[Jako]

Service and repair manual now available

[9fingers]

Seems that it is to be published on Dec 18th and available here in the USA.  I wonder if it will be as good or bad as the on-line version we already have.
9fingers

https://haynes.com/en-us/royal-enfield/classic/2009-2018

[heloego]

   I suspect the English will be a bit easier to understand.   
   Nothing wrong with Haynes' Manuals. Glad to see they're coming out with one for those of us among the "great unwashed". 

[Bert Remington]

Thanks very much for the heads-up!  I have to buy B&W printed because I don't have internet access in Descanso.

[Gizmo]

YES! this is great to know , i think i bought a Haynes book for every Motor driven thing i have ever own and got a nice little book shelf of them now.

[Carlsberg Wordsworth]

Mine came today 

[johno]

just ordered mine.
Hitchcock must have the first stock as Haynes official release is January I believe...

[Richard230]

I have had no luck ordering a Haynes manual from their distributor in the U.S.  Their web site will not let you order a print version, so I called their customer service yesterday and was told that the new RE manual was not available yet for U.S. customers.  I was told that they hadn't received a shipment from the UK supplier and to try back next month. 

[Stanley]

They're available from the UK directly. I've ordered a few UK books not distributed in the states and got them in about a week in Escondido.

[johno]

I'm sure you can order it from Hitchcock.
but I suppose the postage may be a fair amount for you.
Mine arrived quickly (I'm in the UK) and is of the quality expected of the modern Haynes layout.

[Richard230]

I'm sure you can order it from Hitchcock.
but I suppose the postage may be a fair amount for you.
Mine arrived quickly (I'm in the UK) and is of the quality expected of the modern Haynes layout.

I thought about that but the U.S. site offers free shipping so I have decided to wait until they are available here.  Since I have the RE factory manual I don't really need the Haynes manual, I just like to read workshop books as I find them interesting.

[Grant Borden]

I purchased my Haynes manual from bookdepository.com with free shipping for about the same price as from the American site. It took less than 10 days to arrive, the shipping was free.

https://www.bookdepository.com/Royal-Enfield-Bullet-and-Continental-GT-Service--Repair-Manual-2009-2018-Matthew-Coombs/9781785214271

Grant

[Bert Remington]

Thanks Grant.  Just purchased my paper copy.

[Richard230]

Thanks from me too, Grant!  I also ordered a copy.  Not only did it save me a few bucks over the list price of the manual, but there was no shipping cost and no stink'n 10% California sales tax.    Plus, based upon my experience ordering books or videos from Amazon, it will likely arrive quicker than if I had ordered the manual (if they had it) from that company, which has a warehouse only about 100 miles from my home.   

[Grant Borden]

I'm happy I could help.

Grant

[chuychacon]

Thanks
they had 4 left when I ordered

[Bmadd34]

I contacted Haynes about the new manual and the availability of the rascal. After a bit of conversation I was transferred to the media department where a kind gentleman (And fellow bulleteer) named Brian hooked me up with a digital copy of the manual and an I.O.U. on a physical copy when they are available on the premise that I review it on my channel when it comes in. Let me tell you, I have a copy of the RE factory manual and the Haynes edition is leaps and bounds above that categorized toilet paper, lol. If I didn't have experience as a tech., I'd probably either be lost, or screw something up using the factory manual. It doesn't go into detail, isn't very well illustrated and not very well worded. Well worth the money to have the Haynes version.

[Richard230]

Today I received an email from Bookdepository.com that the $28.36 USD Haynes RE manual that I had ordered is on its way from the UK.   

[Kevin Mahoney]

Looks like Hitchcock has some
In order to use the factory books it takes more than one. For example in some the engine may not be included and you have to find it in another book.

[Mad4Bullets]

I ordered mine from Amazon Prime via seller Wordery Specialist.  A great way to apply a $25.00 Christmas gift card toward a practical gift for my favorite recipient.  Me!  It arrived yesterday and at first glance it looks very good and appears to cover everything nicely.  A good investment in a good reference manual I'd say. No regrets here. Not so far anyway.

[Narada]

Just ordered mine using wife's "amazon store points".    I could be in trouble when she wakes up from her nap! 

[AmBraCol]

Do any of you have an idea where one could find a Repair/Service manual for the Royal Enfield Thunderbird/Rumbler?  I know that essentially the engine is the same as the Classic, but the electronics are quite different as well as the rear braking system, etc.

[Richard230]

I just received the RE manual that I ordered from Book
Depository in the UK.  It took 8 days to arrive.  Not bad for air freight and then delivery by the U.S. Post Office. They usually like to sit on books for a while to keep them warm before delivering them. 

[Bert Remington]

Picked up mine from BD too.  I luv the USPS counter ladies.  They address me by Mister.  I gave each of them this light for Xmas.

[Dalmatian man]

Picked up mine from BD too.  I luv the USPS counter ladies.  They address me by Mister.  I gave each of them this light for Xmas.
[/quote

What's your opion on the Hayes manual.

[Bert Remington]

Ive only skimmed the manual but I can say it is a useful addition and cross-check to the RE service manual I purchased from CMW.  I still find this forum to be the most useful source of information although careful curation is required.  I'll be making another (bigger than $5) CMW donation next month when my CC recovers from December's devastation.

[TomJohnston]

Got my copy from England thru Amazon. Disappointed in the quality of the print. Looks like it was copied on a Xerox type copier a little low on toner. Not the sharp quality photos I expected. All the information is there and the pictures cover the subject well.....just a little disappointed in the quality.TJ

[Richard230]

Got my copy from England thru Amazon. Disappointed in the quality of the print. Looks like it was copied on a Xerox type copier a little low on toner. Not the sharp quality photos I expected. All the information is there and the pictures cover the subject well.....just a little disappointed in the quality.TJ

The poor quality of the print and especially the photos is typical of Haynes manuals.  They haven't improved their printing quality for many years.  I guess that is just a "feature" of their manuals.    But then their prices haven't changed much over the years, either. 

[dickim]

Bit of a bugger re quality ? here in Oz they rip us off again - u.k site refuse to sell, refer to Aussie site at 50％extra plus postage, so as I am visiting in March had sent to my brother ?

[Bilgemaster]

What baffles me is that for some reason that defies explanation, Haynes apparently never got around to putting out a manual for the Iron Cylinder Engine Bullets. I mean, we're talking about the longest production run of any  model of motorcycle, almost unchanged since 1948, with hundreds and hundreds of thousands of units produced--at least about 20,000 per year between 1955 and 2011. Sure, they may not be parked on every street corner in the USA, Britain or Australia, but it's not like there aren't booksellers or Amazon in India. I mean, they did a manual for an obscure and shabby sub-model of the goddamned Lada Sputnik, a vehicle which only ever saw the light of day in the final closing hours of the Soviet Union. So, what exactly stopped them from taking a look at a vehicle that started its long life in nearby Birmingham, exactly? What's up? Has there been too much traffic on the M6 the past 71 years? After all, they seem to have found the time to cobble this and several other similar witty disposables together down in Somerset:

Yeah, it's all beer and skittles with the Haynes folks in Somerset. Seriously though, Maddman, I hope your review will at least mention your underserved elders. How much longer, O Lord? How much longer must our Iron Bellies ache for sustenance?!? For, we yearn to be fed! Fed the good word of Haynes!

"Good Afternoon! Haney's Manuals...How may I connect your call?"

[Stanley]

I've enjoyed using Haynes for my VW bus, Victor, R75/5, Bultaco, Bonny, Ninja 250, Spitfire, K75s, Ducati Monster and SS, Suzuki SV650 and so on. When I bought the Bullet I was disappointed not to find one.

When I'm knee deep in the hoopla I prefer all the info I can find on the subject. It's cheap insurance to supplement factory books with other sources. If Haynes is so bad, just try to service a Desmo engine with the Italian book.



 

[Bilgemaster]

[...Snip!] If Haynes is so bad, just try to service a Desmo engine with the Italian book.

"Afferrare saldamente l'ornitorinco con il totem e alleviare la stitichezza."

[Stanley]

Benellisimo!

 

[Richard230]

I used to have a Haynes manual for my quite obscure 1969 Garelli 125. And those bikes were not exactly popular in the U.S. at the time. 

[Bilgemaster]

Do any of you have an idea where one could find a Repair/Service manual for the Royal Enfield Thunderbird/Rumbler?  I know that essentially the engine is the same as the Classic, but the electronics are quite different as well as the rear braking system, etc.

I just spotted downloadable PDFs for both the Thunderbird 500 and 350 models over in the refreshed Royal Enfield Company website's Owners Manuals  section at https://www.royalenfield.com/in/en/home/motorcycles/owners-manual/. Maybe one of those will be helpful?

By the way, it looks like they finally got some new version of their Community Forum  back up and running after more than a year's malfunctioning. It's a wasteland though--an endless pointless vista of annoying spam and outlandishly bizarre non-sequiturs littered with the random brain droppings of clueless dumbasses as far as the eye can see. Next time anyone here feels the least dissatisfaction with our superb Forum resource, I suggest they go take even a brief ride on the Chennai Express. I may just order a T-shirt or something else I don't really need from our hosts in Ft. Worth out of simple gratitude for keeping the lights on here.

[johno]

With Haynes, the manuals are only possible if someone donates a vehicle or two for the engineers to work on. Manufacturers don't supply them with the vehicles.
So for the iron barrel (apart from not being popular in the Uk) they wouldn't have had anything to work with.
As an example I had one of the first GL650's in the UK and was approached by Haynes  to see if they could borrow it for the CX/GL650 manual, could have been my bikes 15 mins of fame, the cover bike being wineberry instead of silver! but the bike was still under warranty and I was out of the country. Shame as 10,000 miles later the cam shaft had to be replaced due to excessive wear. Haynes may have spotted it and fixed the issue free for me.....

[Bilgemaster]

With Haynes, the manuals are only possible if someone donates a vehicle or two for the engineers to work on. Manufacturers don't supply them with the vehicles.
So for the iron barrel (apart from not being popular in the Uk) they wouldn't have had anything to work with. [Snip...]

Well, seeing as how it's been 71 years and all, to hopefully expedite matters just a tad, I've just sent the following email to to the editors at Haynes c/o bookseditorial [((AT))] haynes.co.uk:


Dear Sir or Madam:

There has recently been some excitement in the Royal Enfield online motorcycling community in response to your publishing of a Haynes Service & Repair Manual: Royal Enfield Bullet / Classic (2009 - 2018). However, owners of the far more numerous previous Iron Cylinder Engine (ICE) pre-unit models of Bullet, manufactured between 1948 and 2011, are left baffled as to why you never saw fit to publish a manual concerning our models. After all, these had the longest production run of any model of motorcycle, almost unchanged since 1948, with hundreds and hundreds of thousands of units produced both in Britain and later India. My own thoughts on the matter, posted to the Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum, can be found here.

Another longtime contributor to that Forum has been led to understand from personal experience decades ago with another marque of motorcycle that your manuals, "are only possible if someone donates a vehicle or two for the engineers to work on." However, the Haynes Manual article on Wikipedia, citing a now defunct 2008 webpage from your company's own website, reads, "A car or motorcycle is bought at the beginning of the project and sold at the end." Should the only obstacle after 71 years to finally publishing a manual at long last for the single longest-produced model of motorcycle the world has ever seen indeed simply be locating a "donor bike," I would be happy to spread the word on your behalf among our community. I am confident we can soon find someone to step forward with a "real thumper" that might benefit from a free rebuild.

With Regards,
Bill Connelly
Woodbridge, Virginia 22193
USA
Owner: 2005 Royal Enfield Bullet 500ES "Military"

[heloego]

Well put, my man!

[Bmadd34]

Keep us updated on their response.

[Boxerman]

I have a campervan based on a Peugeot Boxer. There is no Haynes manual for it, despite it being a very popular van in Europe.
One member of a forum I was on did as Bill did and contacted Haynes, asking why they did not produce a manual for the Boxer. Their reply was that there were too many model variations for them to cover in one manual.
He then asked why, if this was the case, they managed to produced a Ford Transit manual, as there are far more variations of the Transit than there are of the Boxer.

That was about three years ago, as far as I know, he is still waiting for a reply.

Frank

[Bilgemaster]

[Bilgemaster]

Frank's buddy may still be waiting for a response concerning a manual for his Peugeot, but I was pleasantly surprised to receive an answer to my enquiry the very next day:


From: Penny Cox
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2019 12:54 PM
To: [redacted]
Subject: RE: Royal Enfield Bullet (1948-2011) - Is a manual coming? We've been waiting for 71 years.

Dear Bill

Thank you for emailing about our recent Enfield manual and the prospect of another covering the previous generation models. I appreciate the length of coverage a manual on the pre-unit models would have but it is difficult to quantify the demand, especially as many owners will have by now found other sources of information. In hindsight I feel it is a model range we should have covered in the early days of our motorcycle manuals, alongside those we published on singles and twins from other British manufacturers.

This new manual on the UC engine did involve some careful thought beforehand, and it wasn't as straightforward to originate as we expected, but I'm pleased to say it seems to have been well received. 

In answer to the quote from our website, obtaining a car or motorcycle for stripdown is never an obstacle to producing a manual, whether bought or loaned for the purpose. The decision to produce a manual is based on the economics of the project.

With best wishes

Penny Cox
Global Publishing Manager (Motorcycle and Powersports)
J H Haynes & Co Ltd
Tel: [redacted]
e-mail: [redacted]


And here is my response:


Dear Ms. Cox:
 
Thank for your very kind and rapid response to my inquiry. As you may now be aware, a large number of fellow Royal Enfield owners have also expressed interest online in the matter of a Haynes manual for the older original "Iron Cylinder Engine" pre-unit model produced from 1948 to 2011, so I hope you will have no objection to my sharing this correspondence with them via the Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum, which, despite its "Unofficial" moniker, is arguably the preeminent Internet resource for owners of these marvelous "modern vehicular fossils". Personally, I believe "Independent" might have been a more accurate adjective for that Forum's name, but I had no hand in its naming.
 
I well understand when you write, "The decision to produce a manual is based on the economics of the project". I hope you will allow me to perhaps convince you of the sales viability of such a manual with a few observations:
 
Several hundred thousand Royal Enfield Bullets of very similar design, in most respects virtually identical, were produced in both Britain and later India in 350cc and 500cc capacities between 1948 and 2011. While the marque until now has remained something of a "niche aficionado market" in the Western World, in contrast to India, where they enjoy an almost quasi-nationalistic following similar in enthusiasm to Harley-Davidson in America, I dare say there still must be far more of them even in Western lands than the '87-'91 Lada Samara, an obscure sub-model of the Soviet VAZ-2108 "Sputnik" that only ever saw the light of day in the twilight hours of the USSR, for which Haynes nevertheless published Book No. 1610. I have been married to a Russian for nearly 22 years, been over there many many times, am kind of a "car guy", and yet I cannot recall ever having seen a Lada "Samara" of that vintage even over there, or in former East Berlin, where I lived through the '80s when they were in their supposed heyday and Russian cars common, let alone here in the United States. I expect that I could point out a host of similarly obscure vehicles for which your company has published service manuals that would further beggar explanation as to how the longest-produced model of motorcycle in history might still remain overlooked. Instead, I would only point out that the recent aggressive movement by Royal Enfield at long last into Western markets with the introductions of its very well received Himalayan adventure bike and this year's new Interceptor and Continental GT 650 Twins will inevitably lead to a far higher recognition of the brand outside of India. As they say, "a rising tide lifts all boats," and as Royal Enfield becomes more mainstream, so too will an inevitable appreciation of the virtues of their old mainstay model, "The Bullet Thumper," and those new owners will need service manuals.
 
Unlike other more common marques, the Bullet is a vehicle typically serviced and maintained by its owners. Although "many owners will have by now found other sources of information,"  as you say, I would merely point out that even present and longtime owners would still snap up a Haynes manual were it only available. Although the factory's Spare Parts Catalog is serviceable, even a brief examination of the factory's Bullet Service Manual (see Part 1 here) should immediately illustrate to anyone its shortcomings. And lest you think that the poor resolution of that linked manual is merely due to its being some poorly-scanned "Internet Bootleg," I can assure you that the bound "factory fresh" copy I received with my own Bullet also looks like it may have first been duplicated during the reign of Edward VIII on pieces of stale toast. There is, of course, Pete Snidal's superb Bullet Service Manual, but it is more of an owner's guide to proper operation and regular maintenance than a full service and step-by-step rebuilding manual of the traditional Haynes type. Again, I have little doubt that most owners would eagerly snap up any additional guide that might augment their knowledge. I certainly would without question.
 
Which brings us to India, the homeland and source of the vast majority of these marvelous vehicles, my own included, and the "Great Unquantifiable", as you say. I won't bore you with a description of how a motorcycle that began its long life near Birmingham came to be manufactured virtually unchanged since 1955 in Chennai (formerly Madras) even decades after the original British company had gone out of business. Suffice it to say that English is one of the 22 official languages of that land, and its default lingua franca. There are booksellers there, and Amazon does have its own Indian affiliate. Besides which, your own Online Manuals initiative should make the great distance between Somerset and Srinagar largely irrelevant. To say that Indians are mad for Royal Enfields is a massive understatement. According to the report, PayPal Cross-Border Consumer Research 2018, international purchases from India using PayPal exceeded even those of the United Kingdom, 67% to 62%. That fact and the almost fanatical enthusiasm for the Royal Enfield brand there, especially the older Iron Cylinder "thumper" models, would seem to bode well for the sales of a Haynes manual about the breed there, if only you would open those floodgates.
 
I do hope that my long ramblings have not been too tiresome, and that they may at least go some way towards convincing you to seriously consider publishing a Haynes Service Manual to cater to the hundreds of thousands of current and future owners of these wonderful motorcycles. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of any further service to you.
 
With Regards,
William Connelly
Woodbridge, Virginia
USA

[Boxerman]

Fingers crossed Bill. 'My buddy' got a resonably quick reply to his first email, but not his second one.
I would probably buy an 'iron barrel' manual if they produced one - just out of interest, even though I no longer own one.

Frank

[AmBraCol]

I just spotted downloadable PDFs for both the Thunderbird 500 and 350 models over in the refreshed Royal Enfield Company website's Owners Manuals  section at https://www.royalenfield.com/in/en/home/motorcycles/owners-manual/. Maybe one of those will be helpful?

By the way, it looks like they finally got some new version of their Community Forum  back up and running after more than a year's malfunctioning. It's a wasteland though--an endless pointless vista of annoying spam and outlandishly bizarre non-sequiturs littered with the random brain droppings of clueless dumbasses as far as the eye can see. Next time anyone here feels the least dissatisfaction with our superb Forum resource, I suggest they go take even a brief ride on the Chennai Express. I may just order a T-shirt or something else I don't really need from our hosts in Ft. Worth out of simple gratitude for keeping the lights on here.

Thank you,  sir!  I appreciate it.  Got it downloaded and it's the same owner's manual that came with the bike.  It's handy for the basic stuff, but no look at anything more. I may just have to buy one for the basic Classic model for the engine part.  It'd be nice to have for the rest of the bike as well, but doubt Haynes would produce the manual for an even more obscure bike.  Again, thanks for the link!

[mattsz]

And here is my response:

I'm somewhat disappointed you didn't include any memes... but at least you got a good toast reference in there... 

[gizzo]

If it's any help, I think a lot of the lada samaras ended up here in Australia where they underwent a bunch of remedial work including a so called performance version by local legend Peter Brock (RIP) to make them just barely useable. I doubt a workshop manual would have been a lot of use for that model though.  Other than as tinder. 

[dickim]

Oh the Lada - brings back memories ?
As a Commercial Photographer on a newspaper (Sheffield Morning Telegraph & Evening Star) we had a parking pass in the Multi-Storey and an expense account,  so the press boys all bought CHEAP NEW LADA NIVA'S, and would drive their real car to work, swap over to the lada, fiddle the expenses (based on engine size & distance) and just run the Lada till rust ate everything - not long in the 80's with salted grit in winter? Those days saw some REALLY CREATIVE accounting on both expenses and soooo much more ? As a commercial photographer the advertising industry was even less worried about "what's the cost" than Wildbill ? - oh how things change, just retired from lecturing - when I wanted my 9yr old ibook changed I was told I needed to buy my own! despite it not being able to handle the software I was teaching ?

[Bilgemaster]

Don't get me wrong. I don't dislike Ladas--rather the opposite. Just never seen a "Samara." A good friend in Berlin had a Lada 120 that she somehow managed to emigrate from Leipzig (former East Germany) to the West in. On the outside it was virtually indistinguishable from the old Fiat 124 econo-box that a high school buddy from Turkey had, but RUGGED. I believe I may have given hers the only oil change it ever had. Being an artist, she had been blissfully unaware that it even had oil. It was like Dr. Who's ship "Tardis", seemingly bigger on the inside than the outside. While hardly the pinnacle of automotive design, and unlikely to win any beauty contests, it was a perfectly good and reliable if somewhat utilitarian way to get from A to B...especially if A was Leipzig. It easily outclassed the then-available East German options of a Trabant or Wartburg. Hell, I'd be happy to give one a good home now, if one came my way. Me and my Russian bride of 22 years next month could look all "Proletarian" and shit.

[Dalmatian man]

BBC News - Haynes motor manual founder dies aged 80
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-47214103

[Stanley]

He really founded a useful market. Owner's manuals in the 60s were rudimentary booklets for Brit bikes or thorough manuals in Nippenglish. Factory books were scarce and pricey for a student like me. The Haynes manuals had what I considered very fine exploded drawings that inspired me to spend over 20 years as a technical illustrator for manuals in the automotive, aircraft, nuclear power and medical fields. I get a little nostalgic about the days of pen and ink or even drawing in command-line Unix.
The good old days...

[Bmadd34]

They are now available from Haynes in the US Got mine today.

[heloego]

Available at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Enfield-Bullet-Continental-Service-Repair/dp/1785214276/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=Haynes+Royal+Enfield&qid=1550162576&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull