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Digital service manual: eBay scum

1K views 22 replies 12 participants last post by  TheGeek 
#1 ·
Grr! I ordered a digital service manual for my K5 750 on eBay for $25, from a reputable US seller, and they mailed me a burned CD with a shitty, low resolution scan of a K4 manual. Same thing that anyone can download with a bit of Googling.

Such BS! I contacted the seller and demanded an immediate refund. It's one thing to download a manual to check a few numbers, but to sell ripped copies on eBay? And not even deliver the right manual?

They "accepted my return" but I'm not about to mail a pirated CD back to them. Waiting to see if they send me a message, if they try to blow this off or refuse to take down their auction I'm going to report them and we'll see where it goes.

I'm not being a total jerk, right? Who the hell sells ripped PDF's on eBay?

The listing is still up: 2004 2005 Suzuki GSX R 750 Motorcycle Service Manual CD ROM | eBay
 
#2 ·
Plenty of people. It's simple to download a free file online, print a label, burn it onto CDs/DVDs, and sell them for a profit. Entirely illegal, but people will still do it. With the printed label, they can just say they bought it from someone else and were selling it.
 
#4 ·
And that is why I don't buy shit off eBay.

Buy the real thing, from an actual parts supplier.
 
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#5 ·
And it's actually against eBay policy, as well as copyright infringement. Contact eBay, tell them you thought you were buying a used manual and instead the seller send you an illegal copy. You'll get your money back and he'll get shutdown.
 
#6 ·
In my books, a proper PDF manual (not a PDF of a shitty scan) is better than a printed one. When it's onscreen:

  • You can browse the index / contents, then click the links take you to the desired page(s)
  • You can hit ctrl+F (find) and find whatever subject / keyword you're looking for
  • Once you've found what you need, you can just print that page or two......
  • .... or even better, have it on your phone or tablet with you in the garage.
But I too have been burnt with shit manuals online. Worst was a corvette "Factory Assembly Manual", which despite the promising title, was about as easy to use and effective as reading tea leaves.


I forget who it is but someone out here has a link in their sig to all the GSX-R manuals.... for free.
 
#9 ·
In my books, a proper PDF manual (not a PDF of a shitty scan) is better than a printed one. When it's onscreen:

  • You can browse the index / contents, then click the links take you to the desired page(s)
  • You can hit ctrl+F (find) and find whatever subject / keyword you're looking for
  • Once you've found what you need, you can just print that page or two......
  • .... or even better, have it on your phone or tablet with you in the garage.
All valid points. :thumbup
 
#10 ·
Yeah, I found the exact same PDF he sold me on a website. Crappy scans, no bookmarks... I would prefer a legit digital copy, with high quality scans & bookmarks, so I can use it on the iPad as well as print it out and put it in a binder (which I did with my DR manual + parts catalog and LOVE it).

Not looking like I'll find one, so I'll probably have to buy a physical copy. But I'd really prefer a digital!

The seller wrote back with a very accusatory message, as if I were trying to scam him! Typical response of a scammer. But after my response, he went ahead and refunded and said keep the CD. Haven't decided if I should take any other steps at this point.

Since I can't find the parts catalog ANYWHERE, I wrote some software this week that extracted the diagrams, parts & numbers from Partzilla. Dumped it all into a DOC and I'm almost done creating a PDF that I can print out. If anyone needs a parts catalog for a 2005 GSX-R 750 let me know ;) I could probably modify the script for any other make/model on Partzilla as well. But it's a simple page of code that requires some manual work to format. Might take it a step further and just render a nice PDF from my code. The fiches all have a Partzilla watermark, but no biggie. Also has prices and links to Partzilla which is handy.
 
#13 ·
Yeah come to think of it I wouldn't want to touch my tablet with greasy fingers. Still, being able to search and print only the pages you need is a plus.

Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk
 
#14 ·
I have 2004 manuals, but I have yet to see the 2005 addendum. They're basically identical, but there was a wiring change on the 05. There should be a "differences list". Anybody work at a shop that could at least confirm the existence?
 
#15 ·
I have a manual titled k6/k7 750 but this thread prompted me to look at it. It's searchable, bookmarked, good quality but it does not say anything about k7 in the intro. Isn't it k5/k6 and k7/k8 that are the identical pairs?
 
#16 ·
No... K4/K5 600/750 and K6/K7 600/750. The K5/K6 1000 and the K7/K8 1000 are the different generations.
 
#19 ·
He's entitled to something for his time and materials, but that price is way too much. It's comparable to what the used paper manuals are going for. However given the way that downloading sites are disappearing, I'd suggest that you limit your complaining to messages to the seller or maybe to ebay about misrepresentation. Mention of copyright violation is inviting them to block all such sales and further reduce their availability.

High quality scans of paper manuals are possible but I don't see them being done. What is produced instead has poor resolution and lousy graphics. The high quality pdfs that I've inspected have information in them that suggests that they were what was sent to the printer, in which case they originated in Japan and somehow snuck out.

P.S. As far as I know, all Suzuki manuals sold on ebay that are on CD or downloaded are ripped.
 
#21 ·
Well basically he sold me the exact same PDF that I found on several sites, so I don't think he scanned anything. He refunded me and said don't bother mailing the CD, so I'll leave it at that.

I've seen the actual 2005 manual which explicitly mentions the K5, and doesn't have a 2004 copyright, but I'm not entirely sure if the 04 and 05 have the same part #.

I'll definitely be buying the service manual, but if Suzuki is going to crack down on the digital versions I do wish they would have some better options for obtaining them. A digital copy would let me print it, set it up in my own binder how I want, and reprint pages if they get torn or covered in grease. A few years of heavy use and my DR manual is getting pretty shoddy. I do prefer real actual pages to digital, but it's handy having the digital copy for quickly referencing parts/bookmarking, and the physical manual stored in my shop at all times.
 
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