Rokon Trail-Breaker
ROKON TRAIL-BREAKER
CYCLE WORLD IMPRESSION
This Beast Of Burden Doesn’t Smell Or Make Rude Noises, But It Will Carry You And Your Gear Anyplace.
How MANY of us have wanted to get away from the run-of-the-mill camping and trailing areas? Too often these places are crowded and full of tents, camp trailers, and scads of off-road machinery putting about the surrounding countryside. Rokon Inc., of Keene, N.H., has the answer to really getting away from it all.
It is not a machine for the enthusiast dirt rider. You can’t talk about its speed, for it is not very fast. You can’t even talk about its handling, because at 20 mph there is no handling consideration to speak of. In fact, the less you know about motorcycling, the more you’ll enjoy the Rokon Trail-Breaker.
Trail-Breaker is an appropriate name for this revolutionary vehicle. It is a mechanical mountain goat. Three-foothigh obstacles are child’s play; it will climb a 60-degree slope if traction is available. It tloats, and can ford twofoot-deep streams with ease. The TrailBreaker exerts only 1.5 lb. per square inch of contact pressure on the ground. This enables the vehicle to traverse snow, mud and marsh land without sinking and bogging down.
The feature that sets the TrailBreaker apart from all other off-road two-wheeled vehicles is the patented front and rear wheel drive arrangement. The front wheel pulls, while the rear pushes, enabling the rider to get over or around almost anything. The second most important feature is the large diameter, 7-in. wide, cleated tires. Inflated to a pressure of only five psi, they conform to the ground’s surface, and stabilize the vehicle over sharp objects.
The front-wheel drive is accomplished by a pair of right-angle-drive miter boxes. These are coupled by a chromemoly steel driveshaft which runs parallel with the frame. Sprockets on the miter box shafts drive each wheel by No. 40 single-row chain. The front miter box has a steel disc attached to the output shaft opposite the sprocket. A handoperated mechanical caliper grips this disc, and provides the stopping power for both wheels. Rustproof stainless steel chains are offered as a factory option, eliminating most of the maintenance required by normal chain.
The seating position is relatively low to the ground, but the narrow middle frame section results in an extremely high ground clearance. The footpegs are mounted to pivots on the frame cradle and retract on contact with an obstacle to provide optimum clearance.
Climbing ledges, walls, into pickup trucks, or over the top of Volkswagens is easy fare, even for the novice. Merely butt the front wheel to the wall, turn on the gas and, from a dead stop, the front wheel drive does the rest. Gigantic tire section and soft pressures make up for the rigid suspension.
Power is delivered quite well by a Chrysler West Bend two-cycle 8-bhp engine. A diaphragm Tillotson carburetor allows the 8.2-cubic-inch Single to run in almost any angle or altitude. An automatic clutch and a three-speed transmission with an 84:1 low, 49:1 second, and 30:1 high provides a speed range from .5 to 20 mph. The 6.70-15 implement tread tires are mounted on hollow aluminum wheels. These act as reservoirs to allow extra carrying space for fuel or water. With a curb weight of only 199 lb., the machine is easy to handle, and could possibly replace the pack mule because of the high price of hay. At a suggested list price of $695, f.o.b., Keene, N.H., it’s no wonder they are selling as fast as they come off the assembly line.
