My story.
:x You may already be familiar with the bulk of my tail of woe. See "Commando Kickback." This fall I was in a good positon to seek out and purchase a nice Commando. I kept an eye out on the usual sources for awhile and thought I had found the right machine at Baxter Cycle. I corresponded back and forth with a guy but then came across a bike in Walneck's. The ad listed a website and I was quite impressed. A battery of e-mails and photos helped me to decide that this '72 Roadster was going to be my next ride. The details I was given fit my desires pretty much to a tee: Not a show bike, but a good looker and an excellent runner.
Ready for the road! I was told that an experienced mechanic had gone over the bike, repaired anything that was not up to snuff, and pronounced her as being in excellent mechanical condition. Receipts would be supplied with the bike. I sent off my cashier's check for $4200.00 and then paid another fella $300.00 to deliver it to my home.
When the bike arrived, cosmetically it was close to what I had expected, but not exactly as described. After countless minutes of kicking and cursing I got the bike to run. The just rebuilt carbs were covered with varnish and leaked profusely and the power seemed down compared to my little Triumph T-100. The gearbox was difficult use and the brand new battery had no hold down and had slopped acid out onto the battery box. You get the picture. It hasn't ran since that day and I'm lucky my tibia wasn't broken by the violent kickback when attempting to start it again. I sent a lengthy message to the seller and his answer in a nushell was: Hmm, it was fine when it left here, you must be doing something wrong.
I'm 38 years old, riding since I was nine, fully certified Michigan mechanic, owned numerous bikes, (6 right now, the newest being a 1980 Honda), and have always done ALL my own repairs. But, I don't know how to start a '72 Norton. OK. In the sellers defense, he did send me a Boyer he had at his house that had never been on a bike. The receipt he sent me for the most recent repairs was hand written on a piece of loose leaf paper.
I'm in the process of sorting out the problem and have no doubt that the bike will be on the road this Spring. However, I'll obviously be putting in more time and money than I had expected, or wanted too.
Chuck