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Thread: Suzuki re5

  1. #1
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    Default Suzuki re5

    Just bought this to go with my water bottle......

    Its a us import as you just can't find them here.

    They imported 200 into Australia, sent 100 back to Japan as they couldn't sell them and 25 to nz.

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    Rare find, congrats - I remember looking at one on the showroom floor at Mayfairs Suzuki on Lutwyche road in Brissy way back when ; I think they were a bit too different for the average bike rider in the 70's, when everyone was still learning the folklore of apex seal failures in the 12A mazda wankels...if timing is everything, it was a bad time to release a rotary powered bike. They looked a bit weird, sounded a bit weird..sounded like a 12A running on I rotor come to think of it (lol) and none of the aussie mag reviews at the time had very much 'good' to say about them, and at that time in streetbike evolution, there was -one- word you didn't want your product to get labeled with, that of being 'under-powered'. That said, for sure jay leno's got one in his shed =) I think I recall 'sneezing' at it, as being a 'gimmick' attempt on Suzuki's part, because it really didn't bring anything new or remarkable with it...just smooth power delivery of what there was available, same handling characteristics and frame design of the GT380/550/750 series ...and a wankel. If it had've done any one or two things better than any other bike in it's class at the time, more ppl might have bought it, but on paper it just didn't deliver the promise of being any big leap forward...and at the time I was in combat with my Kwaka Mach4 750 and trying to stay alive ( I won \o/ ), so the re5 wasn't going to impress me as being 'modern day quick' or a 'sports' bike.

    That all said, I never got to ride one, so perhaps you might answer a long standing question I've had in my head for decades -- do the gyroscopic forces of the rotor spinning 'in plane' with the wheels, have any discernible affect on the bike handling? Like a bimmer boxer, guzzi vtwin etc just feel that little bit different at it's core center of gravity due to the rotational orientation of the crankshaft...I was always curious how that engine would 'feel' in a bike frame...oh, feel free to reference comparison to how the waterbottle handles ; I've owned one of those and it's little sister the gt550 over the years =)

  • #3
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    The RE5 will be here next week.
    It'll be fitted with 2 brand new tyres and licensed. I have the same tyres on my water bottle which I ride daily, so it'll be an interesting comparison.

    3 or 4 years ago I finally found a good laverda 3c in tassie.
    I'd been after one for years. It finally arrived in WA and I hated it. Too sporty riding position, no sidestand, just not fun to ride. Maybe 20 years ago...

    The water bottle is a far better, more practical ride.

    Hopefully the RE5 doesn't disappoint.
    It shouldnt as it's very similar to the water bottle and lots of parts are interchangeable.




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    the fastest acceleration i have ever been on wow not to many left ??

  • #5
    LSemmens
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    Envy is a sin, I shall repent, one day! I fell in love with the waterbottle back in the 70s and had a desire to own one. I test rode one in the 80's and would have bought it except it wanted to turn left, the moment you let go of the handlebars. I was given one in a million pieces but never could re-build it because there were just too many pieces missing. The rotary OTOH, never could get excited about them, although I do appreciate the novelty. Back then I was riding a Kwakka 1000ST.
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

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