Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1491247
VOLUME ISSUE JANUARY , P113 and MZ, had flirted with the idea of a rotary motorcycle, but only Suzuki was ready to make a commitment to the relationship. After more than four years in the R&D stage, the RE5 finally arrived in dealer showrooms—to a very tepid response. The backstory begins with a German engineer named Felix Wankel. Wankel believed in many theories (including, at least briefly, Nazism) but when it came to internal combustion engines, he looked at the sta - tus quo and envisioned a more linear system. Whereas a piston pumps and pushes, the rotor of the rotary rotates, much as the rear wheel will when it ultimately receives that power. It was a better idea, he reasoned and one with far fewer moving parts. Wankel patented his design and the rotary engine found early use in aircraft application, then in automobiles (most notably the Mazda RX series) and eventually for motorcycles like the Suzuki RE5. The discerning motorcyclist's eye is understandably drawn to the RE5. The "Fire Mist Orange" tank and side panels scream the 1970's obsession with offensive - ly loud colors. Instrumentation is housed in a horizontally placed cylinder atop the headlight and the gauges are protected by a contoured translucent cover; turn the ignition key and the cover slides up and open, just like an astronaut's face shield. A similarly designed taillight brings up the rear, while the polished cases of the engine pull your attention away from the enormously large radia- tor that the RE5 needs to keep itself cool. If the rotary engine was indeed the future for all things motorized, Suzuki succeeded in making the rest of the RE5 look the part. Cycle World did the RE5 no favors with their initial test, taking it straight from the crate and thrust - ing it headlong into a three-bike comparison. The new, unprov- en Suzuki would be up against BMW's venerable R90/6, an established tourer with decades of development under its belt and Kawasaki's Z-1 900, which was the coolest guy in school in the mid 70s. The Suzuki, which gave away 400cc to each of its opponents, couldn't compete with the best touring bike of the early '70s or with one of the fast- est production models of the era (the Z-1 clocked the quarter mile at 12.7 seconds) and finished dead last in the comparison test. The magazine chirped that "Revolutionary design doesn't al- ways produce the best product," and decreed that Suzuki put "too much effort into the engine and neglected the little necessities." Was it truly a bad motorcycle? At least one owner doesn't think so. "Imagine you're sitting on a bungee cord," says RE5 enthusi - ast Jess Stockwell. "Stretch it out for a mile and then let it go. That's the experience you get when you ride an RE5!" Without a snicker or snippet of self-deprecation, Stockwell in- troduces himself as the "world's foremost authority on the Suzuki RE5!" A retired attorney living in Tennessee, Stockwell once owned approximately 400 RE5 models, selling bits and pieces around the world under the business name "Rotary Re - cycle." (By his own admission, however, Stockwell took up the mantle upon the 2017 passing of the original "King of All Things RE5," a fellow by the name of Sam Costanzo. Costanzo was attention away from the enormously large radia- tor that the RE5 needs to keep itself cool. If the rotary engine was indeed the future for all things motorized, Suzuki succeeded in making the rest of the RE5 look the part. initial test, taking it straight from the - en Suzuki would be up against BMW's venerable R90/6, an The magazines weren't kind to the RE5, and it never caught on with the public, although it was a decent motorcycle at the time.