bdalameda
PaleoCyclist
The Rotary engine is capable of high RPM but have a very flat torque curve - the rotor itself is made of steel and when it gets spinning the mass provides a lot of inertia. The design has a very long intake cycle as well and this contributes to its fuel use. Suzuki did a brilliant job engineering their rotary and basically engineered out all of the problems that previous Mazda and NSU designs were plagued with. Suzuki engineers developed their own proprietary coatings for the rotor housings that Mazda uses today and this development also turned into what we know as Nikasil lined cylinders used in many engine applications today. The Rotary is a high torque engine depending on the state of tune. In Europe there are several huge natural gas rotary engines running generators in powerplants that are still running now for over 50 years without rebuilds. A company in Germany - Fichtel and Sachs produced rotary engines back in the 60's and 70's for everything from lawn mowers, chain saws, outboard motors, motorcycles, waterpumps, generators to snowmobiles. I have a small KM48 8hp wankel engine (new) built in 1965 that I am building a small minibike to put it in - just to display with my Re5's at vintage shows.
The two RE5's that ran in the Iron Butt had failures of the CDI ignition boxes due to aging of the capacitors in the black box. I wish I was there because I could have fixed that problem in a couple of hours and had them on the road again.
The 1975 RE5 had the strange cylinder shaped instruments and tail light along with large spherical turn signals. In addition they were produced in a very sparkly metalflake blue or orange color. Pretty hideous looking things and that was a big issue trying to sell them in the US. That is why Suzuki sent the unsold bikes back to Japan to repaint them Black and replace the instruments and lighting to make a more conservative look for 1976. On my own bike, under the side covers, you can still see the original orange paint. Today the goofy looking 1975 Rotaries have a certain charm to them. The original strange design was thought up by a famous Italian Automobile designer(don't remember his name). There is a company in Tennesse called Rotary Recycle - Jess Stockwell, the owner, has 180 Suzuki Re5's in a warehouse the he sells parts from to keep Re5 fans on the road.
As you can tell I am a bit of a Wankel engine nut. I even have some of the original moving models used to train students how to understand how Wankel engines work.
Dan
The two RE5's that ran in the Iron Butt had failures of the CDI ignition boxes due to aging of the capacitors in the black box. I wish I was there because I could have fixed that problem in a couple of hours and had them on the road again.
The 1975 RE5 had the strange cylinder shaped instruments and tail light along with large spherical turn signals. In addition they were produced in a very sparkly metalflake blue or orange color. Pretty hideous looking things and that was a big issue trying to sell them in the US. That is why Suzuki sent the unsold bikes back to Japan to repaint them Black and replace the instruments and lighting to make a more conservative look for 1976. On my own bike, under the side covers, you can still see the original orange paint. Today the goofy looking 1975 Rotaries have a certain charm to them. The original strange design was thought up by a famous Italian Automobile designer(don't remember his name). There is a company in Tennesse called Rotary Recycle - Jess Stockwell, the owner, has 180 Suzuki Re5's in a warehouse the he sells parts from to keep Re5 fans on the road.
As you can tell I am a bit of a Wankel engine nut. I even have some of the original moving models used to train students how to understand how Wankel engines work.
Dan
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