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2wd Motorbikes

Submitted: Tuesday, Jun 01, 2004 at 21:21

Slammin

I thought this may interest a few people here as I know they're riders.

Loks like the next revolution is here and everyone wants a piece of the pie, Aprillia Yamaha, KTM I think the list will only grow especially as the additional hardware gets smaller and more usable.

http://www.mcnews.com.au/NewBikeCatalogue/2004/KTM/2wd/interview.htm
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ThreadID: 13373 Replies: 3
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AnswerID: 61269   Submitted: Tuesday, Jun 01, 2004 at 21:47

Peter 2 replied:

Nothing new really, do a search on ROKON, they've been making 2wd motorbikes for over 40 years.
There are a few in Australia and they are used by armed forces in quite a few countries.

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Peter
1988 M1026 Humvee
Member: My Profile
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FollowupID: 322811   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 02, 2004 at 07:53

Lone Wolf posted:

Ahhhhhh...........it's all coming back to me now!

Too much bourbon, too many drugs........ but you said the key word that woke me from my stupor...... ROKON.

I was trying to remember it myself, but you won.

Never really took of, did they. Bit like the Auto gearbox Husky 400s.

And, who remembers the lame comments from the writers of the long gone mags on dirt bikes......."this Honda 125 SL is equipped with electric start, which is always a godsend when you stall going up a steep hill......." WTF?

Ah...... the good old days.
FollowUp 1 of 4
FollowupID: 322839   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 02, 2004 at 17:45

Trevor posted:

The Rokon is designed to float.
Maybe some 4WD manufacturers could follow suit.

Trev
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FollowupID: 322843   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 02, 2004 at 19:10

Peter 2 posted:

There some Rokon's in Oz, there was one on Ebay a while back, went for more than I could afford.

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Peter
1988 M1026 Humvee
Member: My Profile
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FollowupID: 322895   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 02, 2004 at 22:45

Slammin posted:

Ahhhhhh.... that'd be ROKON of the infamous circular gear shift, shift up to 1st then up again to 2nd all the way up to 6th and you better be damn careful because if your ankle or toe snicks the lever up again you are presented with 11 million revs while trying not to go over the handlebars.

Trev, now if you could choose when to float and when to have drive that'd be technology!
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AnswerID: 61273   Submitted: Tuesday, Jun 01, 2004 at 21:57

Member - MightyQ replied:

G'day Slammin, yep it's a revolutionary world, KTM( and other manufacturors) are only just catching up. The first(pretty sure) was a Roxon(a European company) 2wd late 70's- early 80's(I'm sure someone will put me right), then there was an Australian(a victorian)who developed it further, it's now in a motorcycle museum in the UK.
Don't forget there were a number of 2wd Yamaha 450 in this years Paris-Dakar there has also been a number of them racing in international motocross events around the world
MightyQ
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FollowupID: 322896   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 02, 2004 at 22:47

Slammin posted:

Yeah the Paris Dakar model has gone and made a big stir.
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AnswerID: 61290   Submitted: Tuesday, Jun 01, 2004 at 23:50

Truckster (Vic) replied:

Mate of mine Warren Jack works for ADB, they did the testin out of his place on weekend for Media relase on these bikes...

He is the only dude to have had one for a weekend, him and Heffo had a 2 day ride..

He loves it, "AWESOME", he would have one tomorrow if it wasnt $25,000

Yes a Mudfairy is going to cost you $25,000 for the Yamaha WR450 2wd bike. More than double the Single drive WR450.

If thats the future of bikes, its not good, Kids 80cc are now around $3000, my first bike in 1980 was YZ80G $300 with helmet, boots, gloves and goggles.
Reply 3 of 3
FollowupID: 322806   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 02, 2004 at 01:29

Truckster (Vic) posted:

Heres an email from the dog braggin about it

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just thought I'd ask a quick question.............guess who's been riding
the new 2 wheel drive 450 Yamaha?

It really works well, very stable, holds a line in corners like it's glued
there, I'm now accepting all donations towards the "Buy Wazza a WR450 2-Trac" fund. Only 250 have been built and only 20 are coming to Australia so send me your donation yesterday.

You blokes just keep riding those old single drive dinosaurs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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FollowupID: 322903   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 02, 2004 at 22:59

Slammin posted:

I read about Heffo doing endo's and also carrying them for a bit of a distance as well with the front wheel drive.

It's funny how the Yamaha goes wherever you point it but the KTM wants to go wide. Shows how far there is still to go. I think the KTM gets more % of drive to the front?

There are lots of riders saying they wouldn't want to lose the feel of rear drive, sliding around trying to get traction. The other thing is, look at wthat bikes are selling - big bore high performance mounts that get more wheel spin than drive, have the front end waving up in the air more often than not and are also more likely to come 2nd on a tight twisty track when ridden by joe average.

As for the price...........

Drop the price and weight, put it on the GS 1200 or LC8 and that'd be the touring weapon of choice. I bet you it's at next years Paris Dakar.
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