Repair Manual Questions.

[ValkBandit]

i have an aftermarket repair CD for my BMW and it is EXCELLENT. with it i am able to do nearly all my own maintenance.



i guess it varies but my experience has been very positive.

[jeffreyc]

I bought a CD manual from eBay for my MT-01.



Pros.

Complete service manual showing lots of details. High quality PDF files.



Cons.

Did not include parts list.

Not searchable.

Copy of original. (pirate, not advertised as such on eBay)



There is a company called AutoCD www.autocd.com that might have a better quality searchable CD.

[KLRer]

my kawasaki klr 650 manual is vague to put it mildly. "For smooth riding..." shift into 2nd at 9 mph, 3rd at 16 mph....etc. Right.

[ledbreva]

Moto Guzzi does not have printed manuals any longer. I have an earlier printed manual for my Breva and a CD (official Guzzi) manual and parts list. Both are good. Actually the parts listing includes exploded diagrams and is better as a work guide than the repair manual. Nothing on the bike has needed repair. I have added things and lost a bolt which was hard to reach to replace. The parts guide showed the bolt, the repair manual did not. I print out what page I need. After I am finished (if it is not too messy) I put it in a ring binder. Never tried Chiltons or what ever because when they make a Guzzi guide it is old. "Guzziology" is better as an aftermarket for Guzzi's.

[MadScientistMatt]

Hmmm. I have an old Panasonic Toughbook CF-27 that I use specifically for tuning and diagnosing my car. It does come in handy even though I prefer a paper shop manual.

[mscuddy]

Had a Clymer repair manual for an old CZ175 I once had. This particular model had the combo shifter-kickstarter-slick-shift gizmo built into the shifting/kickstart/clutch unit, and was held together with a strong pre-wound coil spring. Picture if you will a garage door spring under maximum tension.



So anyway I had to take the clutch side case off and consulted the manual. Everything went well 'till I got to the last paragraph on the last page that said "now carefully remove side case."



So I carefully jiggled the sidecase out a little...peek...look..jiggle. I then heard a loud "un-winding" noise, followed by a 5 pound gear that shot out of the case like a rocket and nailed me right between the eyes.



After recovering my senses and getting a cold beer for the giant knot on my head I turned the page of the Clymer manual...



There, at the very top of the next page was a WARNING with giant red exclamation mark and a message next to it: "DANGER, KICKSTARTER GEAR UNDER HIGH SPRING TENSON, USE CARE WHEN REMOVING SIDE CASE!!!!



I figured the Clymer people had some deal going with the Czecho commies to kill CZ 175 mechanics all across the globe. Eliminate the problem.



Sold the CZ the next day.

[bikervince]

Repair manuals on CD are great.



And you don't need to print out the entire manual (what a waste of paper) or bring a laptop into the garage with you (asking for trouble).

Here's what you do:

1. Read the manual online and then only print out the relevant pages for whatever maintainence chore you're doing that day.

2. Take those pages into the garage with you for reference.

3. When you're done throw out the now grease-stained pages. Next time you can just print out some more clean, perfect copies. Done!





I had manuals on CD for my Vstar and my Bandit that I bought online. They looked like pirated scans, but hey, I would have bought legit copies if they were available from the manufacturer. Why aren't they?



BikerVince