It's about time!

[Sasquatch Jim]

 Okay, these photo not only show off my new Rokon, but prove definitly once and for all that I am, like my avatar, a gimpy old man with an accordion.
Now about the bike. It is a Rokon Ranger. Not to be confused with the older rangers, this one has everything that the top of the line trailbreaker has.
Plus, it is street legal. The older Rangers did not have the leading link front end, but were absolutely rigid front and back. This one also has a shock absorber under the saddle
for less butt pain. It has a whopping 7 horsepower Kohler engine and a transmission with 3 gears to select from. In granny gear, and it is indeed a granny,
It probably won't stop for anything it won't fall out of. It can skid logs, pull a plow or harrow, probably tow a jeep. The book says granny tops at 10 mph
but I don't believe that, but then It's not broken in yet so I don't want to scream it at warp speeds in granny yet.
In top gear it is suposed to go 35 mph at 36 hundred rpm. I don't know that either, it doesn't have the license plate on it yet, and I don't want to contribute to the revenue
enhancement patrol.
Nuff of the blather, here are some photos, don't get in a hurry, I can only post them one at a time.
BTW the box in the hack in my accordion which I use as a WMD. That's weapon of music destruction.

[rboe]

I liked your posts better when you included cute local gals.. 

[lucian]

Nice. Would make a cool Uber mobile.

[Sasquatch Jim]

 The two pretty girls living with me took the photos but wouldn't get in front of the camera.

 But Okay, here is one of them.  The other is really cute.

[Triple Jim]

It looks great, Jim.  Have fun breaking it in, and keep the reports coming!

[canuguzzi]

Maybe you and LucyDad can post a together shot, you as is, the spandex seal suit for him.

Could be the start of a WG calendar.

[LowRyter]

very nice.

the bike too,

[oldbike54]

 Jim go VROOM VROOM ! Well , maybe putt putt . "Momma's got a squeeze box"

  Dusty

[tris]

It doesn't have the achingly good looks of a MV Augusta F4 or a Ducati 748 but I find myself strangely drawn to it. Moving on to the Ranger now ......   

Bikes with sidecars always intrigue me - I'm sure one will end up in the garage at some time

[Muzz]

Looking forward to the "ride reports" SJ.

[kingoffleece]

The MGNOC rep rode a similar bike cross country last year as a fundraiser.  He's from NH.

[swordds]

Does it float, can it cross lakes and ponds?

[Groover]

Love it, never seen nor heard of one before. It's the ultimate grocery getter and you can even go get mulch and lumber with that thing, which makes it the perfect summer home projects' machine!

[lucydad]

Sas-Jim,

Man, now, that is a hell of a rig.  The ticket is for you to ride the Rok thru the Mauna Kea security gates, do some sand wheelies, park on the beach, pull out your squeeze box and flail a few tunes for the tourists sipping their Mai Tais?   Or serenade the breakfast guests on the veranda, and the two parrots would sing along in harmony?  Maybe the accordion would help lure the Manta Rays in at night?

Damn, you got it happening there on the Big Island.  Jealous.  Superb.

[donn]

I suppose you know how hard it would be to replace that accordion, if the reeds started rusting.

[Guzzistajohn]

Cool rig Jim, Keep those photos coming!

How about a video of you playing Aloha oi on the accordion?

[Sasquatch Jim]

  What! You want me to make Liliokalani roll over in her grave?

 What made the difference between wanting one and writing the check was when I finally got confirmation that Hawaii would let me license it.
The sidecar disconnects with one screw. It re connects with much profanity.
It has caused me to waste a lot of profanity. When I first put it together, the difficulty was a misalignment of the upper rear mount screw and the holes it had to go through.
This made it a somewhat spring loaded affair. Not easy for someone who has minimal use of legs. But I got and studied the destruction book that came with it.
I carefully set the fuel petcocks, yes there are two of them. Set the choke, (it's carburated), advanced the throttle the way the destructions said, and turned on the key.
Then as the book recommended, I pulled the cord, several times before it caught and ran. I fiddled with the shifter and set it in what the arrow on the side indicated was low gear.
I rode it around the yard a few minutes then loaded on a 135 pound girl. Around the yard and out front to where my lawn had a 4 foot high berm at about a 35 degree angle.
It would not climb the little bump. Clutch just slipped but no climb. I backed up, by gravity, turned around and took a run at it. It barely had enough poop to clear the top.
I was disgusted with how wimpy it was. I put it in the garage. Next day I went out and turned on the key and checked all the lights and turn signals and horn.
All was in order. Then I opened the fuel as before and pulled the cord, many times, no start. Changing choke settings and pulling the cord until I figured I had enough exercise.
Not even an encouraging pop. I tried the electric start, It spun over fast but no start. I pulled the cord some more. nothing. I went into the house and got on my computer
and sent Rokon a nastygram, a very nastygram. Monday morning I got a phone call from Rokon, it was their tech expert. After we spoke a while he realized that I knew about fuel valves and chokes so he asked me if the lights were turned on. I asked why, as all modern motorcycles are required to have the lights on when they are running. I took the phone into the garage and looked at the switch on the handlebar. It was a three position switch labled H,P, and a white dot. I told him it was on the dot. He explained that was why it wouldn't start.
I moved the light switch to P and pulled the cord. The engine fired right up. I asked why the three position switch. All other modern bikes only have a two position switch.
He explained that since very few Rokons were street legal the switch was so that an off road machine could turn off the light when out on trails. The street legal ones to comply with the law, had been wired so that when you turned off the headlight, it also killed the engine. This was the first time I had ever heard of such a thing. But now that I know about it the engine starts
with one or two pulls of the cord.
I also asked about the wimpness of the engine. He asked what gear had I been in. I told him that according to the labeling on the side, I was in 1st gear by pushing the knob all the way in.
He told me that was top gear. All the way out was 1st gear. I thanked him and hung up. I went outside and started the engine. I pulled the shifter knob all the way out. OMG what a difference! Granny gear really was a granny. I revved the engine about half throttle and was only going about an old mans' walking speed. Now I understood the video I had seen of one of these skidding logs. I got out my ramps and loaded it into my truck. It easily fits into my Nissan Frontier, a small to midsize p/u. Tuesday I will take it to get the popes blessing so that I can get a license plate.

 

[Groover]

It would be a fun pic in you could stack the truck inside a bigger red truck then and then another smaller red thing (red rider wagon?) inside the rokon 

[Shorty]

That set up rules.  Would be a blast to run it down the rutted road to the private beach. Congrats.

[Muzz]

A very entertaining first ride report Jim.

[cruzziguzzi]

I should imagine the pull start will get kinda old eventually.

We, that is to say - our greater family, had one back in the day. It ended up at Grandpa's lake house. He'd use it to pull his boat out, pull the dock in the early winter and even pulled his ice house about from time to time.

For him, age and long spells between using it created problems in starting it. Since the exceptional ground clearance on these was not necessarily a capitalized upon asset for him - here's what we did.

On the right side we removed the pull-recoil and added the starter-generator pulley from - I believe it was a Cub Cadet - riding mower. The Start-gen was mounted below the frame and I recall to the rear somewhat. A respectable battery was built into a box on the left side and after fiddling with brackets for adjusting belt tension, it were done. The belt had a simple tin cover for the right leg and I don't recall having to modify the right foot rest at all.

The start-gen pulley had an accommodation to allow one to wrap a starter rope around it to have a back-up pull start as well.

In the end - it presented as a decent 12 volt generator for his ice fishing and a hell of an alternative for the myriad opportunities to jump start somethin's around the homestead.

If I can find any photos - I'll send them along directly.

Todd.

[lucydad]

Jim,

Now wasn't that fun?  A three position switch?  Gosh, that is engineering.  Glad you are figuring out your new toy.  Can't wait for a GoPro video rounding down one of the big curves, on the Big Island...maybe the road down into Hilo from Volcano?  Dang, you are gonna have some fun with that rig!  Maybe you can get into the Tiki carving business:  go deep into the forest, select a prime piece of virgin protected tree, chop, and drag and carve and sell on the side of the road to the tourists?  Man, I am jealous.  Red is the color too.  Can't beat it.

Lono rules...

[Sasquatch Jim]

 Right now I am considering going postal on Hawaiis beyond STUPID DMV. 
 Sorry, we can't inspect it in the truck.  It has to be on the floor.  Do you intend to ride it?  No but it has to be on the floor to be inspected.  So we all risked hernias to put it on the floor.  Check headlight, turn signals, brake lights, and horn.
 Physical inspection over.  I am issuing you a failed inspection because you don't have a license plate.  But I can't get a plate without the inspection.  That's true.  Just show then this paper and get the plate then come back here for the sticker.
 Okay lets load the machine up. No leave it here and go to the license bureau, get the plate and then come back.  Why? Can't you put the sticker on the bike in the back of the truck?  No, it has to be on the floor when I do that.  I leave the bike with them and make the 70 mile round trip to the licensing bureau finding out when I get there I don't have the right papers.
 I brought them EVERYTHING that came with the bike.  They want me to get a notarized copy of the bill of sale.
  It has to be notarized at the Rokon source.  I drive back and pick up the bike without the inspection sticker.   I can't do anything until tomorrow because of the time differences between New Hampshire and Hawaii.
  110 miles of round trip with absolutely nothing to show for it except a 20 dollar receipt from the inspection station that failed me for no plate. I am getting perilously close to homicidal rage.