Post by rotoryguy on Jul 29, 2019 7:27:20 GMT -5
Hello all.
Referring to the Ebay and Craigs list topics, I purchased the RE5 from Natrona Heights (a suburb North of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).
Some history:
The bike has 11000 miles and 333 on the odo.
The bike's last inspection sticker is 1983.
So it might be a good guess that the last time it ran was somewhere around that timeframe.
I understand from whom I purchased it, that the owner had passed and the bike has just sat around all these years.
I went looking for a rotary powered bike last year and on July 4th, made the trip to Pittsburgh.
I couldn't believe it was still available.
I'll post pics to whet your restoration appetite once I've reduced their size.
The bike is missing the exhaust shrouds and the oil tank cap.
All else was there and in typical shape for a bike that has been neglected; dirty, some corrosion, and containing various nuts under the seat from furry creatures.
The oil tank is full of fresh oil, linkages such as front and rear brake, center stand and others were stuck.
Tires are - well you know - old and so signs of cracks and age.
The tank internals were covered in rust and the outside shows signs of corrosion, but no leaks.
The clutch area is oily underneath - likely leaking seals.
The oil pump area is dirty but not covered in oil.
Removing the engine sump side cover - there was a lot of goosh in the bottom of the tank.
Oddly enough, the oil wasn't terrible removed from there and the transmission.
Tank
I used Electrolysis to remove the rust from the tank.
It worked very well - for power I had an old computer power supply for the 12V
Afterwards, I pressure washed and coated the insides with Kero and WD40.
The radiator was a mess.
Although there was still fresh green coolant in the engine and bottom of the radiator, the top of the radiator was bone dry.
Needless to say the inside top of the radiator looked like I had gone into an underground cavern - seeing as there was a lot of crystalline stalagmites and stalactites!
I would suspect that the water pump is still in good shape owing to the coolant being there, but we shall see.
The headlight has lost it's high beam and the front brakes are sticky and don't work.
The wheels are lovely and in great shape.
I believe the electrical and gauges are all in great shape but will find out as I go on.
The carburetor is where I started since I wanted to run the bike prior to removing all of the bits and polishing them.
It of course was also full of goosh and there were obvious signs someone had been there before me.
The jet that the needle for the pump nozzle slides into was turned (that was quickly restored to its proper position.
The accelerator pump diaphragm was toast yet, the remaining rubber diaphragms elsewhere in the petcock as well as carb were all in great shape.
(I used AT 205 on rubber parts so I used it on these parts also on the opposite side of the gasoline).
I've also removed all of the cables and cleaned them.
They're all in good shape and were stuck due to old grease, and neglect.
Some time in the ultrasonic does wonders for carbs and other parts - eh!?
I hope you all find this interesting.
Again, I thank you all for the information available here in this forum.
I will post as things happen and will share parts and products and techniques I've found as well.
It's a slow process as I'm still working but it helps to fund this project!