Faults:

Seat base rotted out.

Seat torn and falling apart.

Headlight housing broke.

Foot pegs bent.

Centre stand rotted out and bent.

Oil pump gave up, resulting in seizures (about 5 times).

Fuel tank leaked.

Carb float bowl stuck.

Chain guard fell off.

Indicators fell off.

General Comments:

I've bought this bike 3 times, sold it twice, had it stolen and recovered twice. It's been burn out by thieves and dumped by thieves. It's been seriously repaired once and fully restored once. It's been in at least 2 significant accidents; one with a Land Cruiser that bent a good few bits.

All of the 'things that have gone wrong' with the bike are things that went wrong with it through use. Listing the things from the thefts and torching would be silly.

The oil pump failing was the biggest issue. It would fail and the bike seize. I'd fix it and a month later it would happen again. In the end I did it pre-mix until the total restoration last year.

The listed mileage is a guess. The speedo never worked well and went missing the last time it was stolen.

It handles like riding a cat on jelly. You're never too sure if the back of the frame is going to flex in the same direction as the front when turning a corner.

It will U turn in a single lane road with no problems. This makes it excellent around town. If there's a traffic jam, you can squeeze through the smallest gaps and turn 90 degrees between snarled up cars.

Top speed indicated is 60mph, with 55mph being comfortable. Well, if sitting on a knife with a nest of buzzing hornets under it can be called comfortable.

MPG (after the total restoration) I've just measured at 90 miles to the gallon. That's going on fairly open roads at 55 to and from work with the odd bit of traffic. I did also race a guy on a 125 for 10 miles one day. By race I mean I wound it open to 60mph all the way home and just kept up with the 125.

Despite everything, I'm really glad I've still got this thing. It starts every morning. Costs almost nothing to run, insure, tax etc. It goes as quick as most of the traffic on my daily commute. It nips in and out of the traffic like you're walking at speed. Yes I'd like something with a bit more in reserve and a bit more comfortable like my old Bandit 1200, but all in all this is a great commuter bike.

Faults:

Seat has started to wear badly.

General Comments:

I purchased this motorcycle when I was 17 - I'm now 51 34 years later & am still riding it!

Bullet proof in terms of reliability; I am not precious with the bike, but keep it clean & service it myself.

The old cable operated drum brakes are well below par by today's standard, but that's to be expected in a machine over three decades old.

The 6 volt electrics system too is a throwback to the old days, but the headlamp is adequate enough for the task.

Apart from tyres & brake shoes, the only things I've replaced are the fork seals, front brake cable, & a few bulbs.

The bike is kick start only, & fires up more or less first time every time. Even after it hasn't been used for a couple of weeks in cold weather, it is unusual to have to kick start it three times before it starts.

As for economy, not all that great (I'm 15 stones though so that may have something to do with it!). I get about 50 MPG. A good big fuel tank - about 2.7 gallons - means that you don't have to queue up at the petrol station all that often.