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Suzuki Rotary RE-5 Part 1 of 2

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Motorcylce RE-5 RE5 Rotary Suzuki Wankel
emissaryx
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  • Added: 07-Apr-06

Suzuki presented its first, and only, rotary engine powered motorcycle at the Tokyo Show in late 1973. The RE5, as the model was called, was Suzuki's technical flagship at the time and a fine motorcycle. The engine, originated from NSU in Germany, was smooth, quiet, powerful and had hardly any vibrations, thanks to its construction with no parts moving back-and-forth like the usual Otto engine.

The rotary, or Wankel, engine has a number of benefits over standard engines including a lack of camshafts, intake and exhaust valves, and a reduced number of moving parts. Many manufacturers experimented with the engine type and some prototypes were presented in the early 70's but Suzuki was the only motorcycle manufacturer that used the rotary engine on a mass produced bike.

Suzuki presented the engine sometimes as 1000cc, because some regulatory bodies de-rate the engine by doubling the chamber capacity. The actual cylinder capacity was 497 cc.

The design of the RE5 was not as revolutionary as its engine. The instrument panel and tail light were contained in cylindrical shapes to play on the rotary theme, otherwise the bike looked a lot like the company's two-stroke flagship GT750. Also included was a special heat shield since the rotary engine design tended to make exhaust pipes hot enough to burn riders' legs.

What happened? The customers did find the RE5 interesting, but not many but not many of them actually bought the model. Perhaps it was the new technology that scared off the customs, perhaps it was the heavy fuel consumption that made it. However, Suzuki had invested enormous sums of money to the project and had built an entire new assembly line for the rotary engines but the machines wouldn't sell.

The cylindrical instrument panel and tail light were replaced by standard type items in 1976, in order to make the bike look more "normal" but it didn't help much. The model, and the whole rotary engine project, was buried in 1977.

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Comments on

Suzuki Rotary RE-5 Part 1 of 2

25 Comments | Add Comment
  • nope.. NSU used it ...

    nope..

    NSU used it in the ro80 in a production car.
    NSU = Auto Union = Audi btw

    By blokjekaas [Affiliate User] 1191754036 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • soo suzuki created ...

    soo suzuki created rotary!!!! i knew they wer the best mazda is just gaaay

    By evets433 [Affiliate User] 1191101669 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • wow, skinny tires

    wow, skinny tires

    By sonic42797 [Affiliate User] 1189803494 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • We need a real ...

    We need a real GSX-R otary

    By manymerce [Affiliate User] 1188999010 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • suzuki where is ...

    suzuki where is thechnology now , F**k you suzuki !

    By mptrax [Affiliate User] 1188971556 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • I want Suzuki ...

    I want Suzuki Rotary!!!

    By angelb650650 [Affiliate User] 1186824526 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Great classic ...

    Great classic footage. I know those dual smooth GT brake discs didn't like the wet ;-)

    By dlosterman [Affiliate User] 1186670228 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Un document ...

    Un document exceptionnel. A voir absolument.
    MERCI

    By basa8599 [Affiliate User] 1185981327 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • I rode the original ...

    I rode the original model back in the mid 70s it was top heavy & the brakes did not work in the wet & the zorst sounded like a cross between a motor boat & a well controlled fart.

    By veevum [Affiliate User] 1185372169 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • I saw an RE5 at the ...

    I saw an RE5 at the Ace Cafe London a few months ago, had about 80,000 miles on the original un-rebuilt engine. Was a real blast from the past, from some angles it looks like the famous kettle GT750.

    By g0fvt [Affiliate User] 1184475547 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • The RE5 wasn't that ...

    The RE5 wasn't that unreliable, but it was ugly as heck. (I owned one BTW.) The original model looked like something Flash Gordon flew in on. Then they toned it down with normal gauges and lights but the engine was still ugly, just a big lump. Had a complicated two-stage carbruretor, an ugly radiator, oil in both crankcase and injectors, and a tendency to foul the single plug and. Not a bad bike really but still, it was the answer to a question nobody asked.

    By townhall05446 [Affiliate User] 1184397564 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • RB35??? LOL the RB ...

    RB35???
    LOL
    the RB series engine top of the stock is RB26DETT which is 2.6 i6 twin turbo
    the only bigger engines of RB series are
    2.8 RB26DETT Z2 (GTR Z-Tune)
    3.0 RB30DE (Tommykaira's R31 GTR M30)and RB30DET (which Nissan never made themselves, it's a RB30E with a twincam head and a turbocharger, popular hybrid of RB30E and RB26DETT in
    Australia)
    and the RBX-GT2, which was bored to 2.8 by Nismo and was specially made for Nissan Skyline GTR V-Spec Nismo 400 R

    By LFSvidMan [Affiliate User] 1182306005 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • and the reason it ...

    and the reason it didn't sell was because the engine was so unreliable, and hardly any mechanics could work on it. When bikes came in for warranty engine service, rather than repair the engine, Suzuki had to replace the entire engine.

    By hisarrow [Affiliate User] 1179843449 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Too bad the RE-5 ...

    Too bad the RE-5 was such a disaster. It almost bancrupted Suzuki.

    By hisarrow [Affiliate User] 1179843361 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • incredible that ...

    incredible that that this was 30 years ago, amazing quality of engineering. sounds fab

    By lumsdot [Affiliate User] 1178463679 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • lol- so the piston ...

    lol- so the piston motor is the same after 100 years of technical refinement? Shut up.

    By optionfan1 [Affiliate User] 1177855151 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • can you please ...

    can you please explain wat all different types of ports are

    By bernal125 [Affiliate User] 1177444471 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • anyone know wot a ...

    anyone know wot a bridgeport mazda re sounds like=fukin beautyfull,sounds better than any rb35,4aGE or wanky v8

    By sam2dope [Affiliate User] 1176934089 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • one of the guys at ...

    one of the guys at the local Suzuki shop has one of these.
    still rides it on good days

    By BikerTrashWolf [Affiliate User] 1176502696 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Dr Felix Wankel ...

    Dr Felix Wankel INVENTED the rotary engine

    By fatasdat [Affiliate User] 1176498152 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • what about R100's?? ...

    what about R100's?? They were before the rx2's

    By fatasdat [Affiliate User] 1176497807 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • a simply ...

    a simply fan-tas-tic document inside a japaneee industry

    By Thouveninpascal [Affiliate User] 1175996346 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • probably an mx-6

    probably an mx-6

    By Raid3n [Affiliate User] 1175887206 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • you are an idiot, ...

    you are an idiot, get your facts right, mazda never produced an rx6 so who knows what it is you own. in the rx series they made rx2's, 3's, 4's, 5's 7's and 8's.

    By rejectnz666 [Affiliate User] 1175564107 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • This wankel engine ...

    This wankel engine was invented early 50' for
    the German Felix Wankel.

    There's nothing new in this motor.

    By CealeX [Affiliate User] 1175272961 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
25 Comments | Add Comment