Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => The Bike - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: MrFurious on June 20, 2011, 08:15:30 AM
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Figure I need to order a service manual for the new steed, but after reading through the owners manual (or at least trying to) I wanted to check first and make sure the service manual wasn't translated into English by the same person.
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I can totally relate. That owners manual is horrible. I cannot believe Kawasaki let that thing out like that.
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........ I cannot believe Kawasaki let that thing out like that.
I can believe it.
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I emailed Kawie and offered to rewrite and edit any future manuals in exchange for a new bike every year. I used to do this stuff for a living.
Haven't heard back. They're probably just trying to decide what color bike to give me this year . . .
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So is the Service manual just as bad or is it actually comprehensible?
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Figure I need to order a service manual for the new steed, but after reading through the owners manual (or at least trying to) I wanted to check first and make sure the service manual wasn't translated into English by the same person.
It was, but the pictures help.
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So is the Service manual just as bad or is it actually comprehensible?
IMHO, the service manual is pretty decent. The worst part is that it has you flipping pages back an forth multiple times for many simple procedures. It also has a few typos.
I have an early 2008 manual, perhaps the later ones corrected the typos.
For the most part, at least on what I have used, the pics are quite helpful, as noted.
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The 2010 (and probably now 2011) FSM has the same poorly translated English. Most all of the words are valid English words, but the grammer needs some work.
However, for the $44 I paid for it, it's well worth the investment. It provides complete wiring diagrams, step by step procedures, torque specs, and lots of pictures.
As lt1 stated, almost every procedure references other procedures without giving you the page numbers, so you have to hunt for them until you get familiar with the layout (example: ... see Frame Section ... to remove a piece of plastic).
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I got mine from ebay. 500 pages, fine by me, here's the link;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Concours-14-1400GTR-ABS-1400-GTR-SERVICE-MANUAL-PAPER-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2eafec6119QQitemZ200519999769QQptZMotorsQ5fManualsQ5fLiterature (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Concours-14-1400GTR-ABS-1400-GTR-SERVICE-MANUAL-PAPER-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2eafec6119QQitemZ200519999769QQptZMotorsQ5fManualsQ5fLiterature)
Just contact him, was good to deal with.
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Just ordered one from that same seller about an hour ago. lol
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HMMM,
I find it to be one of the most comprehensive manuals in my collection.
Try doing service following a Haynes or Clymer manual....on any vehical.
it does have some Jenglish permutations, but overall there are less errors in this book, at 3 times the pages, as the original C10 books had....and those were pretty comprehensive for the era.
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I got the one off Ebay for my 2011 as well, you need it if your going to work on your own bike IMO, be aware that the Ebay one is bootleg, copied and bound; but, complete.........
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I got mine from ebay. 500 pages, fine by me, here's the link;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Concours-14-1400GTR-ABS-1400-GTR-SERVICE-MANUAL-PAPER-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2eafec6119QQitemZ200519999769QQptZMotorsQ5fManualsQ5fLiterature (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Concours-14-1400GTR-ABS-1400-GTR-SERVICE-MANUAL-PAPER-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2eafec6119QQitemZ200519999769QQptZMotorsQ5fManualsQ5fLiterature)
Just contact him, was good to deal with.
I ordered a 2009 manual from this guy. It is a photocopy, still a good deal for $25 and free shipping but I don't think he will send you a bona fide factory original Kawasaki service manual. Let us know what you receive.
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Yeah, I gathered that from the description (and the price for that matter) but that doesn't really bother me. I'm sure an original manual would probably run you $75 or more to buy it at the dealer.
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I got mine from ebay. 500 pages, fine by me, here's the link;
That is mostly likely an illegal photocopy or print-from-scan copy. He seems to be doing a lot of it. He will get in serious trouble if he were reported to Kawasaki and the other manufacturers....
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Figure I need to order a service manual for the new steed, but after reading through the owners manual (or at least trying to) I wanted to check first and make sure the service manual wasn't translated into English by the same person.
The owner's manual is one of the worst manuals I have ever read, by far, for any vehicle. It is so bad, I often have no idea what they are talking about.
The service manual is much better, but it is not without problems.
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Yeah, I gathered that from the description (and the price for that matter) but that doesn't really bother me. I'm sure an original manual would probably run you $75 or more to buy it at the dealer.
I bought mine from my dealer for around $44 (as I recall). Official Kawasaki 2010 FSM, from Kawasaki.
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I bought mine from my dealer for around $44 (as I recall). Official Kawasaki 2010 FSM, from Kawasaki.
always the better deal. And I'm not only thinking of the paper and ink you get for your money...
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That is mostly likely an illegal photocopy or print-from-scan copy. He seems to be doing a lot of it. He will get in serious trouble if he were reported to Kawasaki and the other manufacturers....
Actually, Kawasaki (and Honda and Suzuki and Yamaha) don't really care- at least not enough to police ebay once in a while. I was burned by this in the past, as an ebay seller purposely misrepresented the product. The seller had manuals from all four big Japanese manufacturers. I contacted their legal departments, and only Kawasaki and Honda said they were concerned about the issue. About a week later, all of the seller's products had been pulled from ebay, only to return again a month later under a different name.
I would rather pay a little more and get a genuine manual rather than support the people who profit from photocopying. I am doubtful that many people would consider buying a photocopied novel or other printed work, but for some reason they find it OK for a service manual.
All that aside, the quality of those fake manuals is generally lousy- cheap paper and binding, etc. Real manuals stand up to years of greasy hands ;D
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I would rather pay a little more and get a genuine manual rather than support the people who profit from photocopying. I am doubtful that many people would consider buying a photocopied novel or other printed work, but for some reason they find it OK for a service manual.
All that aside, the quality of those fake manuals is generally lousy- cheap paper and binding, etc. Real manuals stand up to years of greasy hands ;D
I agree, especially if it really is only a difference of say $20. For that, why not get it from Kawasaki directly?