Hunting

2017 ROKON Mototractor

Taking you ANYWHERE you need to go (no, seriously…pretty much anywhere)

Tom Blais, owner of ROKON since 1988, proudly sitting on one of his vintage-yellow-colored Trailbreaker models outside of the ROKON manufacturing plant in Rochester, NH—right down the road from On Target’s headquarters.

Tom Blais, owner of ROKON, likes to joke that “we’re the oldest motorcycle manufacturer in the U.S. that nobody knows about.” Designed in 1958 and in production since 1960, one might think the name recognition of ROKON would be right up there with the likes of other high-profile motorcycle and ATV manufacturers within the hunting, outdoors and offroad communities. Truth be told, however, the ROKON is in a niche market. Part ATV and part dirtbike, the 2-wheel-drive ROKON has a very distinct purpose in life—to access areas of remote, rugged terrain that are otherwise inaccessible to any other motorized vehicle short of a helicopter. While not as fast and not as cushy as a modern 4×4 ATV, where the trail ends for other offroad vehicles, the adventure is just starting to get interesting on a ROKON.

2—The newer Mototractor model encompasses all of ROKON’s latest advancements, and was added to the lineup as a more work-oriented model. With the olive-drab-green finish that allows the bike to blend into it’s natural deep-woods habitat, and the gigantic rear rack for hauling gear, the Mototractor is well suited to hunting excursions and backcountry exploration.
3—The Mototractor model gets an extended version of ROKON’s cargo rack. With the sizeable footprint of 24×33 inches, and a total of 10 tie-down loops around its perimeter, sufficient cargo space and adequate means of securing gear were never a problem.

As the subtitle states, there aren’t many places on God’s green earth that a ROKON will have trouble negotiating, with hot lava and sheer cliff’s being a couple of the very few exceptions. Through a standard drive-chain in the rear, and a driveshaft/miter box/drive-chain combination sending power to the front, the ROKON is a true, full-time 2-wheel-drive motorcycle, affording it the traction to go where other two-wheeled-vehicles simply cannot.

Unique to the Mototractor model is this front-to-rear adjustable, spring-suspended Retro Seat, which did a great job at taking the shock factor out of sharp impacts. The fuel tank is steel (previous models were plastic) and holds 2.69 gallons.

These bikes are quiet running, and due to their minimal ground pressure, leave very little in the way tracked evidence behind—both big attributes to hunters. For beyond normal levels of rugged terrain, one of the most endearing qualities of the lightweight, 2-wheeled mountain-goat of a motorcycle that is the ROKON, is that when the going gets obscenely difficult (i.e.: near vertical), you can simply dismount and walk beside it. Dump a ROKON on its side and you may have some scratched paint, whereas if you roll an 800-pound 4×4 ATV down a hillside you’ll likely be walking out of the woods; that is, if it didn’t roll over onto you.