Photo: BMW
Even though we still have a good week or so until April 1st, weird news from BMW have already surfaced. The latest patent we know of refers to a W3 engine BMW is rumored to use for a cruiser bike allegedly in the works. Frankly, this whole W3 engine seems like fantasy territory to us, but you know what they say… never say never.
The W3 engine is basically a v-twin with an added cylinder… and an extra crankshaft. Sounds a bit wacky, that’s right, but if you take a closer look at the photos you will see that the architecture of the engine is truly uncanny and looks like one of the least things we could expect from BMW.
Some might argue that this is a perfect example of living in the past, but in the end, this makes a lot of sense, especially when talking about a bike that tries to evoke the heritage of the past. To what extent the BMW fans who loved bikes such as the R1200C will find the W3 a thrilling design remains a thing of mystery.
Maintenance could also be a point where the W3 engine might look a bit iffy, especially as we are talking about a design whose reliability has not been proven yet. All in all, if BMW is really considering building such an engine and a motorcycle, it’s anyone’s call how popular it would become. The whole thing is so weird that anticipating how the story will unfold is impossible.
Somewhat similar engines have been imagined by Harley-Davidson and Moto Guzzi back in the day, but these ideas did not take flight. Wonder if BMW’s triple will…
Are pushrods still a viable option for a new engine?
Readers with minimal technical knowledge have doubtlessly observed that the drawings after the jump show that the distribution of the W3 engine is actuated by pushrods. A standard feature for most classic cruiser and dressers, pushrods are arguably the best technology to be implemented in a new engine, even though historical brands (read Indian) have not been afraid to make use of them in the new Thunder Stroke 111.Some might argue that this is a perfect example of living in the past, but in the end, this makes a lot of sense, especially when talking about a bike that tries to evoke the heritage of the past. To what extent the BMW fans who loved bikes such as the R1200C will find the W3 a thrilling design remains a thing of mystery.
Maintenance could also be a point where the W3 engine might look a bit iffy, especially as we are talking about a design whose reliability has not been proven yet. All in all, if BMW is really considering building such an engine and a motorcycle, it’s anyone’s call how popular it would become. The whole thing is so weird that anticipating how the story will unfold is impossible.
Somewhat similar engines have been imagined by Harley-Davidson and Moto Guzzi back in the day, but these ideas did not take flight. Wonder if BMW’s triple will…
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