Dunnwurkin,
I ran across an RE ad in Warneck's Classic Cycle last summer and went to enfieldmotorcycles.com... as soon as I saw the Bullet vintage kit in green, it was all over... I ordered most of the vintage kit with tan leather solo saddle and saddlebags when I ordered my bike. Cut down the stock seat and made a removable passenger seat (lots bigger than a pillion pad) covered in tan naugahyde. Have a vintage muffler (old HD FLH type) ready to go on when the season rolls up and I'm not riding it every day. Decided to keep the stock taillight and turn signal in the back - the vintage beehive taillight and bullet turn signals look good, but I wanted to have as much light shining from the rear as possible...
As far as maintenance goes, I had to tweak things fairly regularly the first thousand miles or so, but after that, it's mostly just checking to make sure northings slipped on me. I'm close to 5000 miles, and have had to adjust the points once, haven't had to adjust the pushrods, timing, primary or rear chains since 2000 miles... my bike lets me know when something's getting goofy, and then it's usually a 15-minute deal to fix it.
I know a bunch of the folks who post here are also members of the Yahoo Royal Enfield Groups... I'm a member of the royalenfield, Bullet-Mania and Bulletech groups. You might want to consider joining... there's Bulleteers and experts from around the world as members. Great info, expert advice, lots of laughs, and TONS of pictures of Royal Enfields in every configuration imaginable.
I think deejay's 2 cents are worth much more than that - they match my thoughts 100%. I can't get over how much attention the bike attracts (I'm fairly sure it ain't me.) The nice folks at CMW sent me a stack of model brochures that I keep in the pocket of the A-2 flight jacket I wear for riding... I was making my own and handing out about 5 a week after I went through the explanation of "well, its a brand-new 1955 Royal Enfield..."
I echo the thanks from IndianaBulleteer on your consideration for our military. I served 21 years myself, but in Navy Blue instead of camo. Don't think any of us would consider you a fraud if you decided on the military model. There's several great military models (a couple are scratch-built) in the Yahoo groups (mostly on the Bullet-Maina group) that will get your juices flowing. I'm thinking about military model done in U.S. desert tan...
I'm convinced these bike are the perfect pallet for a very overactive imagination...
Apologies to all for the lengthly post... I just can't seem to quit thinking Bullets once I start thinking Bullets...
Mike and Stumpy in Michigan