Dave, my view differs from yours.
The bikes were built to a price and probably with an expectation to last for perhaps ten years at most. That is all most manufacturers tried for back then, and the Japanese were great at this. They could make a cheap, reliable bike that would live for a relatively short time then be thrown away.
When Phil Irving was on holiday and staying at my friend's place in the early 80s, we asked him if they intended that the Vincent would last for so many decades. He replied that he and Phil vincent were shocked by how long the bikes had held together. At the time of design they were shooting for a ten year life, then get a new machine. And this was the high end of industry standards! The Vincent was a bike that back then cost as much to purchase as a new house in some parts of the UK.
I don't know the percentages, but it seems there is a very high surviving percentage of Commandos. I'm sure it is much higher than the numbers for the Japanese rivals built back then. For Vincents the survival percentage number is ridiculously high, I have seen it somewhere and it was in the 80 percent range.
So we have these great old bikes with all of their faults but with some care they are still very useable after all the decades. I think that in itself is a testament to the original designers and builders. I do find it offensive when someone calls them a piece of shit , to me it is disrespectful of the work done by designers and builders.
It is pretty easy to use hindsight gathered from forty years of use and abuse to point out weak spots. Without the benfit of hindsight, could anyone on this board honestly say they could have done better with the design or production of those original bikes? Could we have even done as well?
I started this thread because I had an interest in a Dreer VR880 that was for sale. I wanted to know if it was the type of bike I could ride 600 miles in a day, push it hard at full throttle in third on a long steep mountain grades , or if it might come apart under such stress. From the answers provided, I decided that there is a good chance it would not stand up to that type use. They may be blueprinted to the nth degree and have modified cases, but it appears to not be enough for the increased power levels.
Some owners chimed in, that was very useful. Internet Annoyance really verified the other information presented about the VR880s, but in doing so felt the need to defend Kenny Dreer by pointing out what junk the original bikes are, using terms like "Grenades" and "time bombs" From what I've read including Kenny Dreers own comments, these terms are better applied to the VR880 than to the original bikes, unaltered Combats being the possible exception.
I certainly wasn't denigrating Kenny Dreer, just the opposite, I would like to have purchased one of his bikes. They look great and I'm sure he did as much as is reasonably possible to make them work well, but I'm convinced they are probably best for limited type usage or as museum pieces, not the type of riding I do.
Glen
