Jim,
It really does sound glorious!
And looks great too!
This was a great time to post about the Musket, because I think that Aniket has probably finished his 1000cc V-Twin build this past week-end. I talked to Chumma, and he said that Aniket probably would get it done over the holiday. I haven't heard for sure if he did.
But I suspect that we will be seeing a video with the 1000cc version pretty soon.
And for those of you who would prefer the 700 Musket, I don't see anything preventing Aniket from making the 700 available. I think there will be availability of both the 700 and 1000. I hope I'm not stepping out of bounds by saying that.
IMO, the Musket(in any version) will be the twin that gets popular. It has the beautiful vintage appearance and sound, and the obvious ties to the Bullet. It doesn't try to get "too modern", and goes with the kick-start and the old oil pumps, and solid lifters, etc. The style really goes great with the bike, or would also look killer in custom frames.
And the marketing idea is to have a relatively low price of entry, where the crankcase and crankpin, which are the minimum special parts, can be bought at some reasonable price(considering the type of product it is), and then the owner can build it up on his own budget and schedule. It isn't likely to be the kind of thing that you have to go out and get a loan for.
I personally think that is a big point in its favor, aside from its obvious physical attributes.
I really think this thing is going to be a winner.
Just in case anybody hasn't seen the 1000cc version, it does have some differences.
It has a narrower V angle than the 700. It fits in the frame with less stretch of the top tube, and will have a smaller front motor mount than the 700. Obviously it takes two 500 top ends. There are changes to the case shape and timing cover shapes with some fins added, and some refinements all around. The external oil pipes can be routed any way you like it, and don't have to be exactly like shown, as long as they feed oil to the head properly.
Here it is:
And the other side: