Manual

1. I'm starting this thread because it seems there are a lot of new members that don't have or aren't willing to buy a manual.
2. There are some that refuse to check and or do a valve adjustment.
A manual is a must have before beginning work on a bike.
In it no matter what kind it is, the reader is directed to do routine maintenance before trying to adjust the carbs. Valve adjustments included.
Although there's a lot of good people and information here, it is no substitute for having all the information that is available in the MANUAL.
I suggest ANYONE that has a bike and is looking for answers, first look it up in their manual and have it it handy to look at as things are suggest to them
Steve

Yes, simple air cooled machinery it is, but there is a lot to know about how 2000 plus part numbers work together.

A lot of these bikes have quite a history: 30-40 years later, 10 previous owners, a theft and a couple of crashes plus some custom work or power tuning plus a lot of bodging and some of these problems are above just basic maintenance now.

I like the Uk Haynes manuals, but I also have the factory manuals and updates. Knowledge is power.

I can't recall ever owning a vehicle without owning a manual for it. Even my local bike shop, Foley's in Stoke on trent www.foleymotorcycles.co.uk all really good time served pro mechanics, have a whole shelf of them.

(excuse the blatant plug, they just help me out so much I always recommend them)

Agree! Working on these bikes without a manual will not only cost you much MORE money than the manual itself because of stuff you may damage or adjust incorrectly, it also will lead to frustration and could get you seriously injured if the mistake you make causes an accident. I'm always amazed at how many simple tasks, such as mounting the front axle, I see screwed up just because the owner didn't have or was too lazy to read the manual to learn how to perform the task properly. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever regretted buying the Kawasaki Service Manual for their bike. The manual really is worth its weight in gold. Without one it is nearly impossible for most folks to fully understand how the bike's various systems operate, what maintenance should be performed, and how to perform maintenance and repairs. Ed

As I've said before, most people think of motorcycles as a cheap form of transportation. WRONG.
On these bikes it is still possible to do the work yourself. Back in the day of Honda's and others it was a matter of having just a few tools to get the job done. The Z1 came out and changed that. It was more complicated, you had to adjust the valves with shims, etc. The dealers loved it.
NOW, you don't have any choice but to go to the dealer. It was that way in the 70's too. No one had shims for these bikes.
These bikes? Forget the dealer unless you have deep pockets. Old school. Really? Then why did they last so long? They weren't meant to.
Now the new ones won't. Remember the chrome cylinder walls? Do you know of any with 100,000 miles on them?
Of course not.
No matter what, it does cost money to keep them up and a manual is the only way to do it.
Steve

The manual really is worth its weight in gold.

Except my FSM and updates is probably over 1/2 kg, I'd rather cash it in for 10 or £15,000, buy a club hammer, mole grips, 2 litres of super strength cider then sign up as a new member and let you guys sort my problems out for me :laugh:

Seriously, something that costs less than a tank of fuel for all that info is a no-brainer. When you have learnt everything there is to know on the zen of motorcycle maintenance, stick it on ebay, the FSM always sell for good money.

Now I hope we get some guys saying,"I got my manual but I have a question about this."
Steve

Yes, No stupid questions here, maybe just a few just stupid answers -as long as the poster has done a bit of preliminary research.

There is over 1000 years of collective knowledge here, some of the pros here much cleverer than us probably know these bikes better now than the design team that made them.

The point being for new members, do some basic research for yourself to try to identify the problem, the solution will come to you from members here a lot sooner.

Another thing, when I was 19 riding my GPz550 miles away from home in the middle of the night I was always slightly fearing a breakdown...never did though. Nowadays i nearly understand these and have such confidence in my 'wings of steel' it is really comforting. You actually enjoy your bike and riding it so much more. Try it.

Here's an amen....

From what I understand there some very nice reprints out of New Zealand on ebay but by the time they are shipped they are pretty pricey. I found a place called repairmanuals.com that has scanned and plastic comb bound copies. I went and found me a 1" binder, some plastic sheet protectors and cut the binding off and stuffed every page into it's own protector. This way I can pull out only the pages I need, handle them with grimy hands and put them back when I'm done. Since my bike is a 1982 I stuffed the entire '81 & '83 supplements into one protector each.






And don't' forget to download the .pdf. I did but I can't find the link right now. It's OK but whoever scanned it cut off the side of the even numbered pages.

"There is over 1000 years of collective knowledge here, some of the pros here much cleverer than us probably know these bikes better now than the design team that made them."

If no one else says it.... Thank you for helping us less knowledgeable individuals.

You'll get there.
Steve

We learned these things by doing. No amount of "book learning" will make anyone a Pro. First school, then hands on training. There's plenty of out of work collage grads that don't know one end of a wrench from the other. I wouldn't give 5 cents for any of them. The book is for reference, the know how comes with experience.
Steve

Yup, most of my 'real' knowledge come from my mistakes.

University level BEng engineering, qualified mechanic and motor trade experience and 25 years of GPz's don't matter a toss, in the real world you just got to do it and learn from it...

As a musician, it is said one needs to learn the rules before breaking them, very true in this game too.

And rather than detracting from those who genuinely want to help, in my simple minded and sometimes erroneous way, fell free to correct, this what the forum is for . Several different answers to the same question is always good.