Suzuki made rotaries? [Archive]

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baffa

2nd August 2011, 12:44

So I was getting some work done on my bike down at Honda in Barrys point Road on the shore, and spotted one of these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_RE5

Prior to seeing the bike and having a natter with the mechanic that worked on it, I hadnt realised anyone bar Norton had made rotory bikes. Amazing old bike, with some really crazy styling, and according to Wiki, really ahead of it's time.

Would love to see what it would sound and ride like. Anyone ever had one?

Indiana_Jones

2nd August 2011, 12:51

Saw a NVT Wankel a few years back at the pub, looked pretty mean :)

<img src="http://www.fedrotriple.it/agg_2010_04/1972-norton-classic.jpg">

-Indy

Howie

2nd August 2011, 13:09

T.W.R

2nd August 2011, 13:12

:facepalm: been living under a rock huh?

Van Veen OCR1000 is the rare one to have :yes: only 30 made

http://www.bikez.com/motorcycles/van_veen_ocr_1000_1977.php

Deano

2nd August 2011, 13:15

A Norton rotary actually qualified on a GP500 grid many moons ago.

fokky

2nd August 2011, 13:22

Back in about 1990? saw/HEARD the Wankle Nortons at Donnington.Awesome machine.....back then.

HenryDorsetCase

2nd August 2011, 13:38

One of my few claims to motorcycling fame is that I have ridden an RE5 from Wellington to Christchurch. About ??1986 or 1987. A mate bought it in Wellington and I said I would deliver it if he paid for the flight back. I paid for the ferry and gas and lunch in Kaikoura.

At the time I would have been riding either my GSX750 or CB750F1. I didnt really thrash it, but I do remember getting a lot of comments on it on the ferry and when I stopped. It went well at that 100-120kph touring speed. It was limited by its 1970s steering, shocks and brakes but I had a fun trip on it. Very smooth running, no vibes anywhere (max speed I saw was about 160k's) Quite hot running and sounded like nothing else. It needed the big tank for a reason, too.

He paid around $3k for it I think. Subsequently lost in a DEEEEVORCE.

That guy's been trying to get 15 large for that one for a while now. I'd rather buy a CBX (six) for $10k if I was looking for something around that era.

Banditbandit

2nd August 2011, 13:39

Amazing old bike, with some really crazy styling, and according to Wiki, really ahead of it's time.

Would love to see what it would sound and ride like. Anyone ever had one?

Fuck !!! Old Bike ???? Sonny - some of us remember when those garbage cans were brand new ... and we'd been riding a while when they came out ...

Old sheesh ... It's post 1970 ... that's new (ish)

Deano

2nd August 2011, 13:42

It needed the big tank for a reason, too.

Yep - rotaries suck the juice alright. I used to have an RX4 and I swear that flat out you could see the needle on the fuel guage dropping.

Oblivion

2nd August 2011, 15:29

They seem to be quite heavy bikes as well. 230kg according to the information god wikipedia :yes:

ducatilover

2nd August 2011, 15:44

Lada made a rotary too, would be even worse than an RE5.

I'd like a CBX of Z 6cyl from that era, so yummy.

maxlev

2nd August 2011, 15:56

There's one for sale on trade me at the moment:rockon:, yours for 15K http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/classic-vintage/auction-375805176.htm

That one doesn't have the cylinder tube instrument cluster (tin can) might have been changed to waterbus ones.

Brian Barnsley (Laurie Summers, Hamilton M/C) had a mint one in his collection, with orig dash. A Kwaka triple too. RIP Brian.

merv

2nd August 2011, 17:11

Would love to see what it would sound and ride like. Anyone ever had one?

Have a chat to our fellow KBer in the South Island http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/member.php/1471-Jantar

Bender

2nd August 2011, 17:12

Later models didn't have the round dash and tail light.

HenryDorsetCase

2nd August 2011, 17:18

That one doesn't have the cylinder tube instrument cluster (tin can) might have been changed to waterbus ones.

Brian Barnsley (Laurie Summers, Hamilton M/C) had a mint one in his collection, with orig dash. A Kwaka triple too. RIP Brian.

my recollection is that only the first model had the tin can instruments. It also had a tail light the same shape. The two years after that had GT750 waterbus instruments.

Edbear

2nd August 2011, 17:35

:facepalm: been living under a rock huh?

Van Veen OCR1000 is the rare one to have :yes: only 30 made

http://www.bikez.com/motorcycles/van_veen_ocr_1000_1977.php

I'd clean forgotten about the Van Veen!

toycollector10

2nd August 2011, 18:22

I know a guy here in Christchurch who has one. Apparently the carburetor has 32 adjusting screws. There was no training for mechanics, if the engine went phutt a new one was installed. There's no parts book I think is what he said. He was lucky to be able to source a spare crated engine with zero hours on it out of Canada a few years ago too.

Kickaha

2nd August 2011, 18:23

A Norton rotary actually qualified on a GP500 grid many moons ago.

They also won the Isle of Man senior TT in 1992

robinm

2nd August 2011, 18:25

I have ridden 6 different RE5's over the years. To my knowledge Colemans only brought 29 of them in (at least that was the information I was given many years ago), so that means I have ridden approx 1/4 of all the RE5's in NZ.
I love them. A good friend of in ChCh has had one for over 30 years.
Ant the earlier poster was 100% correct about the instrument panel and tail light, only the 1975 "M" model had the cylinder style units. The '76 "A" models used GT750 components.

Paul in NZ

2nd August 2011, 18:26

Later models didn't have the round dash and tail light.

I remember seeing one in Tommys Suzuki Centre wiht the round barrel tail light and instrument cluster. The salesman though he would impress us and flipped on the key and some cheesy screen thing flipped up over the insanely UGLY barrel instrument panel. We all fell about laughing and hopped on our old Triumphs n shite (me on My Norton Atlas) and buggered off.... Fuck it was one UGLY motorcycle

Oblivion

2nd August 2011, 18:31

Lada made a rotary too, would be even worse than an RE5.

I'd like a CBX of Z 6cyl from that era, so yummy.

What about a Laverda Jota? :blink:

Paul in NZ

2nd August 2011, 18:32

Oh - wasnt there the Herculies (SP) which was the most sane rotary back in the day (W2000?) and then the genius in ChCh that grafted the lawnmower rotor onto an AC50... I loved THAT!

pritch

2nd August 2011, 19:00

What about a Laverda Jota? :blink:

Be hard to find one of those here. As I recall it was the Brit importer (Slater's?) who organised the Jota. Some people here did a paint shop hot up and called the result a Jota but...

98tls

2nd August 2011, 19:04

Be hard to find one of those here. As I recall it was the Brit importer (Slater's?) who organised the Jota. Some people here did a paint shop hot up and called the result a Jota but...

When i was roughly 16/17 a bloke that was working for the old man in Nth Canterbury turned up with a Jota,blue from memory and cost him an arm n leg.was bought new in Christchurch.

Kickaha

2nd August 2011, 21:25

Be hard to find one of those here.

yeah must have taken me all of 30 seconds :bleh: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/classic-vintage/auction-394662319.htm

nadroj

2nd August 2011, 21:35

Or baby brother.

At least 1 RE5 in New Plymouth.

98tls

2nd August 2011, 21:44

Or baby brother.

At least 1 RE5 in New Plymouth.

Very nice indeed,that and a Bevel 750 Sport in the shed would be superb.

Taz

2nd August 2011, 22:13

Honda made a prototype rotary but had the sense not to put it into production.

So did kawasaki, Yamaha and BSA.

http://www.rotarycommunity.com/f103-p0.aspx

BMWST?

2nd August 2011, 22:14

a mate had one,we once spent all friday night (re) installing a (new?) engine(he was a rolls royce mechanic).They were thirsty and unlike most rotaries the re5s were really torquey,you could drop the clutch at idle and they would not stall.It would use a tank of gas(about 18l) to go from welly to manfeild (albeit at a reasonable clip )

jellywrestler

2nd August 2011, 22:24

A Norton rotary actually qualified on a GP500 grid many moons ago. And won an isle of man tt

jellywrestler

2nd August 2011, 22:27

Later models didn't have the round dash and tail light.
Most'later models' in NZ were simply earlier models retro fitted with the 'later model' dash. I remember seeing a wee pile of the old dashes in Wanganui

jellywrestler

2nd August 2011, 22:36

I know a guy here in Christchurch who has one. Apparently the carburetor has 32 adjusting screws.

hehehe there are only 63 different part numbers used in the whole carburettor according to my parts book....

Paul in NZ

3rd August 2011, 08:05

Oddly - I've always thought that one of the things that killed Norton was the Rotary. It seemed a great idea at the time but the royalties to Wankel were very high and diverted cash away from more mainstream ideas, then everything turned to custard...

Voltaire

3rd August 2011, 08:24

Nearest I got to a rotary was bidding on an NSU Spider http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSU_Spider in the early 80's ....cool little car, and at the same sale there was a Hercules, http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2008/05/05/hercules-w2000-rotary-engine-motorcycle/

I ended up with Apollo 11 Arcade game....... land the lunar module on the moon....no electronics all mechanical.....wish I still had it....

cave weta

3rd August 2011, 09:45

There is one in a rotary workshop on Neil Park Drive Tamaki today.
it is having the motor rebuilt- it is owned by the museum of transport and technology.:yes:

T.W.R

3rd August 2011, 10:09

They also won the Isle of Man senior TT in 1992

Also the dubious honour of serving up one of the most horrific crashes at IOM too :yes:

HenryDorsetCase

3rd August 2011, 10:59

http://www.nortonmotorcycles.com/racing/NRV588/

I infer from this that the rejuvenated Norton are messing about with rotaries still.

a 700cc racer? ooooh, sign me up for a factory ride....

Paul in NZ

3rd August 2011, 12:05

I think the rotary part of the company got split off (might be back together again) and there were serveral 'Nortons' for a while there. The big issue is how to measure the capacity in a rotary which determines which class it will run in.

I'm not sure why they are persisting, the rest of the worlds kinda lost interest in them

tigertim20

3rd August 2011, 16:35

yeah the RE5's are a really cool bike. A well known member on here has one. well, two. OK, one and a half RE5's, I wont name him, (not my place) but its a cool bike. This particular person has had i think 4 of them over the years, bought one, sold it, went what the fuck did i sell it for, then had another couple of them. I keep trying to twist his arm to get it going and gimme a ride on it, but I dont see that happening any time soon!!

gav

3rd August 2011, 20:18

A Norton rotary actually qualified on a GP500 grid many moons ago.
Hmmm, is that the one Ron Haslam was on at Brit GP? Did it actually set a qualifying time or did they just let it run? Seem to recall it wasnt too competitive ...
OK, looks like he got lapped and ended up 12th.

http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/1993/GBR/500cc

scumdog

3rd August 2011, 20:21

Kickaha

3rd August 2011, 20:25

Got one RE5 down here in Riviera of the South too...AND an XN85..:innocent:

Poor bastards, is that where they send all the old crap to die?

Clockwork

3rd August 2011, 20:56

In my feckless youth I owned an RE5, loved that bike. Couldn't tell you about fuel economy, none of that shit matterd to me when I owned it. Sounded great, smooth ride and a real head turner.

Had a tear in my eye the day I had to sell it.

Last saw one at Southward Museum , parked next to a GT750 (my best mate's ride of choice at the time) Seeing the two there side by side. Geez that brought back memories. I would have paid extra to hear them started up!

speedpro

3rd August 2011, 20:59

In my younger days in Chch I recall sitting on curb of Newnham Tce watching a couple of students on a fire damaged RE5 they got at auction I think. The carb had all melted so they bodged on something like a big old Mikuni and were doing full noise drags up and down the street. Until the cops showed up.

GrayWolf

3rd August 2011, 20:59

Oh - wasnt there the Herculies (SP) which was the most sane rotary back in the day (W2000?) and then the genius in ChCh that grafted the lawnmower rotor onto an AC50... I loved THAT!

Think that might be cusin to the Sach's rotary bike (german) I believe the Sach's used a snowmobile design rotary that was a 2T mixture to run.... but I will admit to being very vague on this as I only saw a magazine article back in 197.... bleh!!!
Untill a few years ago there was an RE5 prked up in a garage alongside a Z900.. the owner didnt ride anymore and they were just sitting there 'rotting'..... shame really.

GrayWolf

3rd August 2011, 21:05

And won an isle of man tt
from memory the rotaries cleaned house in racing, it was the japanese who in effect got the Norton banned by having the class legislation altered to outlaw it. Had the Norton not ecieved this treatment? Who knows.. it was one of those times where the Japs over engineering (RE5) was overcomplex and a failure,,, Norton kept it simple, light and it worked very well...... British Police also used the Rotary Norton in some districts for a while (Norton Commander)

Kickaha

3rd August 2011, 21:18

from memory the rotaries cleaned house in racing

They weren't even close to doing that

it was the japanese who in effect got the Norton banned by having the class legislation altered to outlaw it.

Got some links or sources to back that up, can't say I've ever heard of that before now

British Police also used the Rotary Norton in some districts for a while (Norton Commander)

I thought at the time the Police were the only people who could get the Norton Rotary as it wasn't for public sale

pete376403

3rd August 2011, 22:30

Pretty sure I saw a Norton Commander at a Cold Kiwi some years ago, so there's at least one around. Was set up as a touring bike, big fairing, integrated panniers, stuff like that.

there was a pile of difference between the race motor and the road one, from what I've read - the race motor used air cooling for the internals of the rotor, drawn through by an exhaust extractor. This meant a lot of oil got mixed in the exhaust, not the ideal road setup.

There are a few youtubes of steve spray on the race bike, sounds nice

T.W.R

3rd August 2011, 23:01

Pretty sure I saw a Norton Commander at a Cold Kiwi some years ago, so there's at least one around.

There was one for sale in one of the ChCh shops years ago, Metallic gunmetal with Yamaha wheels :yes: either ChCh Motorcycles, Bland Brothers, or John Boot
Something makes me think it was ChCh Motorcycles not long after Lindsey got hold of the Hesketh :yes:

Jantar

3rd August 2011, 23:03

Have a chat to our fellow KBer in the South Island http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/member.php/1471-Jantar

Yep, I have owned 4 of them. Still have 1 complete and a parts heap.

my recollection is that only the first model had the tin can instruments. It also had a tail light the same shape. The two years after that had GT750 waterbus instruments.

They were only produced for 10 months, but had 2 models within that time. The RE5M which had the origional round instrument panel and tail ligth cluster, and the RE5A which had GT750 type instruments and tail light. Most A models were just re-instrumented M models, but there were a few genuine A models. I had one which was destroyed by vandals in Turangi.

I know a guy here in Christchurch who has one. Apparently the carburetor has 32 adjusting screws. There was no training for mechanics, if the engine went phutt a new one was installed. There's no parts book I think is what he said. He was lucky to be able to source a spare crated engine with zero hours on it out of Canada a few years ago too. The Carb has two adjusting screws, but you do need a special tools to set up the timing for the secondary port to open. No parts book? I have one, and a full workshop manual.

I have ridden 6 different RE5's over the years. To my knowledge Colemans only brought 29 of them in (at least that was the information I was given many years ago), so that means I have ridden approx 1/4 of all the RE5's in NZ.
I love them. A good friend of in ChCh has had one for over 30 years.
Ant the earlier poster was 100% correct about the instrument panel and tail light, only the 1975 "M" model had the cylinder style units. The '76 "A" models used GT750 components.
There were 12 in the first shipment, followed by two shipments of 6 each. There were also a few imported privately.

Most'later models' in NZ were simply earlier models retro fitted with the 'later model' dash. I remember seeing a wee pile of the old dashes in Wanganui

Hee, hee. Those "old" dashes are now worth heaps. I just happen to have a couple spare.

yeah the RE5's are a really cool bike. A well known member on here has one. well, two. OK, one and a half RE5's, I wont name him, (not my place) but its a cool bike. This particular person has had i think 4 of them over the years, bought one, sold it, went what the fuck did i sell it for, then had another couple of them. I keep trying to twist his arm to get it going and gimme a ride on it, but I dont see that happening any time soon!!

Yes, I need a new rotor housing, and I believe I may have tracked one down.

I owned the very first RE5 to be sold in New Zealand. It performed very well in every respect and out handled all other bikes of its size in the day. What caught out a lot of riders was its long wheel base and low center of gravity. The low CoG made for very stable cornering and a rapid rate of roll into the corner. But the long wheel base meant that it didn't feel like it was flicking in quickly. It could go over to incredible lean angles compared to other bikes of the mid 70s and seldom ever scraped anything.

The downside was it loved fuel and tyres, and too much torque for the chains of the time. I used to get 28 mpg if I rode it quietly and 33 mpg if I thrashed it. The 17 l tank gave an effective range of less than 160 km. Tyres would last between 300 and 2000 km, and I could get almost 3000 km out of a chain. O ring chains came out in time for the A model and what a difference to chain life.

With modern tyres and chains, the life is not much different to modern bikes, but it still loves that fuel.

The RE5 is rated at 497 cc, but that is the measured capcity of the three combustion chambers, and the swept volume of all three chambers in one complete rotor revolution. Only one chamber is presented to the spark plug (single) for each crankshaft revolution, so the equivilent capacity when compared to a 4 stroke is only 165 cc. In competition the effective capacity is doubled and it is treated as a 1000 cc bike.

There were just over 6000 ever made and still 1700 world wide.

Jantar

3rd August 2011, 23:18

Got one RE5 down here in Riviera of the South too...AND an XN85..:innocent:
That particular RE5 is the first one I owned, and the one I still regret ever selling.

HenryDorsetCase

3rd August 2011, 23:27

great writeup Mr Jantar

http://www.angelfire.com/retro/roadster/index-12.html

gotta love the obsessives: is that the same guy holding the rotor in the top photos dya reckon?

tigertim20

3rd August 2011, 23:38

Yes, I need a new rotor housing, and I believe I may have tracked one down.

.

wellyou just lemme andIll be overwith my leathers!!! :woohoo::woohoo::yes::innocent:

Kickaha

4th August 2011, 06:28

Pretty sure I saw a Norton Commander at a Cold Kiwi some years ago

I've got a photo of one racing at an early Sound of Thunder when they were supposedly unavailable outside of the UK to the public so there was at least one around

Paul in NZ

4th August 2011, 07:52

I've got a photo of one racing at an early Sound of Thunder when they were supposedly unavailable outside of the UK to the public so there was at least one around

Yes - there was a grey one in ChCh many moons ago. Not sure if it was a civilianised Police one or a genuine air cooled non police one.

Motu

4th August 2011, 12:46

motor used air cooling for the internals of the rotor, drawn through by an exhaust extractor.

That was used in all the Norton rotaries,it was the breakthrough that made the aircooled engine simple and efficient.

The Norton was actually a BSA....I've got a couple of magazine articles about it's development somewhere if I could be bothered to find them....most likely on the web now anyway. They sent someone off to do a feasibility study of rotaries,and then the whole British industry started to crumble around them,departments and brands were shut down,people layed off. When the dusted started to settle someone had a look at why shed 47 was getting tea bags and toilet rolls....inside was a running rotary. They had forgotten about him,and he just carried on with his job.

pete376403

4th August 2011, 16:55

Right, researched a bit more and the diff between the road and race motors was the road motor took the (rotor cooling) air and burned it, where the race motor just fired it out the exhaust.(with its payload of oil vapour)
quote John Robinson (Performance Bikes magazine, August 1990) -
'More power could be available but not with the present system of rotor cooling. At about 100bhp, this becomes the restricting factor. Intake air is taken through the eccentric shaft; oil is injected into it and centrifuged out through the shaft bearings to lubricate the rotor seals. The air is then fed into a plenum chamber before going to the downdraught Mikuni (F1) carburettors. This preheats the air to between 70 and 150 degrees C, and pressurizes it to some 20 inches of water. The extra pressure is good for power, but the increasing temperature isn't and around 100bhp is where the temperature has more influence than the pressure. The 'exhaust ejector' method of forcing air through the shaft (as on the racer) is too noisy for use on a road bike. One possible way to get more power would be to use a separate fan to cool the shaft and rotors, and let the intakes breathe fresh air'. (end quote).

thehollowmen

5th August 2011, 22:47

I've been watching this thread very carefully. I love kookie bikes.

I've been lusting after an RE5 for quite some time. I fell in love with Janter's one.

Unless I can get into the will of somebody who owns an RE5, I'm shit out of luck.

I think I'll put together my own one in the end, since RE5 parts are very hard to come by. A two stroke racer frame with a rotary go-cart engine would be a wonderful project in years to come.

\m/

6th August 2011, 00:04

Steve Whitham has a dragbike with a CBR-built 13b turbo.
http://www.curranbrothersracing.co.nz/shop/product/4214/Steve_Whitham_-_Dragbike

gammaguy

6th August 2011, 03:51

nadroj

6th August 2011, 07:08

Deano

6th August 2011, 07:58

I take it you know the go-kart "rotary" referrs to rotary valve, not rotary piston?

Rotax engine ?

Kickaha

6th August 2011, 08:11

I take it you know the go-kart "rotary" referrs to rotary valve, not rotary piston?

I take it you know they did make Wankel rotary engines for karts?
http://www.rotaryengines.ca/main/karts.htm
http://www.karting1.co.uk/wankel-kart-test.htm

nadroj

6th August 2011, 09:15

Steve Whitham has a dragbike with a CBR-built 13b turbo.
http://www.curranbrothersracing.co.nz/shop/product/4214/Steve_Whitham_-_Dragbike

Impressed.
Wayne Curry from Taranaki ran a 10a rotary powered drag bike in the late 80's at Meremere & Thunder Park.

GrayWolf

6th August 2011, 10:58

1)They weren't even close to doing that
2)Got some links or sources to back that up, can't say I've ever heard of that before now

1)It's been 20 years since the rotary engine invented by German engineer Felix Wankel back in 1924 made its motorcycle roadracing debut in 1987. Powering the racebikes of the resurgent Norton factory, the rotary's then-superior performance led to eight years of competition that resulted in successive British roadrace titles, points-scoring GP finishes and victory in the Isle of Man TT against the top superbikes of the day

2)The engine was rated a 588cc, 1176cc or 1764cc depending on what method you used to calculate it. Naturally Norton claimed it was 588cc, the international race body, the FIM, compomised and rated it 1176cc, which kept it out of most races but our ACU allowed it to race in events under their control as a 588cc engine. Later the FIM changed their ruling to regard the Norton as a 999.6cc as from 1989, which made it eligible for more events. Until race engines are rated on power output or fuel consumption or both, the future of the Wankel enine is uncertain.

Apology accepted!

http://www.sportrider.com/features/146_0803_norton_nrv588/index.html
http://www.jpsnorton.com/start.asp
http://www.fasterandfaster.net/2006/11/nrv588-norton-rotary-lives-again.html
http://motorbike-search-engine.co.uk/classic_bikes/1989-jps-norton.php

I thought at the time the Police were the only people who could get the Norton Rotary as it wasn't for public sale

I believe the UK Police version was called the Interpol, the commander per se, was the 'touring/standard Rotary available to the Public, not sure if many/any? found their way outside of the UK as a 'Norton export'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_Commander_%28motorcycle%29

Kickaha

6th August 2011, 11:20

1)It's been 20 years since the rotary engine invented by German engineer Felix Wankel back in 1924 made its motorcycle roadracing debut in 1987. Powering the racebikes of the resurgent Norton factory, the rotary's then-superior performance led to eight years of competition that resulted in successive British roadrace titles, points-scoring GP finishes and victory in the Isle of Man TT against the top superbikes of the day

I wouldn't consider that "cleaning house" yes they had some very good results in that time but weren't really dominating the racing from that era

2)The engine was rated a 588cc, 1176cc or 1764cc depending on what method you used to calculate it. Naturally Norton claimed it was 588cc, the international race body, the FIM, compomised and rated it 1176cc, which kept it out of most races but our ACU allowed it to race in events under their control as a 588cc engine. Later the FIM changed their ruling to regard the Norton as a 999.6cc as from 1989, which made it eligible for more events. Until race engines are rated on power output or fuel consumption or both, the future of the Wankel enine is uncertain.

That doesn't prove "it was the japanese who in effect got the Norton banned by having the class legislation altered to outlaw it."

Apology accepted!

Lick my balls :bleh:

GrayWolf

6th August 2011, 17:42

I wouldn't consider that "cleaning house" yes they had some very good results in that time but weren't really dominating the racing from that era

That doesn't prove "it was the japanese who in effect got the Norton banned by having the class legislation altered to outlaw it."

Lick my balls :bleh:

Nah sorry, even if I were that way inclined, I'd at least want a decent pair to lick.

Kickaha

6th August 2011, 17:57

Nah sorry, even if I were that way inclined, I'd at least want a decent pair to lick.

Not even if I wax?

pete376403

6th August 2011, 19:51

link to a page with quite a few rotaries (even Kawasaki had a go)
http://www.rotarycommunity.com/f103-p0.aspx

thehollowmen

7th August 2011, 01:06

There are a few tiny wankle engines used. I should have been specific because I know the "rotary engine vs rotary valve" mix up.

I take it you know the go-kart "rotary" referrs to rotary valve, not rotary piston?

Deano

7th August 2011, 08:24

There are a few tiny wankle engines used. I should have been specific because I know the "rotary engine vs rotary valve" mix up.

A mate's old man is an avid model aeroplane builder and he has a single rotor rotary engine that would fit in the palm of your hand.

pritch

7th August 2011, 19:44

yeah must have taken me all of 30 seconds :bleh: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/classic-vintage/auction-394662319.htm

There were quite a lot of Laverda triples, relatively few Jotas.

It probably isn't wise to believe everything you read on Trademe. It is highly unlikely that bike is a Jota.

Kickaha

7th August 2011, 20:26

There were quite a lot of Laverda triples, relatively few Jotas.

It probably isn't wise to believe everything you read on Trademe. It is highly unlikely that bike is a Jota.

Over 7000 triples not sure how many Jotas, compared to the Jotas though stuff like the MHR, SS and Moto Guzzi Lemans are common

I think you'd be surprised just how much of that stuff is in NZ and if he's had it for 18 years It would be unlikely he doesn't know what kind of bike he owns

It would also be be very easy to find out if it is the real deal

Personally I'd rather have the late eighties SFC

T.W.R

8th August 2011, 08:22

Over 7000 triples not sure how many Jotas, compared to the Jotas though stuff like the MHR, SS and Moto Guzzi Lemans are common

It would also be be very easy to find out if it is the real deal

:facepalm: Kick, you'd actually find that there's more Jotas in the country than MHRs

The wee production plate below the R/H side side-cover would tell you straight away :yes:
Be interesting to see if it was on the Laverda owners register. And I bet he hasn't got the Green Book <_<

pete376403

8th August 2011, 16:59

ducatilover

8th August 2011, 17:33

Then of course there was the rotary engine used in WWI aircraft - the Gnome - where the crankshaft was bolted to the airframe and the cylinders rotated with the propeller.
And to stay on topic Gnome made motorcycles between the wars
http://www.animatedengines.com/gnome.shtml

People seem to call them a rotary radial (From what I have heard/talked to people about) I saw a rotary radial in action a year or two ago, very, very strange thing to witness when it's running. I didn't know anything about them and when it was started I shat myself....:facepalm:

Bass

8th August 2011, 17:39

A mate's old man is an avid model aeroplane builder and he has a single rotor rotary engine that would fit in the palm of your hand.

Those model rotaries respond surprisingly well to a two stroke style tuned pipe - big power increase but also big fuel consumption increase

Kickaha

8th August 2011, 17:43

:facepalm: Kick, you'd actually find that there's more Jotas in the country than MHRs

That may well be true but I wouldn't be betting money any money on it, I've seen Jotas on the road or displays about as often as Suzuki rotaries (which was fuck all and the original topic)

Actually thinking back I've twice seen an RE5 being ridden in Christchurch in the last 10 years which is way more often than I've seen a Jota

T.W.R

8th August 2011, 18:07

That may well be true but I wouldn't be betting money any money on it, I've seen Jotas on the road or displays about as often as Suzuki rotaries (which was fuck all and the original topic)

Actually thinking back I've twice seen an RE5 being ridden in Christchurch in the last 10 years which is way more often than I've seen a Jota

Don't worry old fella, just remember I was riding Laverdas & a MHR mille back when you just dreamt about them :yes:

As for RE5 there's two sitting in a garage not 15mins drive south of where I am and there's at least 6 Jotas around the district and not just dolled up 3CLs either :yes:

\m/

8th August 2011, 21:06

Those model rotaries respond surprisingly well to a two stroke style tuned pipe - big power increase but also big fuel consumption increase
Pretty sure those RC rotaries are 2-strokes. There's one on the net in an rc car with a Mazda 787b bodyshell.

Edit; just done some google searching, they are actually 4 stroke :facepalm: