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
the founder of "Rotary Recycle." Prior to that, he worked with Suzuki, help- ing to train mechanics at special tech schools dedicated to the inner workings of the RE5). Stockwell's affinity for the rotary began in the early 1980s, when, at the age of 19, he bought his first RE5. One rotary leads to another and he "would search the classifieds for them," he says. "There would be low mileage examples that didn't run— some of them had fewer than 2500 miles. I knew how to get them going again. "The RE5 revs high," Stockwell says, "and they needed to be ridden more like a two-stroke. Many of these bikes were just ridden wrong. The owners would list them as 'ran when parked' and some of them didn't have more than 2500 miles on the odometer." While the design of the Wan - kel engine is simple (essentially a shaft, a rotor, the stationary gear and the cylinder), Suzuki's RE5 was complex in almost every other way. "They opted for the peripheral port system," he says, "and that was part of the trouble." Beyond the engine, the Su- zuki's two-stage carburetor was a brilliant, yet complex design, requiring no fewer than five cables to push fuel/air through its staggeringly high number of jets—14, to be exact! There were other issues that confronted owners, including the $27 (in 1975) retail price of the purpose-built NGK A-9 EFP spark plug. Additionally, many Suzuki dealers would not provide service or repairs for the RE5. According to Stockwell, having a trained mechanic was a pre-requisite for all dealers wanting to carry the RE5 on their showroom floors. "One dealer told me 'that is not a Suzuki,'" Stockwell recalls. "He thought that I built this mo - torcycle in my own garage and then slapped a Suzuki emblem on the tank." Alas, like many things in life, the backstory and baggage disappear in moments of passion and Stockwell claims that despite the bike's pudgy 525 pounds, riding the RE5 is pure joy. "It takes off like a two- stroke, yet it is smooth and does everything well. It is a stupendous motorcycle and if you did the maintenance, it is bulletproof. I know of one RE5 that has been ridden for more than 200,000 miles." The RE5's passing was not dignified. After some minor styling revisions, the company pulled the model from the lineup at the end of 1977. By 1980, dealers who were unlucky enough to still have surplus models were taking most any offer they could get. Rotary Re - cycle founder Costanzo bought three NOS models at that time and paid $2700 for all three machines, just slightly more than the 1975 MSRP of $2475 for one bike. Estimated total sales for the Suzuki RE5 range from 6300- 6500 units sold. In hindsight, it wasn't a bad motorcycle; it just wasn't a better motorcycle, at least not markedly better than the other offerings of the mid '70's. Like a Camel cigarette, it just wasn't for everybody. CN CNII ARCHIVES P114 Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives well. It is a stupendous the company pulled the A Suzuki ad of the RE5 in the mid-1970s.