I have no idea where you getting the jap bikes were unreliable from , the only people i know that slagged them off were die hard brit bike owners, even the most unreliable jap bikes were as reliable as a good British bike from my experience.
When i was on a bike run in my late teens if anyone showed up on anything British we all rolled our eyes, not because we didn't like them but because we knew it would be a day full of stops to tinker or get the bloody thing going again, I remember following a mate on his triumph tiger (1970's bike) in the rain, it was that light drizzle sort of stuff but when we stopped for a chat i realised it wasn't raining, the piece of shit he was riding was leaking oil and the front of me and my bike were covered in it. He was behind me the rest of the ride LOL