Machining custom intake for a racing motorcycle
4,325 views · Published 18 January 2016 · 24:06 · Indexed 10 October 2026
Channel: Arnold's Design · 2016 · Science & Technology
Once again I am at it in the shop, this time manual machining a custom intake manifold for a racing motorcycle. Manual machining is sometimes referred to as old school machining, because of the prevalence of CNC machines now. The owner gave me the original manifold to duplicate. What isn't shown is me drawing up prints, taking most of the measurements, and also the setup and indication of parts, changing the vise, deburring, blending etc. I edited those parts out for the sake of making the video shorter. However, all the actual machining is shown, most of it at 6 times the normal speed. I had to blend two radii in the interior hole where they met at a 40 degree angle. That was tricky, because if I would have overshot the vertex of the two runners, it would have been scrapped. For those not familiar with the parlance of the motorhead community, an intake manifold is a duct connecting a carburetor or throttle body to an inlet port on an engine head or cylinder, depending on the type of engine it is.
