Suzuki RE5

The Suzuki RE5 was one of the few rotary engine bikes ever made, was only made for 3 years. Suzuki, in 1970, was locked in a three-way competition with the other two big Japanese motorcycle makers, Honda and Yamaha. In a relentless march to improve technology and capture market share, Suzuki went after a then-untested production technology, the Wankel rotary engine, with the idea of putting it in a motorcycle'

The Only Japanese Production Rotary

The RX-5, Suzuki's prototype rotary, was unveiled at the Tokyo salon in 1973, one year after Yamaha's RZ-201. The RX-5 was technically more advanced, and it flashed a snazzy Italian Giugiaro bodystyle to boot. It went into production soon after, while the Yamaha languished at the prototype phase, In doing so, Suzuki had made the new bike, rechristened RE5, the only Japanese series production rotary and the first rotary put on the assembly line since Germany's rustic Hercules and the antiquated Dutch Van Veen.

No Splash with the Public

It is rumored that the RE5 was designed by Giugiaro, Alessandro Colombo, famous Italian motorcycle engineer, motorcycle historian and editor of Legend Bike confirms that this is not the case. The bike is too Banal and in line with everything else of that era to even be considered a Giugiaro.