Try our new info resource - "Aladdin's Cave" (Main menu)Just added a separate link to Ash's Dropbox thread (shortcut)
I can imagine that the original tooling wouldn't have been designed and made for longevity, more for low cost. Of course, the Brit bike industry would have made tooling to last into the next century - but at a cost which made them uncompetitive.When it got to the point where it couldn't produce parts which were acceptable quality to Honda, they would have got rid of it - probably for peanuts to the subcontractor who was running it for them. They then set it running to satisfy the aftermarket but with minimal investment to keep it running - which would show up in the lower quality. That's my theory - sounds plausible to me in the absence of hard facts!
More difficult to work with, Tomb?