good thread Hobot
worst aggravations to me were the erratic timing and sticking of the auto advance
but even more than that was the absolutely horrible inability of even new Commandos to retain their idle settings, even after careful and knowledgable fiddling
it seemed back then, and I had five new Commandos, that the slightest change in air temperature or humidity would change the idle, later I learned a lot of this was due to the dissimilar rates of expansion of the "pot metal" used for the carb bodies and slides....
plug leads falling off the coil connections, exhaust nuts coming loose, peeling new chrome...
hate to say it but there were times I envied the guys who bought the Honda 750 Fours, electric start, great electrics, very few leaks, etc