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

I used to sit in school in central London at the end of the 60s and try to guess from the sound what motorcycle was going by.

Not very difficult:
Oinnnnnn = jap
Brooooo = British

Paul
 
well at least Come and go's had an Italian frame ! Reynolds tube co (UK) lost the contract due to price, but they were the eventual winners as Norton paid Reynolds to check/straighten/or scrap the imported frames, and Ken Sprayson (**) their long time "frame man" claimed that the money they made was greater than they would have made by making them in the first place, a huge percentage of Brit bike loving commando owners do not know this fact. Very sad that the management made the decision to pay an Italian firm, and then pay again due to poor quality, instead of paying just the once, another example of why the UK has no motorcycle industry to speak of.
CLEM
** Ken Spraysoin also operated for years as the go to man for instant welding repairs of any kind (including magnesium with oxy/acet !!!!) at the IOM TT a service that was free if you were a competitor and pretty much the same if you were a road bike owner in the shit as well, but racers would always come first, when Reynolds stopped their sponsorship of this free service Ken carried on and paying his own expenses, until he was no longer able to do so due to age, it has never been replaced, although a few attempts were made.
 
CLEMTOG said:
well at least Come and go's had an Italian frame ! Reynolds tube co (UK) lost the contract due to price, but they were the eventual winners as Norton paid Reynolds to check/straighten/or scrap the imported frames, and Ken Sprayson (**) their long time "frame man" claimed that the money they made was greater than they would have made by making them in the first place, a huge percentage of Brit bike loving commando owners do not know this fact. Very sad that the management made the decision to pay an Italian firm, and then pay again due to poor quality, instead of paying just the once, another example of why the UK has no motorcycle industry to speak of.
CLEM
** Ken Spraysoin also operated for years as the go to man for instant welding repairs of any kind (including magnesium with oxy/acet !!!!) at the IOM TT a service that was free if you were a competitor and pretty much the same if you were a road bike owner in the shit as well, but racers would always come first, when Reynolds stopped their sponsorship of this free service Ken carried on and paying his own expenses, until he was no longer able to do so due to age, it has never been replaced, although a few attempts were made.
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Just discovered this slightly old thread.
I own a (slightly upgraded) R90S with bar mounted master cylinder and stiffer fork springs and ikon shocks, it brakes and handles wonderfully and those mods cost a few hundred quid. Not as comfy as standard though. It doesn't have the rortiness of the other two but that's an asset sometimes with distance to cover and it's hardly soulless.
I own a nicely rebuilt Commando that is just a wonderful experience and pretty reliable if you keep on top of preventative maintenance.

I own a highly modded 3CL, it was probably the best sporting bike of this trio as standard back in the seventies, (the R90S was the best compromise between sporting and touring), it'd eat the other two for breakfast in it's current form, but wouldn't want to chase a commando down a B road on a standard one.

But what prompted the response was Clem's post above about Italian commando frames. There is a VERY high degree of suspicion about Ken Spraysons claims among many in the Norton community, given he was hardly unbiased and seemed to have a reputation for, er, verbal creativity. Verlicchi made the frames for Norton AND Ducati at the time (still do for Ducati of course), and we all know what a pile of shit the frames were on Bevel Ducatis, don't we, about the only bad thing about them!
This is what Joe Seifert (who owns Andover Norton and knew a lot of the ex factory guys) says:-
The "inferior Verlicchi frame" saga has been going for many years, with tall stories thrown in by an ex-welder of Reynolds, but I still haven't found anybody who can tell the real story.
 
wavey_davey said:
Just discovered this slightly old thread.
I own a (slightly upgraded) R90S with bar mounted master cylinder and stiffer fork springs and ikon shocks, it brakes and handles wonderfully and those mods cost a few hundred quid. Not as comfy as standard though. It doesn't have the rortiness of the other two but that's an asset sometimes with distance to cover and it's hardly soulless.
I own a nicely rebuilt Commando that is just a wonderful experience and pretty reliable if you keep on top of preventative maintenance.

I own a highly modded 3CL, it was probably the best sporting bike of this trio as standard back in the seventies, (the R90S was the best compromise between sporting and touring), it'd eat the other two for breakfast in it's current form, but wouldn't want to chase a commando down a B road on a standard one.

But what prompted the response was Clem's post above about Italian commando frames. There is a VERY high degree of suspicion about Ken Spraysons claims among many in the Norton community, given he was hardly unbiased and seemed to have a reputation for, er, verbal creativity. Verlicchi made the frames for Norton AND Ducati at the time (still do for Ducati of course), and we all know what a pile of shit the frames were on Bevel Ducatis, don't we, about the only bad thing about them!
This is what Joe Seifert (who owns Andover Norton and knew a lot of the ex factory guys) says:-
The "inferior Verlicchi frame" saga has been going for many years, with tall stories thrown in by an ex-welder of Reynolds, but I still haven't found anybody who can tell the real story.
Click to expand...
Weren't the Laverda Triple frames made by Verlicchi too?
 
pf1 said:
Weren't the Laverda Triple frames made by Verlicchi too?
Click to expand...
The 750 frames seem to have been, one is shown on an old Verlicchi brochure.

Fun Verlicchi fact; visiting the Intermot bike show in Cologne a few years ago, I had a peek at the "factory" BMW SBK, shown on the AlphaTechnik stand. AT apparently did all the work, BMW got the credit. A young and budding AT guy came over and asked if he could answer any questions. I asked where the frame was built (having seen it just minutes before on the Verlicchi stand ;-) ), he answered "in Munich of course!" Then why has it got a "Made in Italy" sticker? He suddenly had something else to do... you couldn't have wiped the grin off my face for the rest of the day. :LOL:

piet
 
I just bought this Norton but also own these twins (ok the guzzi isn’t a parallel twin but…). Once the weather is better I will let you know how they compare to each other.
 

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Jo said:
Very beautiful!

Today, motorcycles where the front and rear wheels have the same dimensions are called bobbers. The V7 was one without knowing it...
:D
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Thanks for that one, Jo!
Mine came with WM3 rims and 4.10 x 18 TT100 tyres, front and back.
I have never before thought of a Laverda 3cE as a "bobber". :ROFLMAO:Laverda 3cE Page 5.jpg
 
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  • Wow
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