Wanna sit on my Wankel? Or eat Doritos?

[kiltman]

Ryan is at it again.

 

[RaYzerman]

Back in the 70's I knew a lot about Wankels..... wanted the Mazda RX3, but it had to have a 4 barrel carb and it drank fuel like a V8.... in later years, there were a pair of Suzuki RE5's in my Dad's shop owned by a guy renting the apartment at the house... they sat there for a few years as restoration projects awaiting their turn on the to do list.... they apparently both ran, just needed some sprucing up........ gone now, no idea where they went....... Dad also had a Wankel powered snowmobile, I believe an Arctic Cat.... it wasn't in running order, sitting outside rusting away back then.

There was another European bike, I thought, the first one with the Wankel, dunno if it was the Hercules.... apparently if spun it up and dumped the clutch it would flip over on its side.....

 

[randalicious]

I had the'73 RX-3 in yellow, a step up from the '70 Toyota Corolla that preceded it. I don't remember it being a gas guzzler.
But, the 3 guys behind me in a new Camaro RS on US 1A from Bangor to Ellsworth, ME, were sure surprised when they passed me on a short straight, that I was able to stay on their rear bumper up to 110mph (indicated). I went back to driving sensibly, and they flagged me down in Ellsworth to find out, "What in the hell do you have in that thing?" They were astounded to see an engine that wasn't much bigger than a Christmas ham.
It even cranked on cold, icy, Maine winter morns.

 

[Sadlsor]

The RE5 was introduced the year I bought my first bike, I looked at them briefly before going for the GT550.
Still believe I made the right choice.

 

[kiltman]

by a guy renting the apartment at the house...

Would that be the guy timing his pants up at the ankles?

 

[RaYzerman]

Would that be the guy timing his pants up at the ankles?

No that was my buddy Jerry, who was riding his Harley that day...... I expect to keep his jeans snug over the boots......

 

[bdalameda]

Here is my RE5 that I restored a few years ago. I have restore a few of these and bought one of the first RE5's that came out in 1975. I was a Suzuki mechanic at the time and was factory trained on the RE5. I still have all the factory tools and manuals for them. I also owned a Hercules Rotary that I sold a few years ago. When I was selling my Hercules I received a call from Jay Leno and he just wanted to ask me about mine. He also has a Hercules as well as an RE5. The RE5 though a strange bike was pretty well thought out. Suzuki made great strides in fixing many of the issues that the Rotary engines were plagued with. Suzuki developed their own coatings for inside of the rotor housings and this process was eventually developed into the Nikasil coatings that are used in many engines today for cylinder liners. Suzuki owns the patents for this process and makes a lot of money off of it. The RE5, contrary to what most people believe, was a high torque motor not a high revving engine. It produced its maximum toque at only 3500 rpm and had a very flat torque curve. The engine was super smooth though it had a resonate vibration that came from the primary drive chain that would whip violently as the torque would build so rapidly and then smooth out after about 500 rpm. The RE5 engines were very reliable and I have seen these motors last well over a 150K miles. These got pretty poor fuel economy 35-37 at best and could easily drop into the 20's if pushed. The fuel tank was only a bit over 3 gallons so the range was not too good.

This bike almost put Suzuki out of business as they built a factory to build it and also sunk huge amount of money in the engine development. Almost 30 million USD in1974 which is a lot of money for the time. Unfortunately they styled the early model so oddly that people just did not like it much. In 1976 they had so many left in inventory that they shipped them all back to Japan and restyled them to look like the bike I restored in the picture. They built only about 6500 of these and most remained unsold and were eventually destroyed. About 750 of these were sold in the US. I still see a few come up for sale on occasion. Remember this bike came out basically at the same time as the Honda Goldwing and the Kawasaki Z1. The public just was not ready to try something so different and had a hard time accepting it.

I also have in my garage a 73 Finchtel Sachs Wankel rotary industrial engine that is about 10hp. It is literally brand new with about 10 minute time on it.

Suzuki had a twin rotor bike ready for production that was quite a performer but they decided to produce the single rotor RE5 first to get the public used to the rotary idea. If Suzuki had not been developing the GS series four cylinder four stroke bikes at the same time as the RE5 they probably would have folded. The Suzuki GS 750 saved the company.

 

[bdalameda]

Norton also made a Rotary bike. It was quite a good bike and many Police Depts. used it in the UK.

 

[Larry Fine]

Norton also made a Rotary bike. It was quite a good bike and many Police Depts. used it in the UK.

Well, of course they did. They have lots of rotaries there.

 

[Sadlsor]

Well, of course they did. They have lots of rotaries there.

No, you mean roundabouts.
(I know, I know. I get it.)

 

[nicksacco]

Ha! I also saw Ryan's video last night and had a good laugh.
I also have the RE5 (same model and color as bdalameda) and is my Winter project to complete.
I obtained it as a bit of a mess in Summer 2019.
It's a rolling chassis now awaiting the engine.
Before restoring it, I ran it and the engine sang nicely.
In the vid, I had cleaned the carburetor and changed the old gooey oil prior to starting.

If you're interested, this is the forum that contains all the knowledge in the universe: https://re5rotary.proboards.com/

Here's a video:
https://youtu.be/UHyHzijmxBY

 

[Sadlsor]

Not to forget, a few Iron Butt's back, someone entered the RE5 in the Hopeless Class, but if memory serves, he was a DNF.
For some reason, although it had been rally-prepped, I seem to recall it may not have been in pristine condition, at the start.
Details are foggy.

 

[MaxPete]

I looked at them briefly before going for the GT550.
Still believe I made the right choice.

I agree. The RE5 was interesting - but quite expensive in the day.

On the other hand, in the late 1970's I rode with a buddy who had a very handsome orange 1975 GT550. It truly was such a cool bike with understated styling, but very steady performance and reliability plus it had an electric starter and nifty features like a digital gear indicator.
I have always wanted one.....

 

[Sadlsor]

Mine went from Birmingham to Orlando, back to Birmingham, then to Groton CT, to Norfolk VA, and handled me and an overstuffed sea bag (Navy speak for "duffle") with aplomb.
It died an untimely death in Norfolk when I stupidly let a shipmate borrow it, "I'll be right back."
He was no further than 2 blocks away when he rear-ended a car, killing the bike and nearly himself. He literally spent 6 months in Navy hospitals while they replaced many of his bones with steel rods and other aftermarket pieces.
I'm not nearly so anxious to let people ride my bikes these days, although of course, that sailor had ridden "all my life."

 

[MaxPete]

....and I also never loan my bikes.

Frankly, when I ride with others, I constantly observe them doing things that make my hair stand on-end.

In fact, my GT550 buddy wadded his bike up passing a car on the right. I was right behind him (but didn't follow his manoeuver) and the car in front signaled left and moved to the left - and then turn right and clipped him as he whizzed past. Ralph messed his shoulder but the bike was badly bent and not salvageable as it hit a curb.

What a shame on both counts and as I saw the whole thing happen, it still gives me the willies just thinking about it.

 

[Sadlsor]

An example not to follow, IYAM.
I may or may not be more discriminating nowadays, but I can't recall having any real issues with the GT550, and I owned two.
The mechanical points / condenser thing was fussy, but it was my first bike, so I didn't know any better. Tune ups were simple, as I recall, and I had no real problems with either, except of course after a car ran over me on my first, and the other guy tried to run over a car with the second.
But let's face it, that was never in the design specs, so... they were good bikes.

 

[Slammer]

Same old Suck, squeeze, bang, blow... sounds like a hooker I once knew.

 

[Larry Fine]

....and I also never loan my bikes.

I will swap bikes, so we're both in the same boat, and I have the other guy's bike to ride home on.

 

[TipSTer]

Here is Wankle engine bike.

 

[STumped]

LOL at the beer can on the rack. Nice water buffalo in the background!