Non-Laverda... any advice for buying a Commando?

Paul Marx said:
Apart from an interlude with a Gilera single, I rode to work nearly all my working life on my Laverda. From 1981 to 2017. Before 81, I rode Honda and my last year at work, a 750 Aprilia.
A Parisian friend rode to work all his life on a 125 Morini.
Of course you can ride to work on a classic. They were modern before being classic.

Paul
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But life was different then Paul. When I bought a 3C it could outrun almost any car, now they can all outrun me and with a brain dead arsehole driving it's better to have more leeway.

Driving the car I mean ha ha!
 
pf1 said:
But life was different then Paul. When I bought a 3C it could outrun almost any car, now they can all outrun me and with a brain dead arsehole driving it's better to have more leeway.

Driving the car I mean ha ha!
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I've only been retired 5 years, not since then. Was riding my SF2 to work until 2016., come rain, come shine.

Paul
 
Richard 180.S2.81 said:
I rode to work every day for 10 years, you can't do it on a classic,. You need mechanical reliability and latest technology in brakes, machining tolerances for lower cost of servicing etc..
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That's what the weekends were for. :rolleyes:

I rode to work every day, rain or shine, during my apprenticeship and early working life, my bikes were already classics back then. I now use any of my bikes to occasionally ride to work, don't have a modern one (RGS is my most "modern" bike). Also no longer too excited about getting wet/cold/hot these days, nothing left to prove. I'd ride more often if the route wasn't so tiresome and boring for me and tough on the bikes. Air-cooled engines and primitive old clutches can be quickly overwhelmed by todays' city traffic conditions (lane-splitting is rarely possible in my cramped environment, seems like there's a traffic light about every 300 metres, progress is slowwwww). School holidays are a good opportunity for a pleasant ride to work, about 80% less wankers on the road!

piet
 
That was the beauty of 2020, for me. Traffic was so reduced it was like being back in the '70's.
Maybe it was that there were mainly professional drivers on the road, or the morons were covid paranoid in their homes, it was a pleasure to be out on the Laverda.
The only downside was the high number of lycra clad cyclists riding three or four abreast, on bendy country lanes.
 
I used to ride to work every day, 60klms of country roads rain hail and shine.

Nowadays I sit in my car watching the young guys doing stupid things on their two wheel rocket ships. The other day, a bike was splitting lanes at the lights, at speed. The lights went green and he was about two cars back from the intersection, twisted the throttle, not even a glance to see if there was anything coming through the lights.

Maybe I’m just old and dipuded. Nice wheelie across the intersection though ;)
 
chrisk said:
I used to ride to work every day, 60klms of country roads rain hail and shine.

Nowadays I sit in my car watching the young guys doing stupid things on their two wheel rocket ships. The other day, a bike was splitting lanes at the lights, at speed. The lights went green and he was about two cars back from the intersection, twisted the throttle, not even a glance to see if there was anything coming through the lights.

Maybe I’m just old and dipuded. Nice wheelie across the intersection though ;)
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Average Temp in Brisbane is 26.9 c …hardly fucking Watford at half past fucking seven in the dark and the pissing rain is it? 🤣
 
Paul Marx said:
I much prefer riding a modern machine in traffic. Quicker handling and lighter brakes than our old clunkers.
When a car pulled out on me as I was on the SF2, I hit it. I wouldn't have on my 750 Aprilia which is my chosen town tool for the moment. Will probably be an electric two wheeler in a few years.

Same debate as riding with drum brakes and other older technical solutions. Our Laverda are not adapted to modern traffic. Which is why I bought my Aprilia. Work trips in the dark, in the rain and in bumper to bumper car traffic with those old Brembo discs and their 2 second delay before they start braking when wet

Were we in our 90s, we would think that 30s bikes are the dog's bollocks. (Which they are)
As for 80s bikes, the 750 GSXR came out in 1985. Far superior to the umpteenth re-edit of a concept with it's roots pre-war sold by a dead factory. Surely only Enfield India were using chain primary drive at the time, going back to the separate gearbox era.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Laverda and ride them a lot, but rose tinted spectacles ain't going to transform the frog into a princess.

Paul
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I completely agree. I’m very lucky to own a series of machines, one a big ADV with ABS, traction control, and other modern comfort conveniences. That said, I’ve ridden both my Norton and Laverda to the Mexican border from Canada, and have done 3 Iron Butt challenge endurance runs on my old airhead GS Beemer. I don’t think I could do that on an old single.
 
Commuted between Avalon on the North Shore of Sydney and HMAS Platypus (submarine base) on my RGS for ten years, 100 kms round trip.
Not until I moved to Adelaide did I see the light and commuted on a Yammy 225 Serow.
 
Yeah, move to Brisbane until it gets past 35C, then back to summer in Old Blighty.
Quite a few back in the day left their "big" - an 850 used to be called that - bike at home and commuted to work through the peak hour shaez on a 100cc two stroke. Traffic in Oz capital cities was evil at peak hour back then too. I sympathise with those commuting into Oslo on monster two wheeled SUVs, lane splitting for miles and miles.
 
Legs said:
Commuted between Avalon on the North Shore of Sydney and HMAS Platypus (submarine base) on my RGS for ten years, 100 kms round trip.
Not until I moved to Adelaide did I see the light and commuted on a Yammy 225 Serow.
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Makes perfect sense, but stopping myself singing “Your long blonde hair and your eyes off blue.......” every tine I road the Sorrow would be difficult.
 
Legs said:
Not until I moved to Adelaide did I see the light and commuted on a Yammy 225 Serow.
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Excellent bit of kit if no freeways involved. We have a low mileage (but getting higher fast) '89 which gets used,and generally abused as a runabout. Which reminds me. It probably needs an oil & filter job! Not this one but one of these ones. 1637353353622.jpeg
 
I know a bloke that bought a house right on the beachfront, he is putting suspension and balloon wheels off a :unsure::unsure::unsure: Yamaha TW200 onto a TT250r????, which looks very similar to the Serow pictured.
 
Maximum allowed speed on my commute in Adelaide was 80 kph so the Serow made perfect sense. Part of the commute was on the infamous Gorge Rd in the Adelaide Hills, as I knew every bump and ripple on the 10 km stretch I had great fun rounding up some of the 'race face' crowd.
Rode the thing from Perth to Adelaide, a distance of 2800 kms, one of the best rides I've ever done, took me four days.
Finally traded it in with over 100 000 kms on the clock for an XT600.
 
Commuting on an old bike is possible, but you will be spending every weekend doing maintenance. Back in the 1970's when I was young and poor I rode both to school and work on a 1961 Triumph Bonneville as I had not a car or other bike to use. I put 129,000 miles on it before I switched to a 1978 BMW R100RS which had 211,000 miles before I sold it. It too needed maintenance but only once a month.

The Triumph engine did not go this many miles without a few rebuilds. The BMW was never touched.

The last seven years I was commuting on a bike before I retired was on a 2008 BMW R1200RT. It currently has 154,000 miles and other than oil, tires and brakes nothing has been touched. Valves only needed adjustment three times.

If the weather was nice I would on occasion ride a Laverda the 90 miles round trip to work.
 
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