BMW making a triple...again... and maybe

So it looks like BMW may be bringing back the triple. However, unlike the inline-3 engines it had on their K-series "flying brick" bikes of the 80's, this new engine may have a W configuration. That is, the piston orientations form the shape of a W:

The word on the street is that BMW has 2 patents on such an engine. The first is for a W configuration with 3 separate crank throws and 3 crank pins, one for each piston. The second patent is for a setup where 2 of the pistons share a crank throw and pin. Having 3 separate crank throws and pins makes for a wider engine but allows for complete freedom in firing order and timing whereas tying two of the pistons together kind of turns the motor into an asymmetrical twin... kind of. Both configurations are air-cooled and use pushrods to actuate the valves - so fairly low-tech in the emissions-ultra-conscious world we live in these days.

If BMW decides to build this, I suspect that it will be in the form of some kind of cruiser. It has, after all, been a long while since we've seen a cruiser-like bike from BMW. The last one I recall is the R1200C, which was last made over a decade ago and was famously used in the Brosnan Bond-film Tomorrow Never Dies.

Anyway, it's nice to see that bike companies are starting to innovate and try new things again - Yamaha's parallel triples, Kawasaki's beastly supercharged H2 and even an electric bike from HD...Maybe someone will bring back the Wankel Rotary and use advances in materials sciences and engineering to solve the problems these little motors were notorious for. Or maybe someone will combine a couple of these W engines to produce a radial monstrosity... like this:

I welcome this revitalized trend of innovation and experimentation and a return to the glorious 60-80's era when bikes were mental.

-Larry