Suzuki Rotary RE-5 Part 1 of 2

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.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Suzuki
• Rotary
• RE-5
• RE5
• Wankel
• Motorcylce

[S3NOLSAN]

Did anyone else notice the stig at the start? It goes to show The Stig does not age.

[ProfessorIgor]

you started the argument by calling a collective group of enthusiasts "gay ass motorheads" Now go back to your "constructive" video gaming.. someday maybe you'll change the world with all that you've learned playing gay-ass video games.

[MrZzr12]

Where are these bikes now, 99 % written off or rusted away sad really now that everyone is into the classics

[TheDane95]

How the fuck did the comments on a friggin old motorcycle turn into some ignorant fat ass american and some farmer boy estonian insulting eachother?!?!?!?!?!?!

[Ryoukun16]

@iggnasio umad, ignorant peasant fuck? Are you that fucking dumb in the head that you rape people? In the end, America is better than your peasant Eurasian country.

You. Kill. Game over.

[iggnasio]

@Ryoukun16 ou jeee yor fucking american go celebrate a fake Osama death stupid ignorant Suzuki Rotary RE-5 lover

[iggnasio]

@Ryoukun16 ou jeee yor fucking american go celebrate a fake Osama deth stupid ignorant Suzuki Rotary RE-5

[Ryoukun16]

@iggnasio And you can't even pull off a decent insult. Fuck off, "pedant Estonian fucktard."

[Ryoukun16]

@iggnasio: no need, I banged your mother lol

[iggnasio]

@Ryoukun16 Fuck off piece of shit. Go ask stupid questions from your mother.

[Ryoukun16]

@iggnasio Nice job of pulling a personal attack on someone who was just asking a question, idiot.