ST1300/ST1300A/ST1300 PanEuropean Model Differences for Service Manual

Nightmare

Nightmare

Joined
Oct 10, 2025
Messages
73
Location
Calgary
Bike
2008 ST1300
Hello,

I just bought a 2008 ST1300A (I believe) a couple of weeks ago and did my first overnight 1000km ride right before the weather turned cold. I'm in the process of doing some of the preventative maintenance (eg, lube the windshield motor/gears, shift linkage, oil/air/brake changes, etc) but I am trying to figure out which service manual covers my particular motorcycle.

Which leads me to my question, is there a significant difference between the ST1300A, Pan European (and perhaps police) models? I'm assuming the "A" is for ABS.

For the service manuals I have found:
-2003-2017 Honda ST1300 P/A ST1300A (Honda service manual)
-2003 Honda st1300/A (Honda service manual)
-2002-2011 ST1300 Pan European (Haynes manual)

PS: I'm loving the motorcycle so far, the handling is UNREAL and beats the pants off of my ZX14!
 
Welcome @Nightmare !

There is very little difference between the ABS and non ABS bikes apart from one has ABS, the other doesn't. In the UK, the non ABS did not have an adjustable screen.
And that's it.

In my opinion the 2008 is the nicer bike. I've had the 2006 version and enjoyed it for 70,000 miles when I bought the 2009 model. I still have that and its up to 75,000 miles now.


The 2008 and later models have a number of distinguishing features.

1760554751473.pngThere is a white label under the pillion seat on the black metal frame. My previous bike says ST1300A6 and then has some colour codes.
The A indicates that it is an ABS model. The 6 is the year of the model - 2006. But lables can be changed......

The definitive information comes from your frame number. The 10th character represents the model year.

eg My old bike was JH2SC51A36M999999
The 10th character is a 6 - meaning that it is a 2006 model.
My current bike has a 9 in that position - meaning that it ias 2009 model. It actually cam off the production line in Sep 2013, but it is the 2009 spec. There was no different spec until 2014 in the UK.

Other snippets of info.

If it is an ABS bike it will have a pulsar ring on the right hand side front wheel. From 2008 these were slotted steel. Before 2008 they had a cast metal castellated ring.

The Front brake calipers have a rubber cap covering a Hex socket pad pin on the 2006 modle. From 2008, the pad pins have a protruding hexagon bolt head.

On the 2008 model the side panels where have in gray infill piece which hides the battery on the right hand side of the bike, and which has an opening for the rear shock preload adjuster knob on the left hand side. The models before 2008 do not have these infills. (But they can be fitted afterwards).

The puslar ring is conclusive on the ABS model.

I bought a printed manual for my 2004 model and I use it all of the time. Sept 2013 - is one of the later models to be built for the UK market. There were about 290 AE models registered. but I have yet to find any difference between mine.

Even so. There are some very serious errors in the Official manual. I bought a 2013 (!) manual on line. For not much money - so I suspected it wasn't genuine. The cover says 2013 - but the contents are identical to my 2003/4 version.

Buy what you can get - but if you intend doing any work yourselef, it is always worth checking.

The manual lists torque values in a number of different places.

In the table of torque values at the front.
As a summary of info at the start of each chapter.
In the text instructions for each component on assembly
On the diagrams

There is also a table of recommended torques for different size bolts.

When doing something new then check all of the sources. The people drawing the diagrams don't always get the correct part and label the torque incorrectly.
So make sure that the values match all the way through - and it it seems odd, or you want clarification, then ask on here.
 
This is great info thank you very much! The sticker says "ST1300A8" which confirms that its a 2008 ABS model (same goes for the VIN).

Its quite concerning that the factory service manual has errors, I typically use the manuals to better understand the maintenance procedure (valve adjustment and in the ST1300, the front tire installation are good examples) and for torque specs/patterns.

From the sounds of it, pretty much any "ST1300A" manual should suffice as long as I do a sanity check on the torque specs.
 
I only have interest in factory service manuals- so that would be the Honda manual for me.

The most significant changes to the ST1300 were made in the 2008 model year, including changes to the brake system. Even though there were not any drastic changes, if you acquire a pre-2008 manual you will not have some of the information for your 2008 including the changes to the brake system. I would acquire a manual that includes your 2008 model year.

The most recently published version of the Honda service manual will have the most updates and corrections already included. Of the ones that you listed that would be the 2003-2017 Honda ST1300 P/A ST1300A (Honda service manual).
 
Bin the Haynes Manual.

The brake bleed instructions are a mixture of ST11 & ST13; linked & non linked and ABS & non ABS instructions all in one.

Utterly useless.
 
Well, that's disappointing to hear about the Haynes (although not super surprising either). I've had those manuals for most of my cars and noticed a couple of oddities, Clymer used to make GREAT manuals if they made one for your bike.
 
I tried to get a later version printed manual, without success.

So I am stuck with the 2003/2004 version.

As far as the brakes are concerned, there is little of any consequence in the servicing. Calipers are not joined by bolts at the front, so you can get pistons out without separating. The lever is slightly different and the pads are different but look the same.

The Ecu is very different so any diagnostic tests on that may not be as described - but I have not had to do any of that. And from what I can tell, the newer manuals still contain errors.

Get the new manual if you can. Otherwise the early ones will do with plenty of questions on here.
 
jfheath said:
I tried to get a later version printed manual, without success.

So I am stuck with the 2003/2004 version.
Click to expand...
Out of curiosity John, and for the benefit of others reading this, what does without success mean? Do you mean that you just couldn't find a used one for sale or that the service manual is no longer available for purchase, even if ordered through a Honda dealer?
 
I tried my local dealer - they couldn't get them anymore - odd, becasue that is how I got my present one.

They directed me to a company that deals with all of the Honda publications. They couldn't help. I've been trying to find the name of it .......
Then I got directed to try to find official downloadable versions - this company used to provide those as well.

I did buy an on line one for very little money. Probably unofficial.

Many of the same errors that are in mine are also in that - but someone (it might have been you Andrew) sent me some pages of later revision sheets Some of these new revisions are included in my on line document, (eg wheel rim run-out), but other items (where the regulator / rectifier have been confused) have not been included.

But my CD document does not contain the 2008 amendment - where the mechanical seal drain is not just an open hole, it is a tube which drains to the ground. It seems that people were taking the bike in for a big repair when a few drops are normal fromt he mechanical seal (which keeps coolant from mixing with engine oil). That modification isn't in mine. But it is on the sheets I was sent which are labelled 'Revised November 2010'

I've just found a Honda Site called HondaMotoPub.com - but it lists only more recent bikes and I can only get hold of the owners manual.

Oh - Just found this:

Helminc.com is the publisher for Honda manuals Just found it. The website is very quirky, but it eventually did what I asked and it says that the manuals are available.

Here is the link to the 2012 version of the workshop manual price 50$

I'll see what they can do about getting one to the UK.
 
jfheath said:
Helminc.com is the publisher for Honda manuals Just found it. The website is very quirky, but it eventually did what I asked and it says that the manuals are available.

Here is the link to the 2012 version of the workshop manual price 50$

I'll see what they can do about getting one to the UK.
Click to expand...
$50 sounded good until you go to checkout and they want to charge $44 for shipping and a $6.95 handling fee.
 
I was expecting about £100 for the manual anyway ? I think that is what it cost when I got my 2004 version (for my 2006 bike).
 
The workshop manual for the 2002-2003 model year costs around €110 in Germany and is available. The supplementary manual is no longer available for the 2008 model year.
I have it, only in German.

Regards, Holm from Germany
 
Nightmare said:
@jfheath how is the quality of the manual from Helm? I was looking at them earlier vs the ebay scan/reprint sellers.
Click to expand...
I don't know about all markets world-wide but Helm is the official printer licensed to print the manuals for Honda in North America. The quality is as good as any printed book that is available in any book store. They are the same manuals that are used by Honda dealers in their service departments. I don't know whether or not Honda dealers have access to a digital copy or not. If they do this was not made available for purchase by the public as I did inquire about this with Helm, so I bought the paper version.

All of the digital versions that I have seen on the internet are scans of the printed Honda service manual. The quality varied depending on who scanned it and how much effort they put in to doing it. Some things to look for are that many of the ones that I have seen are simple scans that are not indexed, or are not searchable, or do not have shortcut links to make navigation easier, or all of the above. Some are fairly poor scan quality like they were done with someone's home scanner. Others were very clear and properly centered and aligned as though they were scanned by a professional print shop. Most sites allow a preview before purchasing so you can get a sense of the quality before you buy it. If I had seen a very good quality indexed and searchable digital version I would have bought it as it makes looking for things much easier but I never saw one that had good enough quality that I was willing to pay for it.
 
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