A 125 Wombat
came out
followed by
Combat Wombat,
Dirt Squirt, Road
Toad, Super
Combat and the
final model, the
250 Thunderdog
was built to last, with thicker frame
tubes than was common then, and
fork legs that wouldn’t look out of
place today but were twice the
diameter of anything around at the
time.
Built to a high standard that made it
just too expensive, and
unintentionally better suited for a
type of riding that was yet to become
common, the Yankee 500 never
caught on.HAGGLUND
Husqvarna’s famous 390 Automatic
was built to win a contract with the
Swedish Army, which demanded an
auto ’box to suit non-riders. Husky
didn’t get the job but Hagglund, a
company that built buses and
armoured vehicles, did.
Even today the Hagglund looks a bit
futuristic but it had some good ideas
that wouldn’t be out of place in the
present market. The auto was a CVT
type but with shaft drive inside the
single-sided swingarm. The front
suspension was a single-sided,
leading-link arrangement and both
wheels were composite mags.
The pressed and welded steel frame
was hollow and used to hold fuel
with a clear plastic line running
down the right side of the frame as a
fuel gauge for the 15 litres of juice.
What looks like the fuel tank was a
padded toolbox.
The two-stroke Bombardier engine,
CVT and shaft drive was a complete
unit that mounted at three points and
could be changed by undoing a few
bolts. It was also designed to keep
running happily while laying on its
side, a feature no doubt useful to a
soldier under enemy fire. While
Hagglund got out of the bike business
fairly quickly, Husky covered its costs
by racing and selling automatic
enduros with some success.ROKON
An auto bike that never really caught
on was the American Rokon.
Available as a motocrosser and an
enduro bike, the Rokon was an eye
catcher due to its disc brakes and on
one model, mag wheels.
The Sachs motor was sourced from
a snowmobile, complete with CVT
transmission. A simple enough
system but not too good when water
got into it.Hagglund struggled to meet production targets for
the Swedish military order and Husky took overThe Yankee frame and
fork were rock solid