1. Husqvarna Motorcycles Made In Sweden - About 1988 and older

Rokon versus Husqvarna automatic

Discussion in 'Vintage/Left Kickers' started by Michel Dufayard, Oct 15, 2014.

  1. wrx Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Location:
    845 newyork
    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    1973 to 1986 husky's various models
    Other Motorcycles:
    RM -250 / Buell / Penton 400 mc5
    the guys riding in that video is Mike Murphy and he is from the northeast. he does Al Snoops ride every year @ Ed's place in Warwick NY. he goes like hell on that thing . they still make the trail breaker,but no RT anymore.
  2. Kartwheel68 Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Location:
    Newnan, Georgia
    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    82 125XC, 250XC, 430XC, 430WR, 250CR
    Other Motorcycles:
    83 175WR , 76 250WR, 74 250 Mag
    Mike is a very good friend of mine, he lives in Virginia now. He was a Rokon factory rider and the RT-2 he rides now is his old factory bike, it has some pretty special pieces in the clutch. The last few years he has bought out some very large inventories of parts for Rokon.
  3. visiteur1948 Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Location:
    france Europe
    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    husqvarna only
    mR7gpdVJX6i-XJZx74Xa-cQ.jpg
    for sale eBay usa
    $(KGrHqZHJDoFCjyicZ-)BQvf5t8EWw~~60_12.jpg
    justintendo likes this.
  4. visiteur1948 Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Location:
    france Europe
    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    husqvarna only
  5. Michel Dufayard Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Location:
    France
    I am sometimes asking why is there no more factory
    who is producing an automatic bike for enduro or for trail.
  6. visiteur1948 Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Location:
    france Europe
    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    husqvarna only
    $_57.jpg

    for sale usa Maine Naples
    $ us 900
    Husky cr, Centerline and Tinken like this.
  7. visiteur1948 Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Location:
    france Europe
    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    husqvarna only
  8. Skoalman Husqvarna
    AA Class

    Location:
    maryland
    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    82 & 83 HUS 430WR
    Other Motorcycles:
    Maico, Penton, KTM, DKW, Rokon, BUL
    Here's a pic of my 74 Rokon that Mike Murphy built for me. Took a little while to adjust to it, but once I figured it out, I now question myself about why I waited so long to own one. Love this bike!
    [IMG]
  9. visiteur1948 Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Location:
    france Europe
    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    husqvarna only
  10. visiteur1948 Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Location:
    france Europe
    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    husqvarna only
    DCP_1246.jpg
    isdt replica 975
    New$20Rokon$20004$5B1$5D.jpg
    mb454.jpg
  11. visiteur1948 Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Location:
    france Europe
    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    husqvarna only
  12. Michel Dufayard Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Location:
    France
    Ah! Skoalman, the name I was searching for two days !!!
    I remember you have a Rokon but didn't remember your name.
    Can you tell more about your ROKON ?
    Have you ride an Husky auto ?
    What difference with ROKON ?
    Is there a little motor brake when you cut the gas ?
    Nice and clean bike. Can you tell me how much you paid it ?
    Thanks
    Michel
  13. Bigbill Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    '83 250wr
    Other Motorcycles:
    0 right now
    I never knew that rokon made a dirt bike. I've only seen there 2x2 drive sportsman model. Sometimes being different than the norm even though it's a great idea, even if it works can take many years to be accepted by the public. The first belt driven quads were like that. Now there awesome like the pockets on our pants. All my buddies frowned upon my Polaris quad but in the tight uneven woods is where the belt drive shines. I had one thumb on the throttle while the others were fanning there clutches and wicking the throttle.

    The variable belt setup is being first used in the auto industry by Subaru. I have one and it's unbelievable. No shifting. My first experience with the snow mobile belt setup was with a '98 Polaris 400L sportsman 4x4 quad. Off road i feel it's unmatched. There's no shifting, no pre thinking about what gear to be in when that hill or rough area is coming up.

    I had three husqvarna autos but was asked if I would sell them to a man who had one leg who wanted to ride. I did make the man's wishes to ride again come true. I feel I enjoyed riding so much and been so fortunate in my life it was time to give back. I always helped the neighborhood kids in keeping there rides running too.
  14. Bigbill Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    '83 250wr
    Other Motorcycles:
    0 right now
    I often wonder why husqvarna never tried the auto spring shoe operated clutch with a standard 6 speed tranny. Honda did it on there trikes and quads.
  15. Rowan Husqvarna
    AA Class

    Location:
    Christchurch New Zealand
    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    87 430 auto
    The Husky auto was originally developed for the Swedish military - It had to be rideable by soldiers wearing full winter clothing - hence no gear lever or clutch to fumble with. Later it was released onto the civilian market and slowly developed from there.
    I can not comment on why the factory never released a 'combo' trans model - maybe they felt it defeated the purpose of an auto.
    I suspect that the Rokon and Husky autos had enough flaws (however minor) to put people off autos in general and so maybe factories are not interested. Who knows how the Husky autos would have developed after 1988 but they were stopped when Husky was sold to Cagiva. I think that many riders today would not be interested in pulling out a transmission and regrooving brass clutch shoes every 10-15 hours of riding.

    Rising an auto is definitely for us enthusiasts but it is great fun - just learn to accept some things as a fact of life, adjust your riding style (hard on the gas or hard on the brakes) and hang on for the fun.

    The Rokon system is used in modern car CVT transmissions - I have been told not to touch them as they are not fully developed and are very expensive to repair.
  16. Bigbill Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    '83 250wr
    Other Motorcycles:
    0 right now
    Subaru first tried the cvt tranny a few years ago but it needed more development. My 2010 Subaru legacy has the cvt and it's hitting 70k miles flawless operation. My buddy is a factory trained Subaru tech and the feed back is they now have it right. When I get in my jeep and feel the tranny shifting I think something's wrong with it. The Subaru cvt is so smooth. I'm ready to get another one.

    Here I been told the automatic tranny in the husqvarna would hold up for the aggressive rider.
    But for the slow rider with the slow and fast with the tranny up shifting and down shifting constantly it would hammer itself apart. We had a factory rider who raced it here who had no problems with the auto tranny. Yet a beginner rider would have problems.
  17. Michel Dufayard Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Location:
    France
  18. Bigbill Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    '83 250wr
    Other Motorcycles:
    0 right now
    Nice, she's alive !!! Now we need a riding video?

    I need to quarantine that bike it gave you the husqvarna fever....
  19. Kartwheel68 Husqvarna
    Pro Class

    Location:
    Newnan, Georgia
    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    82 125XC, 250XC, 430XC, 430WR, 250CR
    Other Motorcycles:
    83 175WR , 76 250WR, 74 250 Mag
    Volvo was the first major car company to use a CVT transmission in the 1975 340, Subaru, Ford and Fiat all introduced their first cars with CVT in 1987.

    The Rokon had some significant advantages and it performed well in the US and at the ISDT, but one thing that could not be avoided was it was very heavy.
  20. justintendo klotz super techniplate junkie

    Location:
    mercer, pa/northwest pa
    Husqvarna Motorcycle:
    84 250,86 400,87 430,88 250,95 360
    Other Motorcycles:
    99 kawasaki zrx 1100
    and probably did not like getting its belt wet AT ALL. much like polaris and many utility atv