Service manuals & Engine guards

[yechave]

Where to buy a service manual for a 99 R1100RT and how much are they? The only one I have found so far has been on Ebay, and is a computer CD. I would rather a paperback. My last question is on suggestions for engine guards. I feel kinda naked riding without a steel engine guard. I don't have any, so something would probably be better than nothing. I was given a price of $125 just for the plastic covers. I was at a Honda dealer yesterday, and a crotch rocket came in with a 2.5" dia, 3" long, hard rubber bumper mounted on each side in case the bike went over, which seemed like a great idea. Haven't had or been around bikes for almost two decades, so way behind on what's out there. Thanks!

[Bill_Walker]

Re service manuals, I'd buy a Haynes manual if you haven't already done so. It's much more user-friendly than the BMW factory manual, and much better than the Clymer manual. That being said, there are some things that Haynes refuses to cover ("best left to the dealer"), so the BMW manual is useful. AFAIK, the BMW is only available on CD. It comes with some Windows viewing software, but underneath it all it's just a PDF file. You can easily print out the portions you need for a particular repair/service.

 

I don't know anything about engine guards for an RT, except maybe you could fit the guards from an RT-P. The plastic head guards work pretty well for low-speed events. They will sacrifice themselves, though.

 

The "rubber bumpers" on the crotch rocket are called "frame sliders". I don't know if any are available for the 1100RT, but that's what you should use to search for 'em. Seems to me you'd have to cut holes in the fairing to mount 'em, though.

[tomk99r11]

You can garner a great deal of info from this board, as well as IBMWR, which has numerous maintenance item write-ups by some very knowledgeable folks. If you can find a tech day nearby that would be a great resource too. I have have a Haynes manual as suggested and between the sources cited there aren't very many things I would hesitate to tackle. You don't want to tackle something way over your head but these bikes are not space ships either. You need to know when you are getting to your limit and find a helper, see a dealer, etc.