Newbie

["Tom Brown" <tbrown@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

John:

I have to agree with Paul here.   Tom Cutter is a factory trained mechanic, 
I believe.   He's not steering you wrong, exactly, but there is value to 
these other manuals for the DIY mechanic (aside from kindling for 
campfires).  Tom's used to all the facilities that a dealer/professional 
shop provides.   For the rest of us, the procedures in Haynes and Clymer 
manuals provide descriptions of how to do stuff with common tools.  I like 
to read a couple different versions before I start something big, then lay 
out my tools and sleep on it before I dig in.   Just reading from one source 
can leave you with misunderstandings that can make the job a lot longer 
until you figure it out yourself.  When you have a couple procedures, they 
describe the same thing in a different way and you "get it" a lot quicker.

For very common maintenance, any of these books will do.   For the tough 
stuff, read them all.   I do like the factory manual.  Illustrations are 
very good, but they refer to "BMW tool number 13 1403 66959" and I don't 
have that one generally.   Haynes usually has pretty good alternatives to 
getting out a big hammer instead.

Even lawn mower mechanics have to do the job right.   I used my Chilton's 
DIY book for my '70s 2002 BMW car for 10 years and found it to be at least 
as useful as the factory book, but the new factory stuff is a little easier 
and most jobs use fewer BMW tools than they used to.

I like making my own repairs and maintaining as much as I can on my bike. 
When I'm out on the road and something goes wrong, I usually have a pretty 
good idea how to kluge things together and get back to civilization because 
of my garage knowledge of my bike.

- -TB

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End of oilheads-digest V1 #325
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