Purist's, look away, NOW.

[didge]

Just over a year ago, following an advert in Tansha, the VJMC magazine, I bought myself a black RE5A, i've wanted one for decades, although in truth what I had in my tiny head was an orange M model, but hey, it was cheap, (partially seized) and local, and I had first refusal, so I bought it.

and with my sons help, brought it home.


On closer inspection it wasn't seized but the former owner had done some work on it, removed the exhaust outlet amongst other things, and blocked the hole with rag, and it was a small piece of this rag that caused the seizure, getting compressed on the rotor tip !! (phew)

I painted it firemist blue cos I wanted it to be different to most other A models I'd seen, and quite liked it.


Riding it one day I was thinking what a joy it is to ride, but I wished it were an orange M, I wondered how much I'd get for it if I sold it, and how much an M would be, but I know THIS bike having done stuff to it...............

Then I thought to myself, what if I change it , so an email to Jess and Barb at the Temple that is "Rotary Recycle", prices were agreed, and parts were delivered.

I ordered the paint from RS paints in the Uk and painted it myself, then, like clockwork, fitted all the parts together.





And the reason for this post, well, it's simply to sing the praises of my newest bestest mates, Jess and Barb, at RR, the communications, quality, value, and all round everything was second to none, it was nice to deal with people who gave you a service in return.
(Amongst the goodies was a repro headlamp bucket, what a sound bit of kit, don't mess about with your old brittle nacelle, invest in one of these babies.)

I'm also indebted to Lee Doxey (Ziggy stardust) for his constant help here in the UK.

[gpdesign]

Lookin' good!

[FC Zach]

Good job, its beautiful!

[Al Corelli]

Absolutely Beautiful.

I am contemplating the same conversion.

But first, I have to get mine running.

So far, I've got compression, spark, A spotlessly original clean gas tank, and a carb that needs to be ultrasonically cleaned due to a stuck secondary shaft.
Oh, and a radiator full of rocks (lime and crap) in the top tank.

Fun winter for me.

[Crusader]

looks great!!!

[suzukiclub]

nice one didge

[ziggystardust]

Lovely, what next Didge European handlebars?

Z

[didge]

Probably not Lee, I like the higher bars, they are really comfortable.

[ziggystardust]

Yes I have to agree Didge, having both I find the US ones more comfortable and the bike is also easier to manoeuvre at low speed.
Z

[Jess]

Didge,

You honor us with your kind words... We appreciate it very much! We are proud of the products we produce and are particularly proud of the headlamp bucket. it was truely a labor of love getting them done and frankly, ours are better than the factory unit.

You did a beautiful job with your bike and should be quite proud of yourself. As they say on your side of the pond... "Proper Job!"

As an aside, your bike may have started life as an M anyway... There is no "cut off" number for production switch from M to A. If your frame number is 16XXX it is improbable, but not impossible. If it is a 14XXX to 15XXX frame number it is probable. Anything below a 14XXX is more probable. I am sure you know that Suzuki sent teams to dealers to convert M's to A's as the buying public thought the M was ugly as hell...

I have personally pulled an A from the crate that started life as an M. It was in the factory, awaiting shipment when the change order came down from the muckity mucks at Suzuki. The factory unboxed, converted, and reboxed. It now resides in Kiwiland.

I am also glad to know the identity of the firemist blue A, several years ago there was much hoopla made about a firemist blue A model running around. The factory showed a photo of one very much like your old paint scheme in some promotional literature that in my opinion never made it to production. I checked my records and do not show that one was ever made, but there are folks who seem not to believe much that I say or want to argue...

Interesting how tastes change over time. I am glad that you chose to do it now as the M parts are getting harder and harder to come by...

Again... thanks for your kind words.

Best Regards

[didge]

The frame number's 16121, someone told me it was originally produced as an A, but at some point it's had a different motor (13424) so it's life has been a bit of a mish mash, not that I care too much.

I didn't buy it as a history lesson, that's why I painted it firemist blue, cos I could, I thought it would make a change, and as the sales brochure said the choices were black or blue, that was the green light I needed.

I have to say, I liked it before, I LOVE IT TO BITS now.

You should have a section on here for stupid comments though Jess, tonight I was at Weston super mare bike night and someone said to me "it's a American import isn't it "? I said, "how did you work that out ?" and he replied "because it doesn't have a light switch" !!!
and then, while it was parked with the clock cover open (another fine bit of kit from RR) some bloke said to me "I was just telling my girl friend about the map reader, but how does it work" map reader ? says I, "yes, the map reader" he repeats, stroking the clock cover !!!!

[mike500]

uk models have orange rear reflectors not red and they have a high beam pass and also a different lights on button,i have a uk re5m and a usa re5 import

[didge]

He thought the light switch should be on the right side by the kill switch so when he saw there was nothing there assumed it had no "on" switch.

[Jess]

I like the "map reader" feature... I had not heard that one before...

Oh crap... now it will wind up on some website that "the bike came with a futuristic map reader, way ahead of it's time..."

Best,

[gerryggg]

As far as "Purists" go, I like the Classic Bike Magazine slogan, "Ride 'em, don't hide 'em." Now if I could just finish my bathroom so I can get to work on mine. Oh well, I got the shower stall kit in so maybe...soon! Nice job.