Having owned a 1976 RE-5, new, can I chime in here?
The 1975 "star wars" version, good luck finding the instruement cover or tailight lense.
The 76 version was a better looking bike, imho.
As to finding parts, Mazda has some. Not many of the mechanics back then knew anything about this motor, let alone the 2 stage carb.
Some of the earlier models had sealing problems on the roters.
This was covered under warranty.
If you look at the specs posted, it was real fast and it was heavy.
And now in the $3 per gallon fuel it was a pig. Not very fuel efficient.
It did handle pretty well for it's size and weight.
The classic Suzuki black with blue pin striping still looks great today, mine was this combo. A very different bike, in all the years I've only seen 1 other one on the road, and that was in 77 or 78.
The sound is totally different from an inline 4.
My bro in law described it as a "quiet airplane" taking off.
It just revved and went.
Tourque was not a problem as a rotary has a fairly flat power band.
It's not peaky like other motors.
I sheared like 6 teeth off 2/nd gear drag racing it
And sold it/traded it in for a GS550 :-D
Definately a collector bike now, and for a select few. It's seems to be a
love it or hate it model.
As to mod's for speed, I don't know of any that you could do.
Short of adapting some Mazda parts, I know of no speed shops
that modify these.
The suspension, sure that can be modded,
but why mod something like this?
