I understand completely, Having taken the whole thing to bits this last week, I have seen for myself how fragile it is!
What I see myself doing here though is replacing some of the less than seller Indian parts with those more akin to the original redditch ones (or better, in most cases)
The design isn't inherently weak, it's just a handmade machine that's made to a standard befitting it's lower price bracket.
I think we are lucky to be able to still buy a bike that hasn't changed much since the 50's.
Though buying a brand new bike and modifying it heavily from the outset doesnt neccesary make sense. Mine was already 10 years old. I have just decided to fix some of the new Indian ideas I didn't agree with (i.e remove electric start) and embrace others like the 5 speed box and LH shift. I've also taken a metric tonne of iron away!
And Ace, I'm looking forward to what you and Paul have come up with for this racer!
Respect to all no matter how they want their steed to be
After being intimately involved with all the RE 500 platforms, and modifying them to various extents, I can say that the modified condition is an upgrade in virtually all ways from the factory condition. So, any perceived "weaknesses" of the factory bike are generally addressed with any mods, or mods are done within the expected capacity of the remaining aspects of the stock platform to handle. Modifications can be done at many levels. The more power involved in modification, the more strength and reliability modifications must be done to handle it. This is just the way things are. It requires some experience to do these things, and happily, we have that experience.
Not everybody wants to modify their bikes, but some do.
For those that do want to, there are sound methods and approaches available to do it for various power levels, and also available for improvements of reliability and longevity.
The antique Iron Barrel models are the "weakest and most spindly and fragile" of all the Bullet platforms, and we are able to push them up to over 50 hp, and possibly even 60 hp. So, the more robust and better made UCE platform is not really seen by us as any impediment to making power.