Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I am reasonably mechanical and plan to do service and minor repairs on my 1985 Honda VT500C Shadow. I would be comfortable with just about any task that doesn't require specialized tools or equiptmnet. I am considering buying the following:
1) Official Honda Common Service Manual
2) Official 1983-1986 Honda VT500FT Ascot VT500C Shadow Factory Service Manual
3) Clymer Honda VT500 1983-1988 Repair Manual

If I get all three, this will be a pretty big investment. Can anyone please let me know the type of content that each of these might have? How much overlap will there be? Are the "official" manuals overkill? Is the Clymer manual too little? What is in the Common manual that is not covered in the model specific manual? All opinions are welcome. Thanks.

The clymer by itself should have you set.

If you can afford the official one, get it. You'll be able to get by with the Clymer's, but the official one is, well, official goodness. I haven't seen an official guide for my Katana, but for my Honda Civic, the official one is much, much, much, much better than my Hayne's.

OK... "much, much, much, much better" is pretty compelling... Considering your experience with the Civic, what sort of stuff is covered in the official guide that is not in your Hayne's?

So, I decided to pay the price and find out for myself... I got the official Honda Service manual (specific to the model) and the Honda Common Service Manual. I would not recommend the Common service manual. While very intersting, it is rather expensive for what you get. Indeed many of the items that I have looked up finsih by saying "refer to the model specific manual..." I should have known better. I suppose it is more useful for gerneal info on models for which you don't have the "model specific" service manual.

iav8 wrote:OK... "much, much, much, much better" is pretty compelling... Considering your experience with the Civic, what sort of stuff is covered in the official guide that is not in your Hayne's?

Every single thing is covered in more detail. Parts diagrams are sharp and clearly labeled, instructions for removing and reinstalling parts are much easier to follow and everything you would want to do to the vehicle is covered.

Sorry to hear about the General Manual being so shoddy.