BMW has always been unabashed about its ability to develop cutting-edge technology, be it in its cars or motorcycles. It’s this constant pursuit of all things revolutionary that has made the German company a force to be reckoned with in the business. Recently, BMW Motorrad once again gave life to that belief when it applied to get European patents to a three-cylinder pushrod engine that’s unlike anything we’ve seen from the company before.
Based on the patent drawings filed by BMW, it appears that engineers are working on trying to put three cylinders into the normal space of its own V-twin engines. Such an approach has been done before, but not, it seems, to the extent of the configuration BMW is using on this engine. It’s a strange-looking engine with two of the cylinders using just one crankpin and a third having its own, positioned just inside of the drivetrain’s V-angle. Look a little closer and you’ll also notice that the cylinders have a unique look that works with pushrods tasked to operate the valves.
In a somewhat nondescript disclosure to the World Intellectual Property Organization, BMW explained that this particular three-cylinder configuration “represents an as of yet unknown type of W-3 reciprocating piston internal combustion engine having cylinder angles which can be largely freely sized.”
I’m not quite sure what the future of this engine is going to look like, but others have speculated that it could be used on one of BMW Motorrad’s future cruiser models. I’m not entirely opposed to that idea because that would be a fresh approach on a future cruiser, a strategy that BMW seems to know all too well these days.
Click "continue reading" to read more about BMW Motorrad’s patent application for this three-cylinder pushrod engine.
BMW Patents Three-Cylinder Pushrod Engine originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 13 March 2015 09:00 EST.
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