Interesting thread that's come back to life. In my slice of time, from '68 through to the late '70's when the UJM's finally ended the British scene, my buddies and I rode BSA's and Triumphs. They performed about the same, and my personal experience would give the reliability nod to Triumph. My two Lightning Rockets just broke all the time. My '67 could outrun the two '68 Bonnies in our group (slightly), if it happened to be running. I should mention there was an Atlas or two in the mix, performed about the same, except they always seemed to be covered in oil. And then one day, my dyed-in-the-wool Thunderbolt riding pal showed up on this odd thing called a Norton Commando Fastback. With his girlfriend on the back, he left four or five of us for dead, as in 'look, he's a dot on the horizon' dead. We were all riding solo. Next thing you know everyone was figuring out how to get one of the new Norton Roadsters, the new King of the Highway. And, the vibration that blew light bulbs and fractured parts was simply gone. Over the time period I had two BSA's, an Atlas, an Atlas with a Commando engine (hopelessly under-engineered, built when my screwdriver was also my paint stirrer), and a 1970 or '71 Commando. I recall the day a friend gave me the keys to his nice black and gold Combat Commando for a short ride. The acceleration was mind-boggling to me at the time, quick enough to consistently out-accelerate the Honda 750's that the 'regular' Commandos just matched. At this stage in life, the memories are no doubt better than the reality was, but I'm still very glad that I lived and rode back in those days. Choose a vintage British bike to actually ride? NO CONTEST!
