I've got an '87 black lightning that I got from a friend for free. Needs the rear wheel trued and the front brake cable is sticking, but it rides like butter...for a while. It's like another appendage - you know what it's doing and where it's going at all times. It feels what you're doing and reacts appropriately. It handles like it's on rails, accelerates like none other, and would probably hang with modern bikes if I chose to ride in a group with it (and did with a bunch of C&V'ers a couple years ago), but after about 80 miles or so, when you need to have some stability and some upright-ness, it just isn't the bike to use...or perhaps I haven't ridden it enough to get used to doing distances on it.