I spent one afternoon beating the piston loose, lapping the valves, and making other small modifications. It runs well now - although it could certainly use a good valve job. Although this machine was designed for 32 volts, it starts and runs well on 12 or 24 volts. Mine runs well on gasoline, but seems to prefer kerosene, or diesel. Surprisingly, it seems to run best of all on citronella tiki lamp oil, which is probably mostly kerosene.
Electric start makes it convenient.
It runs slow, under 1000 rpm, so with a good tailpipe and muffler, it's very peaceful to have running. Something as simple as a small lawnmower engine belted to a car alternator can do a wonderful job of charging batteries very efficiently. It will run quieter, and last longer. Watch for more information about this here soon. Home Power Magazine has had some excellent articles about building one of these.