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I'm just wondering if there's a strong preference between the two main DIY manuals.

PS, if you like Cyclepedia, or Chilton, or some other publisher, it'd be good to know too.

Six in one hand, a half dozen in the other.

I'd say Clymer is better about 1/2 the time, and Haynes is better about 5/10 of the time.

All shop manuals suck except for the Gold Standard Honda factory shop manuals. They are by far the best. Kawasaki is the worst out of the Big Four. BMW doesn't even offer a factory shop manual but only a crappy CD.

Are you asking about the BMW R1150R? If so, I have all three so I am very qualified to speak out on this subject. I have the factory CD shop manual, the Clymer shop manual, and the Haynes shop manual. The CD is a PITA to use and very vague and intended to be viewed by a master BMW tech, not the general hobbyist. The Clymer is a softbound super thick book, and the Haynes is a much thinner but nice harbound book. In order of usefulness for the R1150R, I would rank them

1. Haynes
2. Clymer
3. BMW Factory CD

Quite frankly, the internet and the R1150R.org forum is your best friend. I would say just get the Haynes and register at R1150R.org and be done with it.

HYPERR wrote:BMW doesn't even offer a factory shop manual but only a crappy CD.

I was able to download a pdf of the R1150R factory shop manual on the intarwebs. If you want, I could find some way to send it to you (it's about 60mb), but to be honest, seems as useful/less as the CD (written for a BMW tech as well, all sorts of references to proprietary tools, etc.)

HYPERR wrote:Quite frankly, the internet and the R1150R.org forum is your best friend. I would say just get the Haynes and register at R1150R.org and be done with it.

Thanks HYPERR, I ended up ordering the Haynes. Been on R1150R.org since I got the bike and yeah, it's an incredibly knowledgeable and helpful bunch.

Grey Thumper wrote:

HYPERR wrote:BMW doesn't even offer a factory shop manual but only a crappy CD.

I was able to download a pdf of the R1150R factory shop manual on the intarwebs. If you want, I could find some way to send it to you (it's about 60mb), but to be honest, seems as useful/less as the CD (written for a BMW tech as well, all sorts of references to proprietary tools, etc.)

I thought that the CD was the factory shop manual?

HYPERR wrote:I thought that the CD was the factory shop manual?

Whoops, sorry, got a bit confused; the first time you wrote about it, for some reason I imagined some video-based VCD/DVD showing step-by-step stuff (a version of which is available actually, but isn't produced by the factory). Yep, looks like we've both got the same confusing shop manual (nice technical drawings though. Tempted to turn em into T-shirt designs).

Grey Thumper wrote:

HYPERR wrote:I thought that the CD was the factory shop manual?

Whoops, sorry, got a bit confused; the first time you wrote about it, for some reason I imagined some video-based VCD/DVD showing step-by-step stuff (a version of which is available actually, but isn't produced by the factory). Yep, looks like we've both got the same confusing shop manual (nice technical drawings though. Tempted to turn em into T-shirt designs).

Except you are much smarter than me and got it free on-line while I paid the BMW bend over MSRP of $130 when it was first released back in 2001.