buying a 1976 Suzuki RE5.....stepping out of comfort zone

[wavehog33]

Gabbing a 76 RE5 later today. I have restored many triples and twin smokers, but this one has me nervous. Its a clean original 1 owner deal so hoping it just needs a light "go through." Definitely stepping out of comfort zone though. I'll post pics later. Any advice or things to for sure look for on a wankel? Thanks

[rngdng]

I think FrankT can give some pointers on this one. He's owned several RE5s.



Lane

[Craig380]

I'm a bit late to this, as you've probably collected the bike already ... as I understand it, if you can kick the engine over on the kickstart easily, then the seals are tired. I believe the carb set up is complex too, but once it's done, it should be good for a long while.

Good luck!

[Frank T]

As Lane said I have owned several and used to tour some on the bikes. I probably rode over 50k miles on various RE5s. Somewhat like a GT750 but a bit slower. The carb is difficult to set up and the CDI can fail. The worst part of owning one of these bikes today is there is no real source of parts since Rotary Recycle went out of business about a year ago.
Below is a picture of me riding home from the Gap several years ago.

[wavehog33]

I'm a bit late to this, as you've probably collected the bike already ... as I understand it, if you can kick the engine over on the kickstart easily, then the seals are tired. I believe the carb set up is complex too, but once it's done, it should be good for a long while.

Good luck!

Here she is. Kicking it over I can feel the "pops." It is no way loose with the kicker. Not sure how much compression this should have with the kicker, but she is sturdy. Cant imagine firing it off the kicker only.