Paul,
Have you seen this video of the Suzuki RE-5?  Especially interesting is
the peripheral port and the things they do with the exhaust pipe.  Does
anyone know what was used to coat the rotor housing?  The narrator spoke
of the ease of servicing.  Can anyone who owned one of these bikes
comment on that aspect?  Could we find any photos of a teardown?  Dealer
service training info?  Perhaps some knowledge gained can be used for
aircraft engines.  What caused the demise of this bike?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkPeB1rAagU&feature=related


Jim Brewer


That is cool. Here are some pictures I have.

I have no idea why they stopped building it.

The engine gets uncomfortably hot, like the Norton Commander.  They
ended up putting a shield around the pipes and ducting cool air through it.

The real killer, though, was the lack of parts compatibility with the
rest of the Suzis, and the need for advanced training for the mechanics,
meaning higher expenses for the dealers.  Not many were willing to pay
tens of thousand dollars in spare parts and training to carry a motor
which didn't have much of a demand.

I consider this a mistake.  The Suzuki has always been an also-ran, a
good B-tier motor trying to break into the A-tier occupied by Honda,
Kawasaki and Yamaha.  This could have done it for them, if they had
given it the support -- nobody else had anything to compete against it.
 If they had been really smart, they would have moved strongly into the
rotary and pushed the reciprosaurs to the back of the shop.

When they closed down production, one dealer in SoCal bought every one
he could get his hands on, and still had some on the floor a couple of
years later.

Keith W


The engine was modestly tuned for a p-port. It had potential of well
over 100 HP at 10,000 RPM. No problems with charge cooling as it had
an oil cooled rotor just like the Mazda. Might be fun to buy one
and soup it up. I see there is one on Ebay you could buy outright
for $2500.

Paul Lamar

Keith,
There are many bike racers who like the Suzuki. I just recently purchased an
1800cc Sports Cruiser Twin and got a lot of bike for the money , and yes! I
would have been happier if it had been a Rotary. It's a sad thing about the
Rotaries development - from all quarters.
George ( down under)


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