History of the motorcycle by 1902, and would rise to 32,000, its best ever, in 1913. Indian produced over 20,000 bikes per year. The oldest surviving Russian-manufactured motorcycle, the Rossiya, dates from 1902. The American company Harley-Davidson started producing motorcycles in 1903. During this period, experimentation and innovation were driven by the popular new sport of motorcycle racing, with its powerful incentive to produce tough, fast, reliable machines. These enhancements quickly found their way to the public's machines. Chief August Vollmer of the Berkeley, California Police Department is credited with organizing the first official police motorcycle-patrol in the United States in 1911. By 1914,
Rokon (motorcycle manufacturer) Rokon (motorcycle manufacturer) Rokon is a Rochester, New Hampshire-based motorcycle manufacturer that builds two-wheel-drive off-road motorcycles which are marketed either under the company's name, or as the "Trail Breaker". Rokon was founded in Vermont by Orla Larsen in 1963 to sell the Nethercutt Trail-Breaker, a two-wheel-drive motorcycle invented around 1958 by Charlie Fehn and built in Sylmar, California. In 1964 Rokon Inc. bought the manufacturing rights to the Trail-Breaker and marketed the bikes from their Vermont office before moving the business to New Hampshire, where they continue in business today. Rokon motorcycles use a combination of belt, chain and shaft