reccomendations for manual(s)?

[fixer]

just curious what the preferred/recommended manuals are?

from a brief search i've seen menton of the BMW shop manual, and the typical Haynes/
Clymer manuals, and apparently there are several generations of each.

any chance the factory manuals are available on .PDF from anywhere?

[Justin B.]

I personally have the Haynes, but I have Clymers for other bikes and used to have a /5 BMW factory manual.  The factory manuals refer to BMW special tools that we probably don't have and are written on a different level.  All three manuals will lie to you about this and that so just pick one, then if something isn't clear or sounds wrong then ask!

I, too, would like a PDF of the shop manual if anybody out there is listening...

[Bob_Roller]

The BMW shop manuals are written in the context that it is assumed you are trained in BMW motorcycle maintenance. Alot of common knowledge information is not included in the text.

[Joan]

All three manuals will lie to you about this and that so just pick one, then if something isn't clear or sounds wrong then ask!

Word! [smiley=deal2.gif]


(I've got the Clymer, Haynes, and official shop manual as well.)

[SCJJR65]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Haynes a "British" written manual, while the Clymer is an "American" written one?  I've noticed the Haynes manual uses terms like "spanner" instead of "wrench" and other terms we Yanks don't normally use regarding bike maintenance.

[Justin B.]

I have always enjoyed reading british manuals because their dialect is so different.  Then I can ask my chums to pass me the 13mm spanner, and finish waxing the L/F wing on my car, and cleaning the windscreen, and ...  Really, I've never had a problem with it, but I have been farting around with this stuff for close to 40 years and have had Clymer and Haynes manuals at the same time.  

Now, the BMW factory manuals are a good read and I think a Brit must have done the translation on the /5 book as mechanics are referred to as "fitters", real good wrenches as "master fitters", and other such terminology.