A lot of us get in trouble when we see a vehicle listed online and we can’t live without it, and then we act on that impulse. It’s the same way with a few of the Barn Finds writers. I don’t know if “get in trouble” is the right phrase, but highly frowned-upon is more like it. This ultra-rare 1976 Rokon RT340 II is one of those vehicles for me. It’s listed here on eBay in Sherman Oaks, California with a $2,499 buy-it-now price or you can make an offer.
We collectively see hundreds or even thousands of vehicle ads a week here at One Barn Finds Tower and every now and then something pops up like this 1976 Rokon RT340 II. I have a bad feeling that I won’t make it through this without making an offer. It’s happened many times over the past few years and it’ll happen many times in the future, unfortunately, for my wife. Although, one nice thing about motorcycles is that they’re easy to slip into a storage unit without a lot of drama. Did I just say that out loud?
Most of us know Rokon as the company that makes the Trail-Breaker 2×2 trail bike with fat tires, we’re written about several here on Barn Finds over the years. A lot of people may not know that the company wanted to move into the red hot dirt bike market in the early-1970s and in 1973 they came out with the RT340 – it was quite a breakthrough. It was the first motorcycle to have an automatic transmission and it also has a pull start as you’ve probably noticed by now.
This auction, or listing, is actually for two bikes, one is complete or mostly complete and the other one is seen above. The seller does have the front wheel but the fork legs are missing as is the back wheel. They both run, though.
And, when I say run, I’m talking about two-stroke goodness in this 335 cc Sachs engine. This is basically a snowmobile engine, hence the pull start. The RT340 had a variable belt-drive and centrifugal clutch like a snowmobile. The company, unfortunately, ran out of steam in 1978, many people say because of the money spent on developing the RT340. Have any of you seen one? Have you ever gotten a vehicle online and then gotten the evil eye when it showed up at your house?
Scotty forgot about his friends that go through this with him, as well. I should talk, that DRZ I just HAD to have, am having 2nd thoughts about already and will probably sell it. Cool bike, but trails are too rough for an old fart. Actually dropped it today, hit a rut, down we go, no damage, nobody saw.
The Rokon, by gar, that takes me back. Fastest stick out there, at the time. In the late 70’s, I had a Bultaco Pursang, and a friend had a Honda 250 something, and we’d hit the local tracks, for fun, before liability put them under and there was a guy with a Rokon like this that cleaned up on EVERYONE. While everybody else was trying 2nd gear holeshots ( and missing 3rd) the Rokon rider just rolled the throttle and was gone. Sachs made a dynamite motor, one of the best then, and the automatic sealed the deal. I’m surprised that didn’t catch on. They still do it that way on snowmobiles, which is amazing. Very cool bike, if you have the back for it. I found out, I don’t.
This Rokon is missing the one feature that makes Rokons such unique trail bikes. It lacks the iconic 2 wheel drive. Without it, it’s just another plain old dirt bike.
You obviously never rode a 340 ROKON. They are exceptionally fast. In the motocross races of the day they were very hard to beat.
I had 2. Still have one
Nothing plain about a Rokon 340. First dirt bike to have disk brakes, necessary due to the fact there is zero compression braking due to the CVT trans. Also the precursor to this model had magnesium cast wheels. The 340’s fall under the classification of Rare but not Particularly Desirable. MY 340 was street legal and was the loudest, most irritating bike I’ve ever owned. Vibration was EPIC. I sold it to a one legged guy from Windsor Ontario who was over joyed to find a bike he could ride. The 2×2 models share nothing with the 340’s, and in fact the 340’s are what put Rokon out of business for a few years…
This one has the disc, but not the caliper..”air” brake?
I had a small dealership in the latter 1970s, selling 340 models. O’Day of O’Day sailboats purchased Rokon in the late 1970s. For some unknown reason, he shut it down soon after he got it. The RT/MX 340s are not what caused Rokon to shut-down.
In 1972 I bought an Arctic Cat EXT snowmobile from Larry Mason dealership in Rumford Maine. He also was a dealer for Rokon and Benelli Motorcycles for the summer market. I got to drive the demo Rokon 340, as I rode a Suzuki TS 400 at the time. Unique ride. I also test drove the Benelli 6 cyl road motorcycle, very smooth. I miss those days
Hi Gene! That was my Dad’s shop in Rumford. I plugged in his name in Google just for kicks and it was awesome to hear him mentioned. I grew up in a fun environment and did not know the extent of what he sold back then. I remember he decked that barn out, had monitors up playing Artic Cat promotions and it was a busy place at times. The second floor was just packed with salvaged small engine parts.
Cindy
Hi Cindy, I remember spending qual time with your dad at his barn…I never got to go up to the attic, sounds great.
The Benelli 750-Sei was a Honda 500-Four with two cylinders added! The pistons will interchange if you should find one needing rebuild!
Love the vintage pre-water cooled dirt bikes from back when I was a kid. I remember all kinds of oddities out where we rode, especially in the desert, but this one escapes me. I remember the brand Rokon but never associated them with motocross.
I seem to remember a Husquavarna having an automatic transmission back in the seventies, it was long time ago and I could be completely wrong.
The Bombardier Can-Am made in quebec during that same timeframe was similarly equipped
Troy S–you are correct. Husky had a automatic in about 75-76-77. It was a 360 and a lot of fun to ride. I bought one from John Greenrose back then. It was almost as much fun meeting him as it was riding the bike. He lost a leg in 75 and the auto was just what he needed to keep right on chooglin. https://books.google.com/books?id=wvgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=john+greenrose+st+louisville&source=bl&ots=wqCQO0Rt6m&sig=ACfU3U3jJQe0-IyabP5irE7wfsiNvDTa2w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwip0LCj49bpAhXxmq0KHSD5ACEQ6AEwAXoECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=john%20greenrose%20st%20louisville&f=false
The Husky had sprag “clutches” on the three transmission shafts … also “freewheeling”.
I actually have a Rokon identical to that one in my barn. Mine is in perfect shape but has’t been started in about 10 years. I bought it new in 1976 and went from a “C” level enduro rider to a “B” level immediately. The bike was really under-rated. It was could beat any other dirt bike in it’s day in a drag race, you couldn’t stall it, and was easy to ride in the nasty stuff.
One weird thing about it, when you got on the gas the engine went to 3500 RPM (it max torque rpm) and just stayed there as the bike accelerated. Took some getting used to.
Do you still have it and are you interested in selling it
it the 4 of us on it and with care could go over the worst stuff, some times I would have the kids walk when I feared for their lives my wife held on to me like a tick. That bike pulled trailers with boat out of the lake and did many other chores around the camp in Northern Ontario finally brought it home to give it a rest with my other retired street bikes. I start in once in a while just to remember the fun.