Dare I say it I have had the rack on my private Commando(s) ever since we had the first batch made. So, yes, I am biased. But I find it very practical especially for going to work with a briefcase on the rack or, if I need more stuff, with the panniers on.
The idea behind the racks was to offer something that works and fits without two dozen clips, adaptors, and ugly struts like the system I had fitted on my first Commando in 1977. I won't give the name of the manufacturer, but it remided me of a comic in MCN at the time: "This is the universal system. It doen't fit anything. And this is the special Honda CB750 system. It will not fit a Honda CB750."
I delivered an Interstate, a Roadster, and a Fastback Commando to Hepco & Becker and told them what we wanted. The system fits all three variants.