Re 5 restoration what involved .

[pondoro]

Hi my name is Jeff and I am new to the forum ,I am Englishman living in New York and I am  a Millwright by trade .If I were to buy an RE5 whats involved in  getting one up and running that sat for many years and what should I be on the lookout for re  to buy or to pass on .I have always been fascinated by Wankel engines and would appreciate any input from the knowledge you guys have as I am starting from scratch . I currently ride a GL1200 Ltd Gold Wing efi  which makes a mechanic out of you if you want to keep it going .It currently has 96k miles and is going strong but would love to have an RE5  to ride .


Thanks in advance 


Jeff  

[Jess]

Buy a running riding stopping bike. Spend the money up front and buy the best you can afford. You will be much happier in the long run.

My 2 cents

[wayne]

Hi Jeff,
Here's a post addressing the first part of your question:

re5rotary.proboards.com/thread/2900/first-start-starting-engine-proper

For the second part, hopefully someone will chime in. Ideally, you want one with a running motor. Compression is hard to gauge as the kickstart is highly geared and they can feel difficult to turn over even when the compression is getting low. You can use the kickstart as a rough guide. It should be quite hard to turn over and you should feel that difficulty on every compression which tend to feel close together. The engine makes compression in each 360 degrees of the crank rotation like a 2 stroke.

Other than that, as complete a bike as you can find. If it's an "M", it'll have the tin can instruments and tennis ball blinkers. Many of these unique features are getting difficult to find so best to have instruments, blinkers, tail light, mudguards and chain guard all in place. Seat would also be nice. They are not the same as the GT750.

Feel free to post a picture of a prospective buy and we'll tell you what's stock and what's missing.

I'm not sure what member Jess has as far as complete bikes go but you can give him a nudge at [e-mail]

If you're up for spending the money for a really nice bike, contact member Andouilleman. He can be hard to contact, I can put you in touch.

[pondoro]

Thanks Jess and Wayne for your replies .Most appreciated I have seen bikes for sale locally for $500 but they look rough .I guess I should stay away from them

[Jess]

The old adage, you get what you pay for comes to mind...

Best