Suzuki RE5 Test Report - Japanese Classic - 1992

5/11/2018 Suzuki RE5 Test Report - Japanese Classic - 1992

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As a h istorica l sta tem en t, theam azing Suzuk i RE-5 has p len tyto say f o r itseli. So, w ith ou tfurther ado ...Tank God for. theRE-5. Here isthe bike that, according to Su-zuki, provided a "welcome tothe Rotary Age". Itsaid cheer-io to it, too, and remains the only Japnneserotary-engincd bike ever to see the light ofday here. Itis an undeniable oddball andcertainly one of the most interesting mo-tor bikes ever made. Thank God for theRE-5.

David Jupp owns around 20 Japanesebikes of varying vintage, some of themeven rarer than the RE-5. But nothingattracts curious onlookers - bikers or oth-

erwise - with the bees-to- honey regularityof'this machine. Often, they're drawn to itby the vulgar tear-gas canister of a rearlight cluster and then held there by themultitude of other delights the bike has tooffer.

Check out the flip-top instrument pan-el. Dig the metalflake finish on the paint-work -pure 1970s,How about those quaint,round indicators. Look at the size of thatradiator. And, hey - i sn't that a ... ?Yes, itis. Ithas a rotary engine, too.

Putting up with open-mouthed curios-ity (not tomention barely-concealed mirth)

Flipped lid: instrument console design, in keeping with the RE-S, is eccentric

at every stop is all part of the experience ofowning an RE-5. Or, should I say, it's allpart of one of t he experiences ofowning anHE-5. For a start, there aren't that manyof them around. During its short lifespanfollowing its introduction in 197.4 onlyaround 200 were-ever imported to the UKand Dave -Iupp reckons there are maybeonly around 25 good ones left - includinghis. Some have, however, recently beenshipped in from the USA, so that estimate


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-: . . : - , '~

eouid soon be.revised upwards ..The fanatical collector bought his '75-

vintage bike eight years ago, after beingtransfixed by the one.he saw in.the muse-um at Beaulieu. Even then, before priceshad started-to g Q through the roof, he hadto fork out 760 for amachine that was inawful condition...."It was prettyrusty 'when I got it;"recalls David. "Both front and. real' rimswere damaged and the forks were bent. It

certainly wasn't roadworthy, but at leastit was mote or less complete. The mud-guards were rusted right.through, but abrand new pair was included in the priceof the bike. .

"I got it going fairly quickly arid thentidied it up more as I went along;Iboughtbetter exhausts.for it after a while, as:wellas other bits and pieces."SUzuki started development work Dna

rotary-enginedmotor cycle'in 1970, hav-

ing obtained a licence to doso from rotaryinventors, NSUFiiVankel. And . they certainly can't be accused of not taking thproject seriously :Am'assive R&Dopera-tionwas conceived, includingthesetting-up of'a totally new production line devotedentirely to the RE-5. Virtually all the machinery on it had to be designed, developedan d bUilt from new..Why bother designing arctary-eriginedbike inthe first place? Well, Suzuki'sbof-


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SUZUKI -

s~i : ' ~ i ~ ~ : ~ , ~ ~ ~ g ~ ~ENGINE NSI : !J /Wanke l- t) lp e r o ta r y, s i ngl erotor, sln~le Gbamoe~< 4 97 c c ( 30 .3 c u .i n) ,Gompress ion ratio 9,4;~-,HHD~.8-32carburettor, CDI ignition, maximum power62hp ( SAE, K lE n @ 6! ' iO(i)rpm,m.axillll'.lffito rque 54.9 ft -1 0 f 'l .6 0 k g-m ) @ ' 3S0 0 r pr n

fins saw tremendous benefits to be gainedin atouring bike from the inherent smooth-ness of a rotary engine. Unlike a recipro-cating engine, which relies on the up-and-down motion of the pistcnis) to make thecrankshaft rotate, the rotor itself doesaway with all that by getting straight on"nth the business of rotating itself. And itis smooth.'

"You can feel the road shocks and occa-sionally the transmission, but you cannotfeel the engine at ail," confirms DavidJupp. "If you rev it up and put your handon the tank, you can't feel a thing. Themetal rear number plate is a case in point:it's original and still in one piece, while ona normal bike itwould have cracked with-inweeks.The smoothness doesn't lull youinto going faster than you want" though,because you're sitting up into the wind -and then there's always the roar from theengine."

Ah, yes - the engine noise. Odd; veryodd. You imagine that if ever they were toinvent afive-cylinderthree-stroke it would,somehow, soundlike this. It's difficult toexplain, really, but it's a weird mix ofgenerator, council grass-cutter, big twinrunning on one cylinder and two-stroke (ifyou've never heard one, I can appreciatethat you're still none the wiser). It would

also stand as much chance of passingpresent-day noise regs as a Tornado onreheat. It is very loud. Also, as soon as theignition is turned on, the CD r emits apiercing whistle that simply never goesaway,

You'd think it would be enough to drive,you around the bend, but not according toits owner. "I don't f ind the noise obtrusiveat all. And while rwouldn't like to sit on amotorway with it all day, tome it's all partof the- experience."

So there you have it, straight from thehorse's mouth -you don'tjustown an RE-5, you experience it.

Reliability-wise, the experience hasn'tbeen too bad. "I had a lot of prob lems withit when I first bought it," said David,"because the vacuum fuel tap used to leak.Itused to seep into the carb, and becausethe manifold's all downhill itwould fi n themotor up with petroL So if Iaid it up, itwould be a pig to start. 1 solved the proh-lem two ways: I bought a newtap and now,every time I've finished using it, Ijust pullout the fuel pipe and let the carb dry out.

"I also had the CD! fail on me once,which a friend managed to fix, and so ICalTY a spare CDr unit with me every-where now. It'll probably never happenagain, but ... "


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REcS owner, DaveJupp:"lt's all part ofthe experience ..."

Suzuki tried to make much of the hike'ssimplicity when it was launched (lessmoving partseless to go.wrong, etc). But itnever turned out that way, and its com-plexity was one 6f the reasons why.it wasa sales flop. Ithas five throttle cables, forexample - a 'pull' one each for the oil pump,the small choke on the earburettor and theport valve, and "pull-off ones to the portvalve and the carbo It took David a yearjust to get thE?throttle settings right, be-cause .none of the manuals address thataspect of maintenance explicitly enough.

Running costs leave a lot tobe desired,too. Oil disappears at the rate ofa pintevery 500 or so miles, while petrol con-sumption hovers around 22-2Smpg. As a

1990s collectable, used only occasionally,it matters not a lot, but you can see whylong-distance touring johnnies in the mid''' 'O~took their custom elsewhere.

As a bike that was always scarce, spareparts have never been exactly plentifuland they are now virtually non-existent.Dave Jupp twitches uncontrollably at thethought of that instrument console beingdamaged, for example, and certain partsfor the twin-choke carburettor- manufac-, tured exclusivelyfcr the RE-5 -just cannot .be had. And the seat, while visually iden-tical to those on all the big Suzuki two-strokes of the period, is just differentenough to make it a cherished item. Incommon with most other RE-5 owners,'you would imagine, Dave describes hisriding style as "careful" ...

AB 'well as being smooth, it lol lops alongat a fair old rate. David's never caned it,but he has had it up to around a ton, atwhich point a slight weave sets in. Suzu-ki's claimed top speed for the 62bhpma-chine in 1974 was 1l0-115mph, which isabout right. But the massive torque (55ft!lb at a mere 3;500rpm)isits main perform-ance characteristic, meaning that it can beleft in top gear all day. -.

A lot of Suzuki's research and develop-ment work went into overcoming the prob-lems posed by the extremely high operat-ing temp eratures ofa rotary-engined bike.The RE-S therefore features a unique dou-ble-skinned exhaust - the interior made ofstainless steel" with two Dan Dare-styleair. ducts at the front of the down pipes.The housings for the rotor are cooled bywater, while all engine internals are oil-cooled.

The bike runs so hot, it is impossible totouch the engine after a run ofeven around

WHILE RE-5s were being bought new in1975 (for 1205) , there were actuallysome either things going on the world atthe same time.

THE CORONATION of King Juan Carlos, in Spai n heralded the end of the Fr a ncoera and the star t o f the lomqroadtowardsdemocracy. Our PM was h1aroldWilson,while the previous incumbent, Ted Heath,was replaced as Toryleader by oneMargaret Thatcher.

A . P IN T D EB EE R would set youbackabout 25p. although Drink of the YearwasCresta (it's frothy, manl). Allegros~.rvlarinasand Maxis were the mainstay of .the Britishmotorindustry. 'Radio 1 Dis like N,oelEdmonds, Tony Blackburn, David Hamil-ton, Ed Stewart and Dave Lee Tra~is(yes,'he was there even then) were playinqsuchcharthits as 1nee's l 'm'Not.ln love,Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, John I'mOnly Dancing (David Bo'!Vie), Make il,je Smile ((ome Up and See Me) by SteveHarley and-Cockney Rebel and the.Japanese Classics Record of the Year, I DoI po I Do.1Do I Do by Abba. Brilliant.D E EIB Y COUN TY won the First [Division Championship. Scottish champions were,Rangers, forwhom Derek Parlane scoredfive goais iI'l a leagtie match againsthapless Dunfermlihe. Other big-nameplayers around at the time includedMalcolm Macdonald (Newcastle), Franci~Lee,(Manchester City). Emlyn Hughes(Liverpool) and Stan Bowles (QPR).

G I A .COMO AGOS TI NI won his last 500(cworld championship on a Yamaha. YouEQuid buy the RE-S'sstablemate, the GJ750, for 969 (atenner lessthan theHonda CB750). An XS 50 0 Yamaha wouldset you back 825, a Honda CB 200 429.The HZ 750 Kawasaki cost 849. ~wo- .wheeler sales for the year topped out a t awhopping 270,500.


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. ., -s u Z U K I c __ ,_~~~f:~i,lZ.Ul{lMOTO 'r t co. . LTQ . .-~------

a.mile (I know - I was that soldier), Thosedistinctive heat shields on the silencers. are definitely not just cosmetic,

The huge radiator and. crash bar thatdominate the front of the bike give it adeceptively bulky appearance; it doesn'tfeel so huge sitting astride it The massivecastings of the engine - which looks asthough it was built to Forth Bridge-typetolerances - also give an impression ofweight, although at 507 lbs it's lighterthan, say, a GPZ900,Hauling it onthe centre stand, though,

is a different matter. Dave Jupp puts itdown tothe weight distribution -but what-ever you want to put it down to, it takes analmighty lunge and a sturdy boot. You'dnever manage it in trainers. At least thestand and its mountings are, like most ofthe RE-5, solidly put-together,Talking of never managing things

brings us nicely to the kickstart, whichproves that even inscrutable Japaneseengineers have a sense of humour, Themightiest of swings results in a feeble"phutt" that terminates about third-dis-tance. It certainly makes you burst intofits of laughter, but never in a millionyears would itmake the motor burst intolife. It's yet another part ofthe experience,Isuppose,Dave's RE-5 is, to the best ofhis knowl-

edge, totally standard. The onlymod he's

Heart of the matter:engine isdominated (top) by single rotorand its massive housing.

made is to fit an O-ring chain and blank offthe oil feed, which.is a recommended mod-ification, anyway,His meticulous approach to servicing'

and maintaining service histories 'on allhis bikes means the RE-5 is kept runningsweetly at all times: But maintenancedoesn't extend to the single rotor itself,which is a sealed unit. AI:, he explains:"The rotor on my bike still has a lead sealon it -.it's never been opened, With thosethe simple rule b: ifit works, leave-alone!"Routine maintenance doesinvolve keep-

ing an eye on the spark plug, though,because it can oil up. And you'd want tolook after the plug, anyway - with itsspecial flush-fittinghead to clear the rotor- at 8 ago!Other motor cycles in David's impres-

sive collection may come and go, but this isone that's' staying put, As well as being ofoutstanding interest, BE-5s aren't halfworth a lot nowadays ..A ballpark figurefor a goodone like this might betwo grand,probably more.The Suzuki company motto is"To Make

Products ofValue". How ironic it should bethe failure of the RE-5 as a successful,mass-production machine that has madethe bikeexactly that.

. Robert McCabe

Suzuki RE5 Test Report - Japanese Classic - 1992

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