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[enfield_trials]

Good to see Haynes manual for Royal Enfield EFI models finally out. good introductory price as well £16.99



HAYNES REPAIR MANUAL, ROYAL ENFIELD GT, BULLET AND CLASSIC (09-18) Will also cover the Electra EFI
http://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycle ... ooks/39240

[papasmurf]

Just my personal opinion but I find Haynes manuals as much use as a chocolate spanner.(Based on decades of experience over a wide range of cars and motorcycles.)

[Wayne]

Since the only competition with the Haynes manual is the factory version - which is basic at best - I fail to see how you can make this statement? Millions of customers Worldwide would disagree with you as well - If indeed Haynes manuals are that bad - why are they so popular?

[papasmurf]

In general there are other manuals than Haynes, which if they are available for your car/motorcycle are much better. Basically because they assume the user of the manual is an idiot with no mechanical/electrical experience at all. (Aimed at Americans.)
(Sorry to be harsh, but I have often found with Haynes when you start to take something apart there is something that has no relationship to the manual at all and some of the instructions are farcical. (For instance you do NOT need to take the windscreen out of Reliant Robin, to remove the engine.)

[p]

Doesn't cover "iron" engines as far as I can see, so Snidal wins for them!
Heynes used to be good, but as time went on they became less detailed.... I had an early Range Rover and the old Heynes covered just about everything, later I had a Discovery and duly bought the manual; even though the tech was often the same, the Disco one said some things were not serviceable, but by using the old RR manual it described the full details and enabled full repairs. I think Heynes adopted the Chuck it and buy a new one approach somewhere along the line.

[Felix]

I have rebuilt and repaired many vehicles using Haynes manuals including a Bonneville, Triumph Spitfire, BSA Victor and a range of other makes. The early ones seemed better due to less market variations among vehicles, and the paper was brighter.
Snidal the Canadian seems very helpful to this idiotic Merikun. I'm grateful for for the guidance of foreigners but never met a Yank who was bright enough to buy a Reliant Robin.

[Trev]

...... never met a Yank who was bright enough to buy a Reliant Robin.

Love it, made me chuckle, yup hideous contraptions that only us poor Brits would think is acceptable

[papasmurf]

Trev, Reliants were excellent vehicles. That no-one on the Top Gear team could drive one says more about their lack of driving skill than any problem with the Reliants. I had both a Robin and a Rialto. I commuted 50 miles a day for several years, they ran on the smell of an oily rag, and were VERY reliable.

I never did find out how fast the Rialto would go, I got an indicated 93MPH out of it across Goonhilly Downs and it was still accelerating. I chickened out at that.

They had excellent and stable cornering, IF you went slow into corners and accellerated out. I NEVER had a rear wheel lift, even when out cornering what were in theory much better cars and a lot faster.

Also the grip in mud and snow was excellent I never got stuck although the direction they decided to go in is somewhat unpredictable.

[John L]

papasmurf - I find myself agreeing with you about Heinous manuals ; you can always use them as I do - as spacers on the bookshelf to stop your factory manuals falling over, or use the car manuals as door stops.......My experience with Reliant(Regal) similar to yours also.
Ever try a Bond 875 ?
Rumour has it the makers had to de-tune the Hillman Imp engine unit, as prototypes with standard units were exceeding 100 mph. Mock all you like - not very powerful engines in any of 'em - but all-up weight under 8cwt. produced GREAT acceleration !

[John L]

Wayne - I'm in no position to criticise the manual which is the topic of this page as I have no knowledge of it or the bikes covered, and I will refrain from doing so.

Many other Heinz offerings, however, attempt to cover a whole range of different models and years (to appeal to the broadest range of owners/buyers - they are a publishing house, after all) but this frequently stretches the manual beyond useful detail coverage. My personal criticism of ones I've seen is that "updated" or later versions of some manuals seem to have cover designs changed, but still contain (all?) the mistakes made in the original versions.

Just my opinion - others are available.