You just can't beat a Commando for attention!

Yeah I leave the key in all the time and ooglers come searching for me and I come back to the bike and say something stoopid like "That's because if you can start it you can have it" . Their eyebrows go up then the conversation goes to what the procedure(s) would actually be . Hee Hee.

john robert bould said:

I parted with my Rap approx 15 years ago for £12.500 . i found the rap's riding postion a bit sit up and beg, seat level with the tank.
Since then i have had 4 others , carnt say they excited me....

Click to expand...

Wow John, you didn't care for them so you bought five? How many expensive bikes do you buy when you find one you really like? :mrgreen:

Kinda reminds me of one of the regular patrons at my daughter's old job. She worked at a chain restaurant during summers while going to University. She had this one old fella who complained about every meal, said the food was disgusting, never left a tip, but always licked the plate clean!


Five Vincents!!!!

Glen

Happened again this evening! Parked out in front of a restaurant, a minivan full of gringos pulled up and parked net to it. A lady got out of the passenger side, glanced at the bike, did a double take straight out of a cartoon and said to the guy getting out of the driver side, "Holy Sh1t, Bill, it's a Norton Commando. I was standing out there looking at a friend's new red Ducati Multistrada, which was right next to the Norton. They came over to look at the Commando; no interest at all in the Duck.

I should start charging for pictures...

I have had so many people pull up next to me at the lights and tell me tales about Commandos that they have owned.

It's good till the lights change and the car behind starts honking.

Frank

I get a lots-many of stories from those who lost the ones that had the Commando they loved so much. Like rolling memorials we ride. Those folks react to me like lost family found.

It kind of live in hope that one day someone who comes up for a look and a chat will say. "I've got one of them in the back shed that's been there for thirty years. It's yours if you want to drag it away. "
You just never know.

Mark F said:

It kind of live in hope that one day someone who comes up for a look and a chat will say. "I've got one of them in the back shed that's been there for thirty years. It's yours if you want to drag it away. "
You just never know.

Click to expand...

THere is not many for sale around this neck of the wood, so Mark, i hope i meet those people first....

Exciting is one thing,impresssed with the engineering another, my last buy sits in the house, i look at every day and think.."this is a lovly old bike" a real piece of engineering.
Just came back from my old friend, he as a RTV 1200 ,keeps offering it to me...mayby one day :?: the RTV as some Terry Prince cams that cough and spit back at low rpm, i have been into the engine to fit a differant ignition unit..it had a Thunder ........something on it with a problem ..it retarded as the revs rose :roll: yep that was odd. i changed the wires over and smoked the box :evil: any way it is great now.
Vincents are a good investment...doubling your money in 10 years...considering isa's yeild 3 % yearly.

worntorn said:

john robert bould said:

I parted with my Rap approx 15 years ago for £12.500 . i found the rap's riding postion a bit sit up and beg, seat level with the tank.
Since then i have had 4 others , carnt say they excited me....

Click to expand...

Wow John, you didn't care for them so you bought five? How many expensive bikes do you buy when you find one you really like? :mrgreen:

Kinda reminds me of one of the regular patrons at my daughter's old job. She worked at a chain restaurant during summers while going to University. She had this one old fella who complained about every meal, said the food was disgusting, never left a tip, but always licked the plate clean!


Five Vincents!!!!

Glen

Click to expand...

A few years ago I had a yen for a Black Sabbath...er, I mean Black Shadow. I got on a Vincent web site (I still get "Hi, we haven't seen you in a while messages form them") and did a bunch of research, etc. I got a message from a guy who had a BS in baskets (literally, he said). He was "pretty sure" all the parts were there and he could let me have it for only 40K USD. Around that time I figured I was a bit out of my league and I concluded that I would never own a BS.

The good side of that is I have come to the conclusion that a Commando is sort of an "affordable" Black Shadow. Of course, perhaps I have come to that conclusion because I can't afford a real BS!

I have never ridden a BS so I don't really know anything about them...

Mark F said:

It kind of live in hope that one day someone who comes up for a look and a chat will say. "I've got one of them in the back shed that's been there for thirty years. It's yours if you want to drag it away. "
You just never know.

Click to expand...

I am not sure i could afford a free Norton.

"Exciting is one thing,impresssed with the engineering another, my last buy sits in the house, i look at every day and think.."this is a lovly old bike" a real piece of engineering."

Click to expand...

I like the Vincent for the fact that it isa smooth running torquey old machine that we can load up and confidently set off on a three thousand mile trip tomorrow morning if desired. It has all kinds of speed to handle two up, gear and mountain passes. I find it to be quite comfortable up to about 400 miles per day, two up, a bit further solo.
The Commando is a close second for this usage, but is not quite there yet on the reliability front.

The Commando and the Vincent twins are two old bikes that you can really use, no problem keeping up with modern traffic. The vast majority of old "classic" bikes are not really suitable for long range two up touring, or even solo touring. I suspect that even a relatively new bike like your 500cc two stroke would be a miserable ride if you loaded it up this way and set off across the country, doing big mileages day after day.
For this kind of riding, torque is King, the Vincent is a joy. That is probably why the prices keep going up.

Glen

Glenn ,
Price's are heady, driven by the fact cash investments are poor, "jims" vincent is flying up in price,and gives "Jim" fun, Freds Cash account is stood still, not happy he to buy's a few classic bikes, wont be long before Commandos are £10,000 "all day long"! at the moment they are static 6-7 grand some 9k [here in the UK] but watch this change SOON!!
I have seen good comets fetch £3000 15 years ago now £16000 and selling! a set of forks fetched £2100 on Ebay :!:
When i sold a Twin 7 years ago for £25000 i said to the guy "these will be £30K soon" how wrong i was...try 35K! Black shadows..£55,000 ,

john robert bould said:

Glenn ,
Price's are heady, driven by the fact cash investments are poor, "jims" vincent is flying up in price,and gives "Jim" fun, Freds Cash account is stood still, not happy he to buy's a few classic bikes, wont be long before Commandos are £10,000 "all day long"! at the moment they are static 6-7 grand some 9k [here in the UK] but watch this change SOON!!
I have seen good comets fetch £3000 15 years ago now £16000 and selling! a set of forks fetched £2100 on Ebay :!:
When i sold a Twin 7 years ago for £25000 i said to the guy "these will be £30K soon" how wrong i was...try 35K! Black shadows..£55,000 ,

Click to expand...

You're probably right that prices will constantly increase for Vincents and Commandos etc, and that will be the death of old ( I hate the word "classic" it just adds price) bikes for guys who actually ride them as a hobby. Apart from investors/speculators there is very few people who could afford to spend so much on what is effectively a toy. So the bikes won't get ridden and worn , so spares won't be made etc etc.
Won't that be fun for guys like me who couldn't care less about the value, but just want to ride and enjoy the old clunkers.
sam

I look at itdifferently Sam. Because Vincents are worth a lot and have been for quite awhile, most owners are willing to spend money to refurbish them. This makes it possible for all of the little suppliers of parts to eke out a living making this stuff.
There was a time in the 1960s when Vincents had almost no value. The supply of OE parts was nearly gone and there was no interest in making new parts for a worthless old bike. A lot went to scrap, but some determined owners held onto their bikes. Many sat under workbenches in pieces, some still do. Eventually prices for the bikes started to creep up and it became worthwhile to produce a few of the basic parts for them. Now it is at a point where the Spares Co. has every single part for the bikes, in fact three years ago, the Club assembled a complete new Black Shadow from parts.
Same with Commandos, they have quite a high value, are appreciating in price and this will tend to save a lot of them. Most of us are willing to break even or lose a bit on a restoration, but if the finished value of a restored Commando was fifteen hundred bucks or so, who would be willing to invest 10 k in the restoration? If the value was low, a lot more of them would go to scrap and eventually the parts supply for those still in use would dry up.

There are plenty of old bikes that have low value and not much of a following nor any kind of complete parts supply.

Fortunately the Commando and Vincent are not among them, so the parts supply should remain in good shape for many years to come.

Glen

Yes you can beat a Commando!, a few years back I left the Norton sulking and went off to an Italian do ,(posh Ferrarris and Desmo whatsit Ducatis,) The place was packed with Millions of pounds worth. I was on my Duck 250 Mach1 lookalike from 1967. Got loads of attention as the only small and only old bike. Was about to leave when a real tasty totty in a mini skirt asked if she could film my bike, she then rolled around the grass taking pics from all angles. I did not know where to look (did really!). She then came up real close and wide eyed saying -- your bike is so,so pretty, Had to go home for a little lie down to cool off.

Well yeah, once ya reach a certain level of unique beatufy any of em could be center of attention over the ordinary, take the example of gal photographer above, if above average any of em would jerk your eyes down to your joint.