@Hobot
Ultimately, if more power was the result of the step in the BSA experiments, it had to be the result of burning more fuel. Power only comes from burning fuel.
Burning more fuel can result from an increased mass of fuel/air introduced into the cylinder, or from burning the fuel in a given amount of fuel/ air mix more efficiently.
Given that the BSA folks did not change anything to increase the fuel/ air mass (they did put on a larger carb, but when they removed the step, they lost what they gained), they must have gained power by the latter factor of burning it more efficiently. Also, the presence of the step and the resulting turbulence, might actually reduce the mass flow, pointing more to the latter factor.
How then did the step result in greater burn efficiency? I theorize (hell, I don't know for sure, but I cannot come up with anything better, and so far no one else has) the step induced turbulence dispersed the fuel droplets and helped atomize them. This would result in faster burn rates in the cylinder, higher mean effective pressure, especially at optimal crank angles, and less fuel to be burned late in the cycle, or only to be exhausted to finish burning in the pipes.
Now, IF that is the proper scenario, how can we better disburse and atomize the fuel? The step generates large scale turbulence, that is, large swirls. Such large swirls carry the fuel droplets more in toto, rather than fragment them into finer droplets which is the desired action. I am not saying such large swirls do not help fragment and disperse, just saying I am looking for a better way.
A cylinder placed across a stream generates turbulent eddies on a scale about twice the cylinder caliber with the eddies in opposing rotation, the opposing rotation should in theory, better fragment the droplets. I grant you your point that a small caliber may not affect a large area, but by experiment, the caliber and spacing may be optimized. I also think (don't know for sure) the high frequency of the vortex shedding will whip the fuel drops better than the step.
The crux of your points are that flow streamlining is the objective. Not per the BSA experiments ... they found they lost the power gain when they streamlined the carb - manifold - port.
As I said, there is nothing scientific about my proposed wire caliber and spacing ... it is a place to start for anyone disposed to experimenting .... mostly, it is Slick's guts .... but I do have a PhD in aerodynamics, and my doctoral thesis was a theoretical analysis of step-induced boundary layer separation.
You are the Forum's Premier Experimenter ... why not look into better fuel atomization?
Tex, I suggest the specific horse power of a Triumph 750 twin with hi-comp pistons is always less than that of a Commando 750. If you lift the head off a Triumph, the piston is always coked up on the side away from the plug, unless the head has been modified to centralise the plug. In that situation, more fuel doesn't necessarily mean more horsepower. If the inlet tract flows better and the fuel is better mixed with the air - that gives more power if the combustion process was previously wasteful. I wouldn't leave a step in the inlet tract, I've tapered my ports to get laminar flow, and rely on the head to create good combustion conditions - thus I would never remove the squish band.
This may sound crazy, but perhaps a small turbine wheel (about a dimes diameter) placed behind the fuel tube might blast the fuel drops to atoms better than anything so esoteric as aerodynamics, or such a turbine might only sling the fuel to form a wet ring around the carb periphery .... only an experiment will tell ...
Slick