Rokon Trail Breaker

Rokon Trail-Breaker, the only two-wheel-drive off-road motorcycle. The only shock-absorption system of this motorcycle are its baloon tyres. It’s got hollow aluminum wheels, each of which holds 4.5 gallons of liquid ballast or fuel. Conversely, with the wheels empty, the bike can be pitched into a body of water and will float. First version of Rokon Trail-Breaker was fitted with Chrysler 134cc engine for motorboats, which had to be started with a pull cord. Later two-stroke 340cc Sachs was introduced together with automatic transmission. Recently Honda or Kohler engines are used. Trail-Breakers are slow-speed motorcycles designed for use in the most rugged terrain. Some are capable of 35mph or more, but typical top speed is about 20 mph. However, going up very steep hills the bike may only travel at 0.5 mph.

The history of the Trail-Breaker two-wheel-drive motorcycle started in 1958, when Charles Fehn of San Bernardino, California began work on his invention, a "Motorcycle for slow cross-country travel over obstructions and in mountainous regions, and over snow and soft ground". Early on J. B. Nethercutt, owner of Merle Norman Cosmetics, became interested in these unusual motorcycles. He established Nethercutt Industrial Corporation and started production in Sylmar, California. His Trail-Breakers were fitted with a variety of engines including models by Maico, JLO and a West Bend 82001 go-cart engine. The most successful of Nethercutt Trail-Breaker distributors was an enthusiastic salesman in Vermont named Orla Larsen. His company, Rokon, was established in 1963. Before long Nethercutt lost interest in the bikes and the entire works were sold to Orla Larsen in January 1964. Nethercutt Trail-Breakers continued to be sold from their California headquarters for the remainder of 1964 prior to Rokon relocating production equipment to Vermont in 1965. Rokon used 1965 as a year of reorganization and refining. Changes to the Trail-Breaker came quickly. One of them was replacing the unreliable fluid drive coupling with a centrifugal clutch. To ensure every part of the Rokon was up to the hardest use, Orla hired a team of motorcycle testers, high school students. They were paid $2 an hour to ride loaded Trail-Breakers up and down Vermont's Mount Snow until something broke. Then refinements were made to the bike. Rokon began production of Trail-Breakers in 1966. Later in the same year another significant change was made: the drum brake which was built into the front wheel was replaced with a mechanical disc brake. Trailbreaker was the first motorcycle equipped with one. In 1967 the annual production was 150 units and sales were constantly increasing. Rokon was in need of a larger production facility and in January 1969 company was relocated to 160 Emerald Street, Keene, New Hampshire, where they continue in business today. Current Rokon models are: Trail-Breaker (below), Ranger and Scout.