My experiences have been at both extremes of the scale: both terribly poor and wonderfully good.
It's taken me 2 years to finally achieve dependable reliability.
One of the biggest problems being that of developing a reliable engine; had no end of problems with big end failures (seven replacement engines in two years, largely attributed to incorrect ignition timing of the standard CDI) and no end of problems with the drive train mechanism.
As things currently stand my bike is operating as intended and able to cope with difficult conditions.
The amount of re-engineering required to achieve such reliability has been ridiculous to say the least, with every modification born out of previous failure.
I am always amused when someone (riding a motorised bicycle) makes issue of the plethora of components on my bike, pointing out how it's not necessary.
Naturally i challenge their view and give an invitation to come on a ride; and not just a 10 minute ride around the block.
Those that have taken up the challenge never seem to make it more than 2 kilometers before suffering punctures, bent and twisted wheels, chains failing to stay on the sprockets, nuts and bolts falling off and electrical gremlins that can't be fixed by wiggling wires.
Everyone can have good reliability with standard componentry when riding on a bitumen road, but thrown in sharp rocks, sand, river crossings, driving rain, hail, snow and anything else mother nature can throw at you whilst towing a heavily loaded trailer up and down 20% gradients and the game changes quickly.
Finally (after an endless list of improvements) i'm experiencing the "excellent" end of the scale where things rarely seem to go wrong anymore; riding to impressive scenic destinations; well and truly off the beaten track.
Has it been worth all the effort; pain and tears of previous heartache, sometimes being stranded in the middle of nowhere without any clear way of getting home where even the GPS doesn't seem to work - at this point in time i can say 'yes'
