Dirt bike and enduro sales were huge in the early 1970s and Rokon, a company known for making an unusual two-wheel drive motorcycle, wanted in on the billion-dollar off-road market. What they came up with was just as unusual as the 2×2 motorcycle they were known for: an automatic dirt bike powered by a snowmobile engine. This 1976 Rokon RT-340 II is listed here on eBay in Port Charlotte, Florida and the seller is asking $4,500 or you can make an offer.
We’ve only seen one of these unusual but successfully-raced pull-start motorcycles here on Barn Finds so you know they’re rare. Seeing one that’s been restored, or rebuilt and enhanced, as the seller says, and for a reasonable price, that’s even more rare. The gas tank is translucent so riders could see how much gas they had left, a pretty innovative thing. Speaking of innovation, they were also the first production motorcycle to have both front and rear disc brakes. This bike weighs 250 pounds, which is amazing since my much bigger-looking ’71 Trail-Breaker only weighs 180 pounds.
This is a screenshot from the seller’s video since they didn’t include a photo showing the rear of this bike. The aforementioned disc brakes were needed as there is no back pressure from the engine to slow down or stop, so with no brakes, you’re crashing into the nearest immovable object. Rokon started designing the RT series in 1970 and it was ready to go and already winning races by the fall of 1971. Well-known motorcycle racer Preston Petty made plastic fenders and Rokon offered them as standard equipment, a big improvement over often-dented and much heavier metal fenders. Most off-road racers would take their metal fenders off and put on Petty’s plastic fenders but Rokon was one step ahead.
There aren’t many photos of this one, unfortunately, so there wasn’t one of the “controls” as I like to show. I zoomed in on this one but it doesn’t show that much in the handlebar area. Freewheeling through tight corners takes getting used to using the brakes, where on a regular motorcycle you could let off the throttle, and the engine would hold you back enough; not with the Rokon RT. The RT-340 II had a three-gallon gas tank and this one appears in very nice condition. There are endless forums on how Rokon RT owners refinish their gas tanks as they’re plastic and can tend to discolor over the decades. Sadly, this series of motorcycles was a major factor in why the company went bankrupt in 1978. The development costs were just too much for such a small company.
I zoomed in on the same photo as above for the engine photo that I like to show in the last of five paragraphs, in case you haven’t noticed over the last 8.75 years. This unusual engine is a Sachs 335cc two-stroke single with 37 horsepower. Backed by a transmission also similar to what would be in a snowmobile, it has a variable belt drive and centrifugal clutch. It’s somewhat similar to my ’71 Rokon Trail-Breaker except there’s no shifting with this one, you just pull-start it, let it warm up for a minute, and you’re off. I would love to have this one, it looks like a winner and the price is right on. Have any of you ridden a Rokon RT340?
Pull start, automatic. Wild bike.
Aw jeez, SG, must you?I’m very vulnerable right now. Very cool. When I had my Bultaco 200 Pursang( that kept up with the 250s) visited several MX tracks. One was Aztalan ( still in operation, I think), one in Ill, and one in Fond du lac. Just play riding, but Aztalan had sanctioned events we didn’t participate in. There were the usual red, yellow, and green bikes, but once, a guy showed up with one of these. Nobody had ever seen one. Guess what, he cleaned up on EVERYONE!. Back in the pits, a crowd formed around it, not unlike how Don Garlits must have felt with his rear engine dragster. He pulled the belt cover and we all stood aghast, no wonder, no shifting, a huge time consumer in a race. The Sachs motors were simply the most powerful 2 strokes. Not sure about the single, but I’ve heard of Sachs powered sleds, a 736 twin, which I think was 2 of these motors combined, and not much, save for the 4 cylinder King Kat 800, could beat them.
I sorely miss my motorcycle days, and find myself researching vintage motorhomes instead, but there was a time,,,,,
I bought a Bultaco Metralla in the mid 90s from a guy in the Schenectady, NY area. He bought beat up bikes, restored them, and sold them to pay for the next project. Besides my bike, I saw a Scott Flying Squirrel and a Douglas 350 that Dave restored…and then there was his Rokon 340 cafe racer! It had street equipment and mag wheels, and like all his bikes, it came out great.
Nothing like fun on 2 wheels Howard. Sachs made some powerful chainsaws. 🪵
I raced district 37 desert races in southern California during the early 70’s. One time on the “bomb run” I crashed my brains out and was lying there unconscious, when I came to there was a one legged rider hopping around asking me if I was alright. I found out later that “Rokon Ron ” had lost his leg somehow but still loved to compete and not having to shift or kick start a bike made the Rokon his obviously choice. Great guy, I’ll never forget him or his bike.
Tank is translucent, not transparent!!
GAAA! Dang it, good eye, Mike! My gut hurts from laughing at that bonehead mistake, a transparent gas tank, wowie. Thanks for catching that!
Sorry, Howard, but no, a 200 isn’t faster than a 250, and the Rokon would have been terrible to race. I speak as someone who raced MX for 15+ years, A, B, and eventually the vet class. As for shifting, motorcycle transmissions are constant mesh and sequential, and when made correctly, not only do you not need the clutch to shift, but you can shift under full power.
More credit to whoever raced those bikes, but MX is 90%+ the rider, so it’s possible that someone did actually win on one.
Read the post,, I said KEPT UP WITH 250s, not faster. I swear we need a reading comprehension course here,,,
These were made in my home town, Keene NH in the 70s. My brother worked there for a while.
When I was racing flat track, Mike Donahue, another Rokon employee, developed and rode a flat tracker. They then produced a limited amount of MDRs (Mike Donahue Replicas).
Mike’s talent was what made this bike win, locally no one else could win on one.
I had an RT340 in the 80s, it was heavy and slow, but it would get out of any situation pretty well with just the twist of the throttle. Riding through “on the pegs” trails was easy as you never had to downshift (or upshift)
It takes some time to get used to the tranny, it seemed to zap a lot of the power to run the torque converter.
Still, it was a fun bike. Just a different experience.
That looks wild and I guess you couldn’t bump start it if you had to. I had a Honda MT250 Elsinore. We stripped off the turn signalsand tailight for less weight. I put a piston in it and only rode it two more times due to school and life in the way and the guy I rode with wasn’t around. I would not ride alone. Learned about bad old gas, the hard way. Fresh gas and it was fast, not fouling plugs. Miss those days in the late 80’s.
I’d get killed now, but would be fun except the pain later..
Scotty, thanks for posting this!
I earned 2 things:
That Rokon made a traditional enduro and that these were made in Keene!
Still being made in Rochester, NH – I looked it up.
I can’t get the thumbs up to work, but a written thumbs up to everyone for such great comments! I really like this one, it’s tempting as H (heck).
Scotty (and all), this is my trick if you REALLY want to give a thumbs up:
When reading a comment, there will be something like this at the end of the URL: /#comment-1542226
Click on the end of the URL and backspace (delete) all of this.
Hit the Enter key to refresh the screen.
Scroll down to the comment you want to Thumb Up and click on the Thumb.
PRA4SNW! You, sir, are a genius, thanks so much for that tasty tidbit of IT mastery, it worked!
Scotty, no problem!
I have been in IT for 30+ years and these sorts of issues always come up and bug me. Sometimes a workaround like this is sufficient (if not a mild pain to perform) until a real fix is made.
I raced a Rokon up to a year ago in AHRMA. I got get holeshots with dead engine starts.