Why the 750 - 4 didn't handle as well as the Norton.

Of all the faults of the later brit bikes I have found that Lucas bits, original anyway, are actually reliable. My replacement Lucas Ammeter lived for about one ride last year. Yes the original ones eventually beat themselves to death but they lasted longer than one ride. I have never fried a stator, or had a rotor failure since 1970. Yes others have but not me.

Owning my Norton for 50 years I never had any problems with Lucas bits, my charging system is still all original, wiring is not, only ever had one coil fail back in the day, and I have also owned early British cars that ran with Lucas and never had any problems, prince of darkness, don't believe everything you read.
Now I am running with the Joe Hunt magneto I still using the original charging system with a lot less wiring.

Ashley

The Lucas K2F magneto was literally the first part failure on my P11. I rode the bike over to Brooks Cyclery (Triumph and Norton dealer and parts place in San Jose CA) and on the way back it crapped out. Got to push the bike a mile or so to get it back to where I was living at the time. That said the bike was raced in the dirt before I got it torn apart in boxes, so whatever that means could have something to do with it. I've had the P11 for 54 years. I need a check up from the neck up. My single phase Lucas alternator has lasted that entire time. Nothing else on the bike is Lucas electronics.

I definitely don't believe much of anything I read on the internet in forums. Just saying

Sort of on the continual whipping of the horse topic... If my P11 didn't handle well on the street, I wouldn't still have it. It is easier to ride and whip around than the Commando I had was. I did ride my brother's 70's something Honda 750, and it felt fat, but it sure was quiet and smooth. I got a Honda 350 scrambler from a wrecker a year or two before I got the P11, now that I think about it. Also a Triumph 650 I really wish I had today mostly for nostalgic reason, but it never gave me any trouble other than those leaking pushrod tubes. Oops, my babble meter just went off

I'll take your word that Lucas was top notch............. but was that really the point I was making?

One post mentioned the crappy, cheap wiring harnesses- blame it on that then.

Point being, Nortons in the late 60s and 70s had electrical issues-
I know because I rode with a couple that owned them- and they had problems the guys on Hondas (including me at the time) did not.

You could say they were piss poor mechanics, they didn't diagnose and trouble shoot.....

Mmmmm...... maybe that was my point?

As far as handling,,,, I love how my Combat handles

I think the reputation Brit bikes, from the early 1970s onward anyway, for being unreliable, leaking oil, vibating themselves to bits and having rubbish electrics is very undeserved and was concocted by the motorcycling press at the time. And just stuck. Lucas electrical components are very good in my opinion, perhaps other than the handlebar switches, which I don't like. Reliability? I rode my T140 and my B50 as daily transport for years and did quite a few long distance trips on both, without ever breaking down (well, the B50 broke down once, when a chunk of the throttle slide broke off and closed the plug gap up on its way through, but that was a bit of a freak). The C15 I had before any big bike was a completely different kettle of fish - if I got 20 miles without something causing me to stop and fix it or without something falling off I'd consider myself to be having an especially good day, but 250s tended to be like that - passed through several teenage owners who thought checking the oil was a bit girly by the time they were 10 years old and infested with horrendous bodges. A properly looked after Norton or Triumph or BSA of the '70s was likely to be as reliable as a Honda.