There
was, of course, the Spagthorpe Wrestler engine, which was a horizontally
opposed twin having no crankshaft and a single rod connecting the two pistons.
Teeth on the top and bottom of this rod drove gears which transmitted the
motions to the gearbox. The pistons were lead weighted to provide sufficient
momentum to complete the complex Three-And-A-Half-With-A-Wiggly-Bit-Thrown-In-For-Good-Measure
stroke system that was the masterstroke behind this engine.
The only drawback
to this design was that occasionally the engine revs would match the sympathetic
resonance of the machine (strict luggage loading instructions had to be
adhered to for warranty purposes) and the bike would disintegrate spectacularly
in an explosion of motorbike and human parts. If you were strong and agile
enough, you could disperse the standing waves and prevent this unfortunate
incident. Hence the name Wrestler.