Special off -road two-wheel-drive Rokon motorcycles are being used in the fight against ebola in West Africa. The Rokon Scout is made in Rochester, New York, and features two-wheel-drive, fat knobby tyres, high ground clearance and substantial cargo capacity, including a special rear cooler to protect blood samples. Rokon will send five of its rugged, go-anywhere motorcycles to Fondation Mérieux — an independent family foundation to serve worldwide public health — for use by incident management teams at US embassies in Monrovia, Liberia and Freetown, Sierra Leone. They will be used to transport blood samples from remote areas which usually can only be accessed by foot.
The Rokon features hollow wheels that can carry extra water and fuel. The big wheels and 8 × 12 × 25 inch tubeless tyres can handle the stickiest mud and the so est sand. When the wheels are empty the Rokon can also float over creek and river crossings. Rokon has three bikes in its line-up, the Scout, Ranger and Trail-Breaker. The Africa-bound Scout is powered by a Kohler, 208cc single-cylinder, fourstroke engine with 5kW and a threespeed semi-auto transmission.