Suzuki RE-5

Between 1974 and 1976, Suzuki spent a massive sum of money, time, and energy into developing and mass producting the the RE-5. This was the only rotary powered motorcycle ever built.

During this time period, the other competing bike companies were working frantically on developing their in-line four cylinder "muscle bikes." Although the Japanese bike companies were new, they quickly gained a fan base and sold many reliable, fast bikes.

Suzuki went a different route during this race using the Wankel powered rotary engine instead of the in-line four cylinder. The engine made decent power-- 62 hp at 6,500 rpms. The bike weighed over 500 lbs, so this ended up as more of a touring bike and not a sport bike. The motor used alot less parts than the standard internal combustion motor. There were no pistons, camshafts, or valves, and since the rotors, well, rotated, the RE-5 had a superbly smooth ride.

"It is an incredibly smooth riding bike," says Jay Leno, from a Jay Leno's Garage episode.

The RE-5's production span was short because at the time period customers didn't appreciate/understand what the bike was about. Everyone was still caught up in the Honda and Kawasaki in-line four cylinder madness. There is a rumor that Suzuki threw all of the RE-5 parts into the local harbor because they were so fed up with the project.

Even though the bike's sales were low, it was still an engineering feat. The motor was liquid cooled as compared to all of the other air cooled motors. The braking system was composed of a hydraulic dual disc brake system in the front.

Thanks for reading, those of you who read this thing. Look foward to checking out my body putty article when I get around to that, tour of the damn's maybe later, and whatever else I conjure up.

A Good Bit of Knee Draggin' Instructions

Knee Dragging is the ultimate expression of bike control and handling. If you can properly touch your knee to the pavement in a safe and proper manner you will be a better rider and have more fun.

As talked about in the video, it is all about body position. First and foremost, you must get your toes on the foot peg. You may have experienced scraping your foot on the pavement when riding "aggresively" and this is actually a good start. Now you can get your toe on the peg and have that much more space to lean!

The next basic step to body positioning is learning what to do with your body. They explain it in the video, which I must ad is a great addition to this discussion. You can see people who have never had their knee down, get their knee down! Anyway, getting back on track... you must learn to twist your body instead of bluntly leaning off the bike. Keep your head straight and pivot on the foot pegs, twisting your body foward while hanging your shoulders off the bike. You must hang your upper half of your body off of the bike! Trust your bike and your tires.

I'm tired of typing, watch the video, have fun... see ya'll next time.

Look for the next history of bikes hoopla, some body putty fun time, tour of the damn's if I ever get around to it, and whatever else I can conjure up.

Oh, yea by the way I learned how to embed youtube vids-- whoo hoo!

Rubbers

Tires connect you/your bike to the ground. It pays to have a nice set of tires, especially on a two-wheeled machine. Since the primary theme of this blog is with old bikes, lets discuss some good tires for that old metric bike of yours.

Those most important thing regarding a tire is the construction. There are two types of construction on a tire: bias ply and radial ply. A tire is made of multiple layers of rubber called plies. In a bias ply tire, the layers are at a 45 degree angle to the center strip and at a 90 degree angle to eachother--they criss-cross eachother. A radial tire has the plies overlap eachother all at a 90 degree angle to the center.

It is safe to say that all of the tires, even the performance ones for these old metric bikes are bias ply tires. They work perfectly fine so don't go searching for a radial tire for your 130 rear rim-- you won't fine it!

There are a few styles of tires that are popular choice in the old metric-cycle community. They all come in various sizes to fit the various sized rims. The Cheng Shin HiMax tire is a good choice if you are on a budget.

"I have cheng shins front and back on my gs1000e. I ride it pretty hard and the tires are holding up fairly well and they haven't slid out from under me or anything else scary," stated a GS Resources forum member.

This tire is around $50 bucks for a rear and a few bucks less for the front.

The Dunlop D404 tire is another popular candidate, even though it has its ups and downs.

"Dunlop 404's are very sticky, great feel, fairly cheap, look good, don't last long. I got less than 3,600 hard miles out of a set on my GS850. They got pretty badly scalloped and didn't feel very good before I replaced them," stated a GS Resources Super Site Supporter.

He also went on to promote the D491's which last longer but are a bit more expensive.

Next on the list are the Bridgestone Spitfire's. These tires are noted to have good traction in the wet and dry and are supposed to last very long. I can quote myself in the performance of these tires as I have scrapped my knee going around turns with these tires. They are designed to be a great all around sport touring tire. These tires also go for the 50-60 dollar range.

The last tire on the list are the Avon Roadrider series. They are noted for their ultra grippy characteristics and sporty tread pattern.

"They're the absolute stickiest tires available in vintage sizes. Both are very modern v-rated designs that work fantastically in the wet or dry," stated GS Resources Super Site Supporter.

These tires run just under and just above $100 for each.

Before purchasing your next set of tires, be realistic with what type of rider you are. The wider the tire does not have anything to do with how far you can lean over in a turn.

Things to look for next time: body putty how to, tour of the damn's, other stuff if I remember it.

Lets Talk a Lil Racing

The track is closed for the season, so until it opens up again, lets build a bike! Drag racing can be very expensive, if you want to go fast. If you want to have fun and learn how to race, it doesn't have to be all that expensive.

The first step is choosing a bike. Don't buy into all those romantic images of building something from scratch. You don't know what your doing, and trust me on this one because if your reading this blog you don't know what your doing. It is also expensive as all hell to build something. Buy something that runs! There are many good bikes that are a great platform in which to build a drag racer. For instance, the Naked Speed bike is a 82 KZ 750 that already ran and moved and stopped and started and turned off when the team got it. This KZ also has a very strong gearbox, so clutchless shifting it all night is a no brainer. This bike also came equipped with huge carbs, so modifying them for better throttle response and a bit more hp is easy.

Another great candidate for a race bike is a first generation (77-79) GS750. This motor will run with all different kinds of Mikuni carburetors so you can make passes on the bike, and search for bigger carbs at the same time!

The great thing about the Suzuki models is their universal compatability. The first generation GS 750 frame can house a first generation 8 valve 1000 motor. This motor also uses the same carburetors as the 750, so if you find just a motor, you can put on those tiny VM26's and still make passes. This 1000 engine will also work with great with Mikuni smoothbores.

The second generation GS750 (80-82) frame can house the second generation GS1100 motor. This thing is a beast! The main thing, however, is to get a bike that runs. Don't get a rolling chassis without a motor, because it will never run. Trust me.

Z1 (1972 KZ900)

So it begun. Kawasaki heard of the CB750 creating a normal bike that was fast, actually the fastest thing around since everyone else was making two-stroke bikes and trying to copy the British-- the revolutionary war happened for a reason.

The Kawasaki engineers got to work on making a better model, since the CB had already won the attention of the motorcycle community. The basis for the bike was an inline four(because they are awesome), but to make it bigger and better, because if they didn't then it would just be copying the CB.

Hence the birth of the Z1. This Kawasaki engineered 903 cc inline four engine had all kinds of goodies that motorcyclists all over were just dyeing to try out. This engine was the first Dual Overhead Cam motor, the basis for all modern sport bike motors. It produced 79 hp at 8,500 rpm's with a top speed of about 131 mph. It also weighed 544 lbs to make it stable at those for the time, ungodly speeds. If Kawasaki make a way heavier bike with 4 more hp, why is it faster? Who knows! The single disc brake was still used, but then dual disc started... people were flabergasted.

Until next time, keep riding safely, and look out for the next part to the rattle can series. Sorry no vid links this time because they were all crazy people and not legitimate vids, since this is a very proper blog.

The art of the rattle can (for the rest of us)-Part1

For many people painting can be an intimidating process. Some never even think about painting their own stuff (motorcycles) because it is hard and can turn out really bad if done improperly, sort of. However, the paint on your bike can make it our break it, so if you are looking at used bikes and know how to paint, then you can save money.

(photo taken from bikeexif.com)

Painting really isn't super hard, or atleast spraying on a color or two or three and making it look nice isn't that hard. You also do not need a clean room, air compressor with a spray gun, and a power sander to paint your bike parts.

The absolute first step to painting your bike is figuring out what color(s) you want to make it and if you can actually pull it off. Single and dual paint schemes are very popular and at the beginner level fairly easy. The project that this article is based on is going to be white, with a blue racing stripe with a sparkling clear coat.

You know what colors you want, now it is time for preperation. Generally, you can paint the side covers of the bike first. This way you can still ride the bike if you do not have enough time after work or whatever to finish and you can see how it is going to turn out without ruining your tank and everything else. Preperation is the most important step in painting. To have extremely nice results you have to prepare extremely well.

Sanding sponges are idealy the best tools for preparation. You are not doing a proffesional paint job for a $100,000 show bike so it is not necessary to remove all the the paint down the the bare metal. Since I mentioned side covers we can use them as an example. Remove the side covers... duh. Take a rag and wipe them off, you can clean them with soap and water if you want, but again unless it is covered in leaves, oil, and cat fur you can probably get away with just dusting it off. Inspect the surface and make sure that you are happy with it. If so, it is recommended to scuff the surface before applying any paint, as it will adhere to the surface better. Use some 1000 grit or 800 grit or something like that. Wipe off the dust.

Side covers generally do not need alot of prep work to have good results as they are mainly plastic. If there is a big dent or crack, we will go over body filler/putty in a later section.

After a light scuffing, get out your sandable primer. There are three basic primer colors:white, gray, and black. The color of the primer effects or affects (I forget which one) the overall tone of the paint. A white primer will make the paint brighter, a black primer will make it darker, and a gray one will do something in the middle.

Make sure the tempature is around 60 degrees or above so the primer can cure. If the surface is clean and sanded you are ready to go! Shake the can...duh. Do 2-3 light coats as opposed to one heavy one. This will ensure that you have a smooth, crisp, and clean coat of primer without bloches and runs. Hold the can about 8 inches away from the surface and go parallel back and forth from end to end. Do not worry if it is not compeltely the primeres color on the first coat!

Keep checking for the next part of the rattle can art. It will involve using body putty with more intensive sanding techniques. Also check out the next "history of bikes" article that SHOULD be coming out this week. Oh yea, also look for an upcoming riding destinations article, and riding with a passanger! See ya next time.

Lots of Rain

Since this weather is really wet the Naked Speed team will not be racing on Friday, November 13.

Since we are on the wet topic, lets discuss riding when the roads are wet and it is raining. Motorcycles lose everything they have on the dry pavement when the roads are wet. Cornering is difficult, stopping is dangerous and quick accelerations are dangerous. When coming to a stop it is best to down shift and use the engine braking to slow down. The rear brake is also better to use because if your back wheel locks up it is easier to correct compared to if your front wheel loses traction. STAY OFF ROAD PAINT! The yellow lines and road paint are slippery when they get wet, so be sure to stay away from these. It is a good idea to keep an overly safe distance behind cars as they can stop faster in the rain.

There are other things that you should take into consideration. You should be wearing a full face helmet with a windshield, if not, you are being really unsafe and although I condone hooligan maneuvers such as wheelies and high speed riding, you must protect your skull. Anyway, the windshield on your helmet does not have wipers like a car. There are certain types of gloves with lil squeegees on the thumb to use as a wiper. I have a set of these and they are nice.

Rain gear is also nice to have in the rain as it keeps the rain off of you! There are many types of these suits made out of all kinds of stuff. There are two piece suits and one peice suits. Take your pick, they range from 30 bucks to probably almost 300.

This link shows what its like to be in the rain. Notice him wiping off his face mask.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZqXPhK_3LE&feature=related