard about this one... 👌

I’d love to see a video or three on the best kids dirt bikes under 100cc, rare bikes and quirky bikes.

Rokons rocked. If a Japan manuf. had been behind the design we'd all be riding gearless wonders today.

Just want clarify the reason some of us Rokon 340 owners remove the chain is because the CVT belt drive and engine compression make it very difficult to push the bike around the garage -- and it's even worse when trying to pushing our bikes through the dirt. I sometimes remove my chain on my 340RT when I know I'll have to move around the garage to service it. However, there is technique that some owners use to loosen the belt drive pulley, which allows the belt not to drag and allow the rear wheel to turn more freely. It's fairly simple, but I haven't done it bike yet, but I will be seeking guidance from my other Rokon owner friends about how to do that mod soon.

I was just watching your last video where you said you wanted people to comment bikes to find. My first thought was Rokon, but not the motocross version! They made a gorgeous flat tracker, too. Gold magnesium snowflake rims, matching gold frame. White glass. Only 30 ish made? I've only seen two for sale in the last decade. Would love a video on one!

Next rare bike: VOR/Vertemati 503. I just bought one. Very cool bike that needs a bunch of setup.

I would like to see you find a mid 70's Cooper MX bike. It was imported by Gary Jones, and was supposed to be a Mexican Maico, but out of lower quality parts. My buddy had one and it literally fell apart on him. He had to replace most of the bolts and lock washers, because they broke so often.

Love your Vids. It figures it would take you Brits to come up with this type of content. You folks invented Scrambling, Moto trials, the proper rules for Road racing. I'm a geezer from Arizona and rode trials on a Hodaka, Raced a Puch 125, CZ 250, and later a CanAm in Moto cross through the early to mid seventies. I'm facinated with the history of Moto cross. I was shocked and delighted with your TM400 Cyclone video. I thought that you guys must be ignorant about it's history. I was there back in the day when Suzuki first stared avertising in Cycle News magazine. After a few months, a couple showed up at tracks. As I remember, none of those guys finished in the top 10. Most of the time it was a crash or DNF. You guys got some balls just to ride that thing. As far as the RoKon, I never saw one in the pits here in Az. I remember seeing great results with bad ass from Florida. I was hoping you might have found the black and white photo of Joel Robert riding a nose wheely on a 2-wheel drive Rokon from around 1969. I'll try and dig it up. I have in my garage the second worst dirt bike after the TM400 according to Dirt Bike magazine. A Penton Mud Lark. Look that one up. Anyway I sure enjoy your work.

Sound and looks like a big PW50 :D

Rokon also made a two wheel drive motorcycle for hunting in very rough terrain.

Was waiting for an ATK!!

Great video, I learned of Rokon in Dirt Bike Magazine. How many were used in military?

Mongoose BMX must have copied the wheel design, or aquired it. Looks so much like a Motomag from around 1980. Great to see these bikes preserved. Fab resto! Thanks for sharing Max.

This is a cool bike. Very unique. My first dirt bike was a 1976 Hodaka Dirt Squirt 100. You don't see many of those around.

Keep up the good work like your show Steve from Annapolis

340cc is quite big for a one lunger. As a Canadian, I associate 340cc snowmobile engines with twin cylinders.

Dave has out done himself here. What a cool quirky motorcycle.

You gotta feature Hodaka on this show I had a Ace 100 I learned on and rode for about 6 years

I remember at the '75 ISDT the Rokon was going well but I think it was let down by the cast alloy wheels breaking on all the entrants? It was interesting to see it in action and it did seem very radical at the time!

First, I must say that you are overdue for a Can-Am MX2 review. Good luck finding one in GB. If you want to really dig in the weeds of US motocross history, the story of Ammex is fascinating. It was a family effort of Don Jones, Gary Jones and brother Dwayne. They developed and raced their own motorcycle, originally based on the Moto Islo from Mexico. This would be a challenging but rewarding bit of research for you, and will make a great video.

ROKON was always ahead of its time. CVT like in this ROKON became the staple of ATV/UTV as it already was in the snowmobile world.

Bro I owned one in the mid 80's , It ran Great and would run with 250's of that time period ! They were Great fun with the CVT belt drive !

I hope theres an update from rokon don. Great vid, i never knew rhere was rokons besides the 2wd ones.

Another fantastic video man! I grew up with an English family the King's Larry, Bob, Kevin King ..big boys! Kevin was as hairy as an ape! Ask your buddy if he knows them...lol!

The only way to overcome free Wheeling was to bring your rev's back up to engage the clutch once again. A small mountain bike at that time was called a tule trooper and it had a two speed gearbox. High or low with the same clutch setup so it would free will unless you brought up the throttle. It was manufactured in Issaquah, Washington during the 60s. There was also a trail bike called the tote Goat that rokon bought out. I wrote both of these bikes before rokon and the Japanese invision of Dirt bikes. Age 66.

I had a 1974 340rt, was a great bike but if you got into too much water the belt would slip on the torque converter. I good friend won in the open class at the blue & grey in Maryland in 74.

What a Machine I think the two wheel drives Float to You might be able to find out great Story Cheers Mick Australia

1987 or 1988 I owned a HVA 430 automatic. That was crazy, too

My dad had one and I always wanted one since

Another awesome bike I never knew about, think you should find the wankle/ rotary powdered MX bike (the hercules 502) 👀

I had the 1977 340 Enduro bike. It was an excellent trail bike. But then I found observed trials and never looked back.

Well you said you had a Rokon coming soon and you did not disappoint. Yes you need to ride one to truly appreciate and understand the machine. I know you would be able to find some here in the states to ride. If you get ahold of Mike on Rokon World I am sure he could get you a 2x2 to try. And Keith Geisner he wrote the H-D MX book Finding #49 and the book Discovering Six Days. Both are good reads and he should be able to direct you for a 340 ride. You can ride my 75 RT just will take a bit to get it ready again. There is definitely a handling difference between the 74-75 and the 76 with the lay down shocks.

Would love to see you guys try and fine the mythical honda 200cc atc 2 stroke believe they were a couple of one offs for racing in the early 80’s

The Killer or as you called him RoKon Don sure made one fly, ironically he was also a HD factory rider you should read finding #49.

As a snowmobile enthusiast. it definitely sounds like a snowmobile.

I rode one at Alhambra Honda in Alhambra, California in 1973/4. It was a total SLED! lol

Great video, I built a Harley Davidson sx 250 when I was 14.. it went over 100mph. I wish I still had it.

I have a 1979 Cotton EMX 360, Made in England and my friend has a Yamaha WR 450cc two track, two wheel drive.

Would have liked to see and hear it riding. I remember this bike as a mx-mad school boy.

I haven't seen or heard about this bike , I had a 75 xr75 ,and I remember quite well, when this bike accelerates, the rpms didn't change, but the bike took off like a rocket, its something I'll always remember, I thought it was cool.

I raced one of those bikes. My father sold them. Lived in West Virginia. Great bike.

How about another american brand, Penton? I think John Penton also started the High Point company. When Penton went bankrupt, the company making the bikes for him could start selling them directly as KTM.

Sounds quite nice

When I was about 13 everyone kid in the neighborhood had a dirt bike but a guy on the back street had one of these he would ride very fast around the neighborhood and I never got to really look at it but could only read the name on the tank and my friend said it was a big bore automatic I was like yeah right, automatic?

I was lucky enough to race a the flat track version back in the early 80,s @ Electric City in Rotterdam NY. It was owned by a guy named John Dillon who still has this bike.

They for some reason are big in the U S flat track vintage classes. Cheaper than XR 750 l guess. Of course what wouldn't be.

I remember seeing those bikes in the early seventies at an Enduro race in Rhode Island where are they called it the Rhode Island Rock Gardens. Black mud and boulders logs brooks streams those bikes absolutely kicked ass ! Along with Bultaco's, Ossa's Montesa's and Jawa CZ'S. When men were men ✊

Have you looked into the DKW with leading link front forks?

Seen one in my life mid 70s in the river bottoms outside Terre Haute Indiana

Gotta a buddy from way up on Rhode island and he knows of the Rokon plant. They have the 2wd trail breaker.

I remember rideing one of these in my teens it had a brown paint job on the tank and mudguards i had a bultaco at the time and an old fella wanted a go on my bike so we traded places and man was this a rocket i remember the lever and the pull start and the guy was facinated with my left hand kickstart on my bultaco lol the rokon was a bit heavy if i remember but made up for it in power and i joked with the old guy that i would trade my bike for his (this was in the late 80s in the uk)and he said it was rare and would never sell it .

I fell down ince when i was very young…… on the ol trail 90…. Dude on a Rokon came and helped me…pull start

I'm huge fan Husqvarna motorcycles and the owner of a Husqvarna 360 desert cross bike. I remember hearing about Husky automatics. but due to the fact I lived in the Pacific Northwest I never seen one in real life. but from what I remember at first they weren't accepted too well. by most of the riders and other people. because they thought an automatic just wouldn't work for motocross. but it wasn't too long that we would hear about them doing pretty good. and ocasonaly we would hear about one getting a win in some events. but I guess it wasn't quite enough and Husqvarna stopped producing them. because you mentioned checking them out. I thought would let you know what little I knew about them.

Sounds good

I visited Jaffrey, New Hampshire last summer. I had no idea it was the home of Rokon.

Ya, trippie, I remember them. But the coolest thing is he's wearing Vans. From SoCal to the world.

They went out of business in 1978. In 1982 I had a chance to ride a friend's 1979 RT340 Enduro model. He bought it a the bankruptcy auction in Hennicker, NH. The Rokons won the NETRA Enduro Championship a number of times in the 1970s. Another friend had a Husqvarna 390 automatic, but I never had a chance to ride it

They were rippers as a mc bike . Riding them was interesting off the gas on Both brakes as you got to corner pin the gas half way round let off both brakes and bike launched - if you weren't hanging on TIGHT you were left rolling around in the dirt and the bike on its side down the track aways. Setup and Tweeks were key and fimilarity with handling a must the racer mc is the starting point.

Rokon is not the only one pull start and automatic snowmobile engined motorbike...1976-77 they made Winha endurobike in Finland. It had Kohler 388cc, engine modified KTM frame and weirdest of all it had PTO (power takeoff)! It was planned for Finnish army and reindeer herding in Lappland.

Just watched the trailer for Hodaka's "Bad Rock" movie and there was a Rokon MX getting wet in a little stream. 38 seconds in. 141 on the number plate.

I’m sure those old pull-start big bore singles were responsible for quite a few torn up shoulders. No compression release and a worn rope was a recipe for giving yourself a shiner. Too bad this example didn’t have a chain, would’ve like to seen it ride.

Seen a few rokons on Kaplan American channel,which anyone who isn’t following should of course do straight away.I wouldn’t mind seeing what you think of the Ktm 380 sx because my mate had one when I had my cr 500 and it was a bit of an animal to be honest,it felt stiff and sharp compared to my cr which felt like a sofa in comparison but the power was quite similar we thought even if it’s not on paper.My cr was a 99 and I think his was possibly a 01 but I might be wrong 🤷🏻‍♂️,his bike always sticks in my mind as he over cooked a jump massively and went into a tree so he ended up with internal bleeding 🙈

Can you get a 1979 ccm 125? Don't see any of them now

In finland some people wanted an automatic bike for military. Winha automatic was the result. 60-70 were manufactured and had Kohler 338cc twin engines and the engines were supposed to be straight swap with the snowmobiles.

The most bizarre MX bike ever

I have a 1976 with the mag wheels on it like those wheels.