The RE5 was one of the few bikes powered by a Wankel rotary
engine. I snapped this one at the Stafford show last October. The bike is dominated
by the massive lump of the engine. The rotary motor is simple in concept but
complex in practice. The instruments are housed in a cylindrical unit with a
cover that opens with the ignition key. The exhaust system has some unusual
cooling features. A finned casting on the engine and intakes that funnel air
into a twin skinned exhaust.
The
bike was only on sale from 1974-76 and wasn't a success because it didn't offer
any advantages over the 750cc bikes it was up against.
As the owner of the above RE5M you may find this link interesting
ReplyDeletehttp://www.angelfire.com/retro/roadster/index-9.html
Good to hear from you. What a great bike and what a restoration. "Back in the day" I had a much more humble Suzuki - a GT500.
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