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FReeper Motorcycle Hooligan |
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FReeper Motorcycle Hooligan |
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NO!
<|:-)~~
A number of changes were made to the mount in an attempt to deal with the aforementioned shortcomings. As a collectable, I would think the '75 model would be worth more.
Joe, I wouldn't mind taking one for a spin; looks like it might be fun! If I were a rich man, I'd have one of these in my stable right next to a Suzuki "Water Buffalo". ;0)
Afraid so. The dealer who was my helpful source of Jawa and CZ bits from around '69-'72 sold out to a local farm implement shop who also picked up the Suzuki brand and in either '74 or -75 got one of the RE-5 rotaries in. He had a devil of a time unloading the ones he got, three total I believe, and the demonstrator was the last to go, hanging around his shop until the Bicentenniel. He really armtwisted me into taking the thing, even to the extent of letting me wring it out on a weekend run to the Illinois State Fair at Springfield. Happily, he got a used BSA in on a trade, and I got stuck with that instead of the rotary; I wasn't real impressed with the thing.
The riding/buying public is a lot more tolerant of watercooled bikes [Hey, that thing has a radiator on it...] now, though that was far from the only blemish that kept it from being thought of as a thing of beauty. They handled like a pig, the brakes were about as bad as anything available back then [I'd had Triumphs and Jawas previously and was spoiled; the Triumphs were at least improved over the years and the stoppers on the Jawas were meant to be able to handle a sidecar rig] and my riding buddy at the time had a 500cc Marusho BMW copy that out-accelerated the Suzy-Q.
The Wankel-engined Norton was the Norton F1 P55 and P55B. It's sort of unfair to compare a early-1990s bike with a early-70s pioneer, but the Norton is a much better developed proposition, as well as being a good deal easier to look at. Didn't the East German MuZ firm also have a rotary engine option for one of their offerings a few years back?
Suzuki RE-5 1975-77
The RE-5 was powered by a 498 cc single rotor water cooled engine. It was first shown in 1973 at the Tokyo show. The first model year was 1975 and it was produced for three model years. The instrument panel and tail light were contained in cylindrical shapes to play on the rotary theme. Sometimes the company represented the engine as 1000cc because some regulatory bodies de-rate the engine by doubling the chamber capacity.
The engine was tested for 100 days non-stop on a dynamometer at the Hamamatsu factory. It was also ridden in snow in Alaska and desert heat in Death Valley. It did not lose much power at altitude. Some users experienced some reliability problems with the engine, though.
Suzuki RE-5 Engine
Capacity 1 x 498 cc
Horsepower 62 bhp at 6,500 rpm (48 bhp net at 6500 rpm)
Torque 55 lb-ft at 3,500 rpm (45 lb-ft at 3500 net)
Brakes front disk, rear drum
Weight 507 lb dry, 552 lb fueled oiled and watered.
Fuel Tank 4.5 gallons US (3.7 gallon Imperial)
Fuel consumption 31-33 mpg ("your mileage my vary")
Top Speed 110 mph
Quarter Mile 13.9 sec, 93 mph
Suzuki RE-5:
