rolloflex gt 340

If you liked to go quickly in a straight line and enjoyed ticking off the owners of 400s and 440s, the Roll-O-Flex GT 340 was your ride. Like Sno-Jet, Roll-O-Flex relied on Yamaha engines to power its two base models, the Apache and GT series. At the time, the "S" series Yamaha motors, like the one found in the GT 340, were quite above average in performance.

In the '74 model year, Roll-O-Flex' GT came in a choice of Yamaha power that ranged from the 292cc single up to the 433cc twin. The more radical competition-oriented Wild One featured Kohler power.
The 338cc twin cylinder in the GT 340 was Yamaha's more powerful version. The "plain-Jane" Apache 340 utilized the more modest 340 that kicked out 25 horsepower at 5,500 revs. By comparison, the GT 340 engine developed about nine more horsepower at 1,000 more revolutions per minute. It was quite enough in a sled that weighed 455 pounds with 6.5 gallons of fuel.

As one of the test riders for a leading snowmobile magazine back then, I recall that the GT 340's Yamaha power plant was fast enough to best all 400cc sleds tested at a springtime shootout in upper Michigan. Heck, it even bettered the performance of some 440s. There was a little problem, though. While the Roll-O-Flex was great accelerating in a straight-line, its relatively high center of gravity and narrow body made handling an adventure in the turns.
 
Roll-O-Flex, based in Regina, Saskatchewan, was only on the scene a very short time. It was founded in 1970 and gone by the middle of the decade. In 1972 the company was able to get Yamaha motors. In fact, the entire Apache and GT series used Japanese-manufactured drive systems: engines, clutches and torque converters. Carbs were diaphragm-type Keihin models. The GT 340's exhaust was ACS tuners, common for the day.

In addition to the strength of the Yamaha power, Roll-O-Flex designers were wise in the braking department. A caliper/disc was mounted on the torque converter's fixed half. The design was a plus for the slab-sided sled, securing the "whoa" with the same authority that Yamaha power made it "go!"
 
The rear suspension was actually quite comfortable. Similar in concept to Scorpion's Para-Rail design, Roll-O-Flex's "Superflexion" suspension used rubber wheels mounted on a parallel rail to provide free rolling action with the stability of a rail.

But, overall, the sled was an uncomfortable beast with high-riser, ape-hanger handlebars, minimal legroom and crushable foam seat materials that seemingly fell onto the aluminum chassis at every mogul. But, what really made the GT 340 unsettling was its narrow 25.8-inch ski stance combined with a 40-inch height.

Had Roll-O-Flex made it out of the 1970s, it most likely would have produced future GT models with the handsome look of its race-inspired Wild One, which featured rounded styling and a macho sunburst Kohler free-air twin poking out of the hood.

The 1974 Roll-O-Flex GT 340 sold in the US for $1,295.00 ($4,710.00 in 2002 dollars). That same season, for a couple hundred bucks more you could have a Rupp Nitro II with 55 horse-power motor in a 407-pound fully fueled chassis!