Digital Service Manual

[tuareg]

For those who would like to make better use of the hibernation period. Found on ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DIGITAL-2013-20...te&vxp=mtr

As it turns out it's not a CD but a link to download a .pdf file. Obviously it's just scanned pages from the original manual. Personally I prefer a printed book but the price is hard to resist. It even has "60 days money back, free return shipping". Then it opens a world of possibilities...

Anybody has done this before? I mean, is using a digital manual in the garage environment in any way practical? Any views?

 

[Nortoon_imp]

If the digital manual allows you to print selected pages, that would be handy. You could print the needed pages for a specific job and take them to the garage. When they get greasy, you could just toss them.

As many jobs require pages from other sections, they could be printed and place in order. You could also add your own comments on the printed pages.

If the digital images could be enlarged on the computer screen that would be helpful as well. We aren't getting any younger.

The latest manual from Helm includes the 2017 models. It is 1 1/2 inches thick, that's about 400 pages. It has the holes drilled in the pages so it could be placed in a 3-ring binder. Unfortunately the holes are very close to the edge of the pages. So if binding of the manual was cut, the pages would probably tear easily when used.

I suppose the pages could be cut one-by-one with a box knife, but that would be tedious.

 

[Lord Popgun]

I pulled them out one or more at a time. Was a huge PAIN and left rough edges from the binding. But it works and I can scan them when I want. If I ever buy a cutter maybe I can trim them all nice.

And no I’m not going to sell copyrited manuals.

 

[Nortoon_imp]

When I bought my CB500XA Service Manual from Helm, it was easy to remove the pages from the binding and place them in a 3-ring binder. I liked that for all the reasons I stated above.

They probably changed the binding to discourage people from making copies of the manual to give to friends or to sell them. When you consider the copying time required and price of ink cartridges, it hardly seems worthwhile.

I only made the greasy garage pages I needed for the easy maintenance jobs. The big ones I paid the dealer to save myself the frustration of having to take half the CB500XA apart to check the valves or change the two spark plugs.

Hopefully the CB1100 will be easier since it is not shrouded with plastic panels.