Value of shop manual?

[Rolls_imp]

The half-price ones are of impressive quality, but like many here, I believe they are reproductions. Here's the catch - it's in the quality of the step by step photos that the originals show up the others, and that alone would justify the price difference.

Having said that, no matter you get a manual from, it is an excellent investment, even at twice the price.

Here's why I think so:

[li]Safety: Simple procedures like taking off the tank are real safety issues with the super high pressure our EFI bikes gas lines (and connectors) support.[/li] [li]Durability (and not accidentally destroying something): Whether you use a torque wrench or not, *knowing* the torque spec is super valuable, especially considering the different alloys that make up our bike's systems.[/li] [li]Maintenance: Even simple maintenance items, like removing and replacing a wheel for new tire installation (w/o putting your bike out of commission for a week) or slapping in new brake pads, will have at least one consideration in their detailed steps that is helpful or critical for you to know. In many cases, the shop manual is the most dependable source of the correct info; even more than your experienced parts guy or even your expert dealer mechanic. There are just too many models and too many subtleties for these guys to know everything.
[/li]
Owning one empowers you. It really pays for itself with even the most casual of use.

That's been my experience. YMMV.

Hope it helps, in any case.

[dlhmatt_imp]

If you enjoy doing your own maintenance and repairs it will not take many to make the price of a manual a bargain. I like to know how things work and how they are put together so I read them front to back to begin with. It is important to remember the manual cannot possibly contain everything you may need to know. Certain knowledge has to be taken for granted by the authors.

You are right. It's not written for weekend warriors. It's written for competent technicians. It's not a Haynes or Chilton manual written for a novice. It's the factories way of providing service procedures and specs to their technicians. It Is nice though that it is available to the public.

Is there a digital PDF version available?

There is one but it's not available to the public. You have to have dealer login credentials or credentials from a school. It's also protected and you can only download a page at a time. You also have to give the site so many permissions and active x as well. It wasn't worth my time so i bought one used.