Say goodbye to pistons

An amateur inventor with a background in designing bus engines reckons he’s come up with a way to blow traditional pistons away – by using a wedge-shaped version which moves sideways.

Mervyn Davies, of Oswestry, Shrops, has spent seven years working on a new type of engine and reckons it could develop 50 per cent more power than a four-stroke of the same capacity.

He’s looking to go into partnership with an existing engine producer – and eventually wants to design a complete bike around his creation.

The motor’s design is only marginally more complex than a two-stroke’s. The piston, which moves back and forth in a flat chamber, is linked by connecting rods to a flywheel. Because of its pivoting design, it doesn’t suffer the ” side thrust ” of a conventional engine, where the conrod forces the piston against either side of the bore as the big end goes round on the crankshaft, increasing friction.

And the leverage of the conrod on the crank will be much more effective than in conventional engines, too.

The Davies engine uses the two-stroke principles of reed valve intake control and a transfer port to get the petrol-air mixture from one side of the ” piston ” to the other, but there the similarity ends.

Davies, said: ” It’s very simple and easy to assemble, and I’m sure it will be easy to liquid-cool.

” I’d like to think a 600cc twin-chamber version of my engine could be a match for a 1000cc superbike. ”