how many of you rode a Rokon ?

hillbilly
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hillbilly
Edited Date/Time 10/10/2014 6:44pm
I saw my 1st one at a hare scrambles in Jackson TN in 75.

Thought the guy had built it in his garage out of a lawnmower.
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pete24
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pete24 7/4/2014 11:30am
7/4/2014 11:30am
when i was a kid they sold them at the yamaha dealer downtown, the owner told us if we could start it we could have it, but be carefull it could rip your arm off!


so thirty years later we get one in here and clean the carb, check compression, spark, ect, we get ready to start it and ya i was a bit aprehensive, frigging wicked easy to start and ya we rode it
F150Motocrosser 7/4/2014 11:34am
7/4/2014 11:34am
Love obscure bikes like the Rokon.. Definitely want one in my collection someday. Dirt Rider had a piece in a recent issue about the 2014 model. I do, however, own a 1960 Tote Gote Smile
pete24
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pete24 7/4/2014 11:43am
7/4/2014 11:43am



took me a while to find it, guy got it at an estate sale, had 214 miles on it i never knew they made on off rd version
BobbyM
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BobbyM 7/4/2014 11:43am
7/4/2014 11:43am
hillbilly wrote:
I saw my 1st one at a hare scrambles in Jackson TN in 75. Thought the guy had built it in his garage out of a...
I saw my 1st one at a hare scrambles in Jackson TN in 75.

Thought the guy had built it in his garage out of a lawnmower.
Crappy for a dead engine start holeshot i must say.

The Shop

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pete24
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pete24 7/4/2014 11:43am
7/4/2014 11:43am
o shit is that thing red, white and blue?
Spartacus
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Spartacus 7/4/2014 11:45am
7/4/2014 11:45am
Back in the 60's. They had excellent throttle modulation.
Offroad guy 7/4/2014 12:25pm
7/4/2014 12:25pm
Watched guys race them at the Badrock ISDE qualifier in Oregon when I was a kid.
tydog
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tydog 7/4/2014 1:25pm
7/4/2014 1:25pm
No I have not but sure would like to.
I still kinda' have my eyes our for one too.
Old school is still cool.
Ing
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Ing 7/4/2014 1:30pm
7/4/2014 1:30pm
I race a scrambles on one that a guy loaned me for the day. I was like 15yrs. old and that thing man handled me.
hillbilly
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hillbilly 7/4/2014 2:33pm
7/4/2014 2:33pm
Never knew Sachs built the engine.

Sachs made the shocks on the huskys I raced in early 2000. Figured they were under the cagiva umbrella of companies like Gilera which made the engine cases and also the frames i believe.

hillbilly
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hillbilly 7/4/2014 2:35pm
7/4/2014 2:35pm
Check out the rear brake pedal.
JPT
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JPT 7/4/2014 2:52pm
7/4/2014 2:52pm
How about this version?

SouthwestMfg
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SouthwestMfg 7/4/2014 3:26pm
7/4/2014 3:26pm
Don Kudalski - Factory Rokon - Harley - Honda

Joel allways ahead of the pack


YZ324
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YZ324 7/4/2014 3:32pm
7/4/2014 3:32pm
One of our Vintage racing buddies here in Houston has a few of them. Pretty cool bikes and fun to watch an automatic pull a holeshot!
MaicoJC1
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MaicoJC1 7/4/2014 3:56pm
7/4/2014 3:56pm
Here's a pic of my bike that I'm picking in the next week or 2. It's a 1973 340 RT (Yellow-tanker). I owned a few years ago and stupidly sold it. I definitely won't be selling this one.




The bike was built for me with factory parts by one of my best friends, and Rokon Renew owner -- Mike Murphy.

http://www.vintagemxracer.com/rokonrenew1.html


MaicoJC1
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MaicoJC1 7/4/2014 4:06pm
7/4/2014 4:06pm
More photos: 1973 RT340 Enduro









project racer 7/4/2014 6:03pm
7/4/2014 6:03pm Edited Date/Time 7/4/2014 6:07pm
SouthwestMfg wrote:
Don Kudalski - Factory Rokon - Harley - Honda [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2014/07/04/58434/s1200_DonKudalski_1977Rokon340Auto.jpg[/img] Joel allways ahead of the pack [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2014/07/04/58435/s1200_Joel_Robert_Rokon.jpg[/img]
Don Kudalski - Factory Rokon - Harley - Honda

Joel allways ahead of the pack


I watched Rokon Don win a moto that year on that bike in the Open pro class at the St.Pete round of the Florida Winter-Am. I think he may have took the overall that day. That thing ran good.

Pit Row

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teggers
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teggers 7/4/2014 9:26pm
7/4/2014 9:26pm
project racer wrote:
I watched Rokon Don win a moto that year on that bike in the Open pro class at the St.Pete round of the Florida Winter-Am. I...
I watched Rokon Don win a moto that year on that bike in the Open pro class at the St.Pete round of the Florida Winter-Am. I think he may have took the overall that day. That thing ran good.
I was there that day. Might have raced Sr mini....maybe the day before.
hillbilly
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hillbilly 7/5/2014 5:01am
7/5/2014 5:01am
MaicoJC1 wrote:
Here's a pic of my bike that I'm picking in the next week or 2. It's a 1973 340 RT (Yellow-tanker). I owned a few years...
Here's a pic of my bike that I'm picking in the next week or 2. It's a 1973 340 RT (Yellow-tanker). I owned a few years ago and stupidly sold it. I definitely won't be selling this one.




The bike was built for me with factory parts by one of my best friends, and Rokon Renew owner -- Mike Murphy.

http://www.vintagemxracer.com/rokonrenew1.html


That's the one i saw in 75. He let me tool it around the pit a minute.

Dad raced a husky auto 430 several years in hare scrambles,similar feeling.

In the mud a auto would be able to win,a slop mud race.
Starcrossed
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Starcrossed 7/5/2014 5:39am
7/5/2014 5:39am
Rode one that belonged to Rusty at the White tractor dealership in Fairhaven around 1980. It was nothing like my YZ125 that's for sure.
MaicoJC1
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MaicoJC1 9/1/2014 9:58am
9/1/2014 9:58am


This is pic of me with my 73 Rokon RT 340 and 71 Maico 400 MC/GS. Yesterday, was the maiden voyage for these bikes -- and even though the temperature was in the low to mid 90`s the bikes ran great -- actually much better than I expected.

Amazing, you really don't have to think when you're on the Rokon -- just twist & go, brake hard into corner, then twist & go. Handled way better than I ever thought it would. too.

And the Maico, well I have had this bike since January 2014, and have been waiting for the day to finally run this bike, so when I finally got a chance to open the bike up yesterday, the power and sound of this bike really put on smile on my face. Gotta love 4 speed transmissions!

All in all, it was a great day to ride these old vintage bikes. Very satisfied, indeed.
Azcrf331
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Azcrf331 9/1/2014 10:39am
9/1/2014 10:39am
Does this count-dad had one for hunting here in Az for a time. The old tote gote hauled a few javelina out from Table Top Mtn
xnationalwrench 9/1/2014 10:54am
9/1/2014 10:54am
I was lucky enough to have a friend that was the sales rep for the west coast so got ride one quite a bi.t
sclark309d 9/1/2014 1:08pm
9/1/2014 1:08pm Edited Date/Time 9/1/2014 3:20pm
a
sclark309d 9/1/2014 1:10pm
9/1/2014 1:10pm
I went to Diamond Don's AHRMA national in Texas in 2013. Had a factory ride for the day on my Joey Pooles CZ sidepiper. I blew it up in practice, so Paul Burnett (local fast guy) looked around for something for me to ride as I'd come all the way from Seattle. All he could find was a Rokon which was fine by me.

It was an interesting ride, as the brakes didn't work....try hitting an off camber left hander at the end of a fast straight on a 300lb motorcycle with an automatic (no engine braking) and no brakes....I fought it and it fought me back both motos.

We finished the first moto. Went to the line for the second mot and she wouldn't start. I pulled and pulled, and finally she kicked back, right at the end of the rope extension, spraining my thumb....wtf? Now it's on....I got her stared barely in time, then fought for several laps.

Finally she'd had enough and stopped running of course at the lowest part of the track, the farthest away from the pits....I pushed a little while then leaned her again a tree and sat down....whereupon I discovered why she wernt runnin'....thr friggin carb had fallen off..."ok - you win" I muttered under my breath for fear the hateful little pile o steel would lock a wheel on my or something while I pushed and I'd have to carry her.

I finally returned her to her owner, who kinda smirked and said "She's a bitch ain't she?" Yup she was, but all in all she was surprisingly fast down a straight and handled pretty good considering her ample weight.

Was a pretty fun day!

bigmaico
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bigmaico 9/1/2014 1:39pm
9/1/2014 1:39pm
YZ324 wrote:
One of our Vintage racing buddies here in Houston has a few of them. Pretty cool bikes and fun to watch an automatic pull a holeshot!
Chance,

One of those Rokon's that Randy owns is one of the 5 or 6 factory MX bikes ever to be built!
RokonH63
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RokonH63 10/10/2014 11:03am
10/10/2014 11:03am
sclark309d wrote:
I went to Diamond Don's AHRMA national in Texas in 2013. Had a factory ride for the day on my Joey Pooles CZ sidepiper. I blew...
I went to Diamond Don's AHRMA national in Texas in 2013. Had a factory ride for the day on my Joey Pooles CZ sidepiper. I blew it up in practice, so Paul Burnett (local fast guy) looked around for something for me to ride as I'd come all the way from Seattle. All he could find was a Rokon which was fine by me.

It was an interesting ride, as the brakes didn't work....try hitting an off camber left hander at the end of a fast straight on a 300lb motorcycle with an automatic (no engine braking) and no brakes....I fought it and it fought me back both motos.

We finished the first moto. Went to the line for the second mot and she wouldn't start. I pulled and pulled, and finally she kicked back, right at the end of the rope extension, spraining my thumb....wtf? Now it's on....I got her stared barely in time, then fought for several laps.

Finally she'd had enough and stopped running of course at the lowest part of the track, the farthest away from the pits....I pushed a little while then leaned her again a tree and sat down....whereupon I discovered why she wernt runnin'....thr friggin carb had fallen off..."ok - you win" I muttered under my breath for fear the hateful little pile o steel would lock a wheel on my or something while I pushed and I'd have to carry her.

I finally returned her to her owner, who kinda smirked and said "She's a bitch ain't she?" Yup she was, but all in all she was surprisingly fast down a straight and handled pretty good considering her ample weight.

Was a pretty fun day!

Too bad sclark0399d, if that RTII Rokon would have been race ready you might have become a true believer. Too bad it was not and they are plenty fast enough as a "stock bike" and are podium grabbers. If you ever get the chance to get on one that is a Cobra, get ready for a true adrenaline rush!. Most fun you will ever have on 340cc's.

g0rd057
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g0rd057 10/10/2014 6:34pm
10/10/2014 6:34pm
They can be very effective for those "hand on helmet" starts........... Wink

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