Regarding Lucas, you got that right. Being a glutton for punishment I had a 69 BSA Lightning 650 and a 64 Triumph Spitfire. Arrrgh. What awful electronics.
But the BSA was such a nice handling bike. The Japanese bikes at the time just didn't have it. I never rode with Nortons, but did pretty well against my buddy that rode a Triumph Bonneville.
Yeah, I never understood why Lucas continued year after year to produce such faulty products.
The BSA 650 Lightning and the Triumph 650 Bonneville were probably the two best known British bikes in the U.S. Both were classics.