Putting Workshop Manual online: a good idea?

[loony888]

hey hey HEY!

yanks know all about the metrics... our cars have been metric since the early 90s and we even know about them meters and kilometers...  !   

yeah but you still measure in imperial don't you? gallons of "gas", miles per hour, ft/lbs etc.
and you drive on the wrong side of the road! still, so do most europeans

paul

[ducatiz]

Well, Ducati makes a lot of errors.  Typos and spelling mistakes mostly, but I won't rule out real errors quite yet.   There's also the idea of updating what they say with real photos, real-world advice and extra detail.  A lot of what Ducati put in the manual is a bit terse, I thought

not to mention a home mechanic will do things differently than a factory one.  look at the list of tools ducati wants you to buy on the first 2 pages of most of hte manuals.

check out Chris Kelley's howto videos as well, he shows maintenance items from his experience building and racing bikes (ducatitech.com) and they vary substantially from the factory method.

[NFG]

it's a good idea, just a lot of work and frankly, it's probably out there in one form or another already. try looking for a haynes

Well, I have looked, and I haven't found...  Certainly there are other options (the scanned PDF I have now, buying or pirating a Haynes manual) but critically for me there are no websites.  If, for example, someone on this forum wanted to discuss an oil change, he either re-types the whole thing, types it in his own words, or links to the PDF (or sends the reader to the Haynes site to order the book, or whatever).  There's no option to link to a single page and say "Here's what Ducati says.  Start there, but don't forget to re-primer the zingrod to de-phase the electron flow."

Well, if this project flies, that sort of thing becomes possible.

i'm not ragging on you,

No worries.  I'm not saying my idea's awesome, and in fact the reason I started the thread was to find out if I was an idiot or if I was re-inventing a wheel...  So far it seems to me the benefits outweigh the cons.  It could be a solid resource, though it'll be a lot of work.  If I'm the only person doing it, the project will begin and end with whatever bikes I own.  If other people contribute, then it just might go somewhere.  =)

[Justo]

Why not just spend your time riding it, not writing about it?  [moto]    [moto] 

[ducatiz]

i think it's a great idea, perhaps a bit too formal for a wiki though?

it would be nice to be able to better search the tech section here --  a wiki would do that, but it really requires active editing by wiki editors adding tags and tweaking constantly, esp as new stuff is added...

keep thinking about it, you might be on to something....

[ducatiz]

yeah but you still measure in imperial don't you? gallons of "gas", miles per hour, ft/lbs etc.
and you drive on the wrong side of the road! still, so do most europeans

paul

it's quasi-imperial..  us gallons are smaller than uk gallons, i never understood why..

sure, and we also use avoirdupois for shooting (grains) and such.. converting isn't a problem, but it is usually subject-specific.

i don' think i even own any inch tools. 

[NFG]

Why not just spend your time riding it, not writing about it?

'cause it's f**king broken and as long as I'm stuck at work, I might as well do something useful instead of picking my nose and gazing out the window.  

too formal for a wiki though?

The problem is I've got like 20 years of online experience telling me that I can create a neat thing, but can't be counted on to keep it updated myself.  Making something that everyone can contribute to makes more sense to me.  It could even, for example, be integrated with a community site (ie: this forum) so that the same logins work for forum + wiki, allowing people to add all kinds of useful information.  

I love forums, but they suck for structuring the data, and finding info can be tricky.  A structured site would be a good framework for arranging stuff, but requires massive back-end sophistication and/or a rather unreasonably dedicated staff.  A wiki seems like a good middle ground.  Anyone who has a few minutes to spare can construct a guide, a list, a new approach or whatever, and make it part of the available body of knowledge.  

> Like to take a moment to reinforce the fact that I'm not trying to convince anyone my idea is right, but make it clear what my reasons are for thinking it might be cool.  <

[Justo]

'cause it's f**king broken and as long as I'm stuck at work, I might as well do something useful instead of picking my nose and gazing out the window.  

 

Noooo way. You can see me?!!!

[monsta]

I reckon its sounds like a good idea..
best thing is, your doin a 94 monster first!