Faults:

Snapped throttle cable (twice).

Replaced main 20-amp fuse holder.

No rear running lights, though made for US market. I installed after-market lights.

Replaced breather assembly with K&N style.

Replaced silencer to get less back pressure.

Re-jetted carb, originally jetted too lean.

Greatest problem has been metal fatigue due to vibration.

-- Vibration backed the screw out of my right footrest, making it fall off the bike.

-- Fatigue caused the exhaust bracket at the silencer/exhaust pipe junction to break, then one of the bolts on the silencer to snap off, then caused the header pipe mounting bracket to break, which meant that, having lost three of the four connections, the exhaust pipe fell out of the exhaust manifold at 45 mph. Quite a shock.

-- Vibration also caused the rear brake pedal to work loose and drop onto the road, also at 45 mph. Another nasty shock.

Loses about a quart of oil for every tank of gas. Believe the leak to be at the bottom of the rocker oil pipe. But when I tried to tighten the bottom banjo bolt, as soon as I put pressure to it, it sheared. I am waiting for a new oil pipe, with a compression fitting at the bottom.

General Comments:

Look, this bike is not for the faint-hearted. I knew what I was getting into when I bought it; I was looking for a simple engine absent all the electronics, that I could enjoy on the road and working on in my garage. Parts are inexpensive and readily available, although many ship from India. Most replacement parts are upgrades to the original part (like the rocker oil pipe). There is a good deal of satisfaction in encountering and overcoming these problems. Installation of rubber grommets, for instance, has solved many of the vibration issues. Lock washers have solved many other vibration problems.

And on the road, she's a dream. Light and nimble, the bike is at her best on the twists and turns down country roads. My footpegs are beveled from dragging. And when I ride with friends, no one asks about their Harleys. But everyone wants to know about my Royal Enfield.

I give her mediocre acceleration remarks because the bike is carb-fed. Absent fuel injectors, this is to be expected. But there is good roll-on power, it just isn't immediately available.

Faults:

The front fender stays keep cracking in half, the ignition advance mechanism wore out after only 2000 miles and would over advance the engine, replaced it with an electronic ignition. The standard points engine was extremely difficult to time with any accuracy unless you had a dial micrometer to measure TDC.

Installed the RH shift kit as the LH shift was a cobbled together collection of shafts and linkages that made a clunky shifting transmission even more difficult to shift.

The seat came unglued from its metal pan and was extremely uncomfortable, replaced with an English made seat, which is very nice.

The charging system was incapable of maintaining the battery with a sufficient charge to operate the starter more than three time before it wouldn't crank. Thank god it's got a kick starter. Finally I just removed the starter and converted it to only kick start, in the process I found out that, with an electric starter, the primary chain drive is not adjustable and if you do try and adjust it, you'll grind one of the alternator mounts in two.

The original Avon tyres are rayon corded and make a nice handling bike handle squirrley. Went to Dunlops front and rear.

The original oil pumps, yes, it has two, are too small and don't push enough volume of oil for anything over moped speed. I installed high volume pumps, it should come with these.

General Comments:

Slow... Slow... Slow, but it handles very nice and is incredibly stable once the Avon's are gone. Anything over 50 mph is an exercise in sadism. This thing was made to go about 45mph tops, so it's pretty much useless in the U.S.