If you're an American and you have to drag out a British magazine to back up your argument, then I don't really need to state the obvious, you only have to look at some of Britain's automotive disasters to know that the average Briton's tasts buds are firmly planted in their collective asses, ha ha! Now where did I leave my flak jacket? Cheers, Terry. 
I would rise to the bait, but of course being of English extraction I am also a gentleman, and that would be beneath my dignity!
Seriously though, you are absolutely right about British automotive disasters, and motorcycling ones too. However I think we could point our fingers at pretty much any car/bike manufacturing company in the world and say that they had at least one dud. Suzuki RE-5 anyone? Ford Edsel? That of course does not mean that they had their taste buds in their collective asses, as you so delicately put it, just that they produced models that were inappropriate for their time, or just plain ugly, or perhaps not as mechanically well thought out as they should have been.
My 44 cents worth. (4 cents + inflation.)
That's very true mate, being an Aussie and considering our ties, (The Empire, before the sun finally set on it) I spent most of my free time during my childhood in the 1960's being both horrified and fascinated by "British engineering". We had mostly "Pommy" bikes here in Oz, BSA's, Triumphs, and Nortons, not to mention Ariels, Royal Enfields, Velo's, etc. I won't even bother to mention English cars, but suffice to say that even now, English cars are avoided here like a 2 dollar hooker with a runny nose.
I can truthfully say that the only decently engineered British bike that was as reliable as it was fast and was actually quite beautiful, was the Vincent, and not just because it was designed by an Aussie either. (Phil Irving) By then the company hadn't existed for many years, more's the pity. The people here who would argue otherwise, just don't know what they're talking about.
My reason for this reminiscing of course is to illustrate why Britain so embraced Japanese bikes while their own outdated industry crumbled around them, with little effort from the british people to save it, the Jap bikes were simply better. No oil leaks, dodgy electrics, parts vibrating off, rapidly wearing out or just breaking due to poor metallurgy.
The British love for "mid sized" bikes as we refer to them now goes back to the day when the Beeza 500 was a "big" bike, and most "big" bikes were 500's. That, is why British mags (and only British mags) rave about the smaller bikes, it's just part of their culture. Here in Oz, and certainly in the US, we like our bikes and cars BIG, and that is why Honda built 500,000 750's and only about the same amount of "sub 750's" over that time.
From someone who was there, I can tell you first hand (without reading any british mags) that the 750 was THE best custom candidate, whether it was in racer or chopper guise. Wanna know why? Take a look at the engine guys, it is still THE best looking Jap motorcycle engine of the era. Sure, the Kawasaki Z1 looks great in race bikes, but the most versatile engine of the 1970's was the magnificent CB750.
I'm not saying don't "cafe" the smaller bikes, but don't then compare them to their brilliant big brother,the worlds first "Superbike" because really, there is no comparison, and it's too late to re-write history. Cheers, Terry.
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