As a former Honda service technician, comparing the RE 350 with the Highness is just sport. The Honda R&D facilities are enormous & also cross-disciplinary, so what one division learns, all know. They have covered every motor sport thoroughly. They have been in racing since the 60's. They raced their oval piston NS500 4-strokes against the very best 2-stroke GP bikes and did very well. Since RE abandoned the non-unit IB and improved Electra versions, they are playing in Honda's world. When you start with a blank piece of paper, you need to give it maximum effort to keep up with Big Red. I'm pretty sure a 50,000 mile "shootout" limited to oil, filter & tire changes plus normal maintenance would end in Honda's favor. Building the UCE was like recreating the B50 or 441 Victor, except 40 years on. A lot happened besides hydraulic valves. I really enjoy the IB Bullet, but the UCE needed a 6-speed, with less weight, probably a counter balancer and better choice of frames. Maybe a 6-speed Himalayan with a choice of street & dirt oriented spinoffs? - ACR -