Awesome cruising bike - very smooth - got to love the Rotary RE5
With café style wind deflector gives it a unique appearance.
Very original bike with lovely paint and chrome.
Suzuki's RE5 was one example of the very few Wankel engine motorcycles that were produced. Some of the others were by DKW and Norton Motorcycle Company (e.g. the Norton Interpol 2, Norton Classic, Norton Commander). It was manufactured by the Suzuki Motor Company from 1974 and withdrawn during 1977. Rotary engines produce high power figures from relatively small displacements. All four major Japanese manufacturers had prototypes or plans. Yamaha showed their Rotary at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1972 (the twin rotor RZ-201). Kawasaki tested a prototype as, allegedly, did Honda. Norton and DKW also marketed rotaries along with a small run by Van Veen (this company used a derivative of NSU/Audi engines developed for Citroën).
The RE5 was quite advanced in its steering and overall handling, and numerous motorcycle test riders of the day remarked on this, some claiming it the best-handling bike out of Japan and close to European marks. It also had excellent ground clearance. Average fuel consumption is around 37 mpg-imp (7.6 L/100 km; 31 mpg-US),) but road tests sometimes achieved results as low as 28.6 mpg-imp (9.88 L/100 km; 23.8 mpg-US) and as high as 43.3 mpg-imp (6.52 L/100 km; 36.1 mpg-US).
