I'm told that the side stand is a common fault. Mine's dead wobbly and there's nothing I can do about it - it even blew over in the strong winds we had which broke the indicator stalk and mirror
The 'pig to start' is also a common thread with mine. I've NEVER been able to start it off the kick start when i've tried. The recent service mine had certainly made it work much better - i'm sure John (the guy who serviced it) said something about lubricating the carb butterfly or something as it was sticking - either way, it starts first time, every time.... with choke applied, from cold, and that's not necessarily when it's actually cold if you follow my logic.
The bikes ok - stick with it, it'll not be too bad. Keep the chain lubed and keep it protected from the rain and it'll look after you
Just watch it in the wet - the wheels are too easy to lock when it's wet. I've had a couple of very near misses due to that, and I wouldn't consider myself a late breaker. I am 16+ stone so that may have some bearing though, but I doubt it.
Enjoy, and keep posting back. Be great to hear how you get on. Mine's still going strong 5 years on....