New member

[jsmyth8]

Hey guys, I'm Jean and I recently won an re5 in a raffle. A friend of mine has ~15 re5's so when another friend was in need, he raffled one off to help out. He is getting the bike up & running for me which is great but since he doesn't live nearby, I'll need to get a handle on maintenance and basic repairs pretty quickly. Thankfully I live near a motorcycle collective that specializes in vintage Japanese bikes and they can't wait to see it. This is actually my first bike and I'm in the process of getting my license so all advice is welcome! I'm glad to have found a community for this endeavor for sure.

[wayne]

Welcome Jean, first things first. Go here and have a feast of downloading:

re5rotary.proboards.com/thread/379/re5-parts-service-manuals-online


Read the Owner's manual, give you some basics.

Have a flick through the Factory Service Manual and once you've settled into riding, start reading that as well.

It's big, heavy and tall bike for a first timer. Take care at a standstill as it's top heavy and once you're past a few degrees of lean while stationary, it can be hard to recover. Once moving, it's fine.

With the ignition on you should hear a high pitched whine, that's normal (it's the CDI box under the battery)

You can safely use any unleaded fuel in it. I'd be wary of ethanol but search the board, there's some discussion about it. The bike was designed to run on low octane by today's standards. Get yourself a spare spark plug or spark plug adapter to take a modern plug (I'm assuming you're in the US, to buy one send an email to Jess at [e-mail] )

Learn how to remove and replace the spark plug and carry the spare when riding. Using the plug adapter with a modern plug you're unlikely to have a complete plug failure but a good idea to have one spare (it's only got one plug).

Keep an eye on the engine sump oil especially when you first start riding. Unlike a modern car or bike, you will have to top it up. Be aware that the bike also has an oil tank under the seat which must be refilled. Ballpark, the under seat tank (metering pump oil) will last about 1000 miles and has a warning light on the dash when it's running down. Oil to use is Castrol GTX both in the sump and under seat. Gearbox oil is separate from the other two. Use a four stroke motorcycle oil (that's compatible with wet clutch, will say it on the back somewhere, most are anyway) in the gearbox or straight gear oil of about 80W.

Use coolant suitable for alloy engines and make sure your friend has put in 1/2 ounce of Bar's Leaks when he preps the bike and fills the coolant. If he hasn't, add it. It's important. You shouldn't lose coolant during normal use.

The fan will not come on until the bike is really hot, needle almost to the right side. That bit is normal. However needle to the far right is not unless it's a stinker of a day in stop start traffic. Normal is generally to the left of the centre mark.

The manual advises to warm up 'til the needle reaches the first mark. This can take up to 5 or 6 mins and is a rotary "thing" (RX7's were the same). Just take it easy on the rpm 'til the bike is fully warmed up. There are much greater thermal stresses on a rotary than a piston so best to get it all up to temp. While I'm on that, watch those exhaust pipes. Much hotter than anything you've encountered before (Ask Me How I Know....... LOL......).

Just some basics for you, any questions, just ask. This board has some real experts but it lacks the immediacy of some platforms, it make take a day or two to get an answer. Learn to use the search function. and have a look at the FAQ's. Also take a look at the "Member's Cycles and Videos" section (bottom of Home page) for some entertainment and inspiration.

[jsmyth8]

Wayne,

This is great information! I actually started printing off the FSM yesterday and ran out of ink at around 126 pages 😅 but I'll definitely be getting back on that today. This forum is a treasure trove of information, it's really impressive, and I'll keep digging into it! I'll also send some of the tips to my friend, thank you so much!

[timpa136]

Welcome Jean,

Wayne covered it very well.

I would also emphasize motorcycle safety and read the licence literature closely for precautions that most car drivers don't have to worry about, especially intersections. Many folks first bikes were small 90cc or 250ccs and would tolerate a lot of abuse by a new rider.

Commendable actions of your friend and hope all is well.


Tim

[jsmyth8]

Tim,

That's a great point and something I have been thinking about a lot. I think it might be best to get a smaller bike to practice on until I really get the hang of things on the road. I live in a city so essentially the worst place to learn to ride. 'Wheelie boys' are pretty prevalent here so I think a lot of drivers who live here are accustomed to looking out for dirtbikes at least but not so much people coming into the city. Great advice!

[hudson]

Jean, 

The best advice I ever received about riding motorcycles on the street over 40 years ago was to always believe that you are invisible. Approach every intersection and situation with that as your first thought.

Brian 

[rotoryguy]

Hi Jean!

Pictures!!! Please show us your bike.

And to capitalize on Hudson's response - Be just a bit scared all the time and learn to anticipate.

Where in the world are you? Also check out VJMC.org

[re5rotary]

As much as I love my RE5 I doubt it would be considered a good leaners bike. I suggest you venture forth on something a bit smaller and lighter first. And like the others have said be careful out there!

[jsmyth8]

I'm so glad I joined this forum, lots of great advice here! I don't have the bike just yet, my friend fixing it up is currently having his brain broken by the rotary so it might be awhile before I'm able to pick it up but there will be pictures as soon as I do! I'm in the maryland area but the bike is in NY. I've got the BRC coming up soon and have been practicing riding with some friends so I think I'll get a little bike to learn on while the RE5 gets fixed up and work my way up to that level.

[rotoryguy]

Good luck to you!

I'll be just as excited to see it running.