Manual, Schmanual

[2strokerfun]

I regularly read questions posted on this forum and wonder to myself "where did the manual to this bike go?" I keep manuals on almost everything I own. I still have the manual to my 1963 DeWalt radial arm saw. And whenever I sell an item, I always try to give the new buyer the manual with it. Am I alone here??

I understand that if you buy a 1982 bike, the manual may have been misplaced or lost along the way. But when I see someone with a 2006 bike ask what the torque specs on the head bolts are, I am astonished they don't have the owners manual.

I guess if some kid owned the bike previously, he tossed it or used it to roll a joint, but I've got to think some of these bikes were sold by somewhat responsible adults. Oh well, guess it gives Clymers a market to sell to.

 

[RM_guy]

I keep all the manuals too...even for my wife's curling iron! I think a lot of people just don't care nowadays. :(

 

[Vic]

I keep them all.

 

[Ol'89r]

I have manuals for things I don't even have anymore. I keep them all.

Getting the younger people and some older people in our sport to actually read a manual is like pulling teeth. For some reason, most really don't want to open a book to look up information. They will go to great lengths on the internet, spending hours asking on different sites to get the answer that sits right there in front of them in their manual. Since they don't bother to use them, they probably get lost.

IMO, a printed manual is much easier to use than an on-line manual. The time it takes to get on your computer and load or download a disc type of manual is much greater than opening up a printed manual to the correct page. Also, they are much more convenient to use while servicing/rebuilding your bikes since you can keep the manual next to you and you don't have to keep running to your computer to see the manual.

There must be a big cave somewhere where old manuals go to die. :whoa:

 

[RM_guy]

...There must be a big cave somewhere where old manuals go to die. :whoa:

Yeah and I guess it's in you garage! :laugh:

I whole heartily agree that no one wants to read anymore. Look at all of the dumb ass questions we get here and the answer is...Look in the manual. It's part of the dumbing down of society.

 

[Patman]

One of the dumbest things I see so often is the dolt that wants to drop big bucks for a useless piece of bling but won't spend $50 for a factory service manual. Of course spending the bucks on bling instead of a tool needed to do a job properly is another one. I recently dropped $350 on software & cable then $200 on a netbook to use in our Audi's. Seems like a lot of money and I would have preferred to keep it in my pocket or spend it on something else but when a dealer / service center charges $100-$!50 to hook the car up and run this package it pays off quickly. I actually used it on two of our Audi's the weekend after I got it and saved the total amount by diagnosing, repairing and then clearing the codes and scanning again. Now I think I will advertise to scan cars for folks locally and make money off the setup.