Thursday 8 March 2012

Featured Bike - Suzuki RE5


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.  


2 comments:

  1. As the owner of the above RE5M you may find this link interesting
    http://www.angelfire.com/retro/roadster/index-9.html

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  2. 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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