What's the latest? I was reading an article in a classic motorcycle magazine recently about a guy that has hacked his Vincent. He believes it is more important that a bike gets ridden than having it sit and look pretty. Made me think about your bike and how you were fretting over what to do. My thoughts are as pretty as it is the one thing for sure is that you should make it yours. I'm letting my 1903 get scratched, dirty, scuffed, oily, chipped, etc. Patina I think it's called. I still wipe it down and make it look nice but if a wrench slips it's not the end of the world. It's a bike!
I believe you're talking about Jeff Decker, and his customized Vincent? I love that bike. There's always been a war going on between snooty Vincent owners, and owners that realize it's just a bike. A rare bike, but still just a bike.
I can appreciate a classic bike, but I'm not a collector that buys bikes for investment purposes. All my bikes are for my personal enjoyment, which means I ride the crap out of them, and make them my own. It's who I am lol.
I've had a few friends that like to keep everything completely stock on their bikes. They think it will be worth more that way in the future, and that changing anything will ruin it, but that's not me. My main goal is never about maintaining value, it's always about having the most fun possible.
I'm a lot like Jeff Decker. I always have personalize my bikes to suit my tastes. Usually getting it right involves a long process of changes that takes on a life of it's own. I try things that sometimes don't work out, but I have to try them first to find that out. A lot of times one change, causes multiple other changes, because I like it so much, but it doesn't look right with other things I've already done. Here's an example of what I'm talking about.
Here's the Atomic BB soon after it started life 2 years ago.
Here it is today. The only stock part left on the whole bike is the frame. That's it. I'm really happy with how it's turned out. So much so, I feel it's time to move on, or maybe after I change the handle bars lol.
So right now I'm in the part of the process with the Deep 6, where I'm just getting used to how it looks, and thinking a lot about what I will want to change. I've already started buying parts I know I'll need, but I haven't made any major concrete decisions yet. I do have a concept in my head, but that could still change.
I will start a build thread when I get going on this bike. Until then it's all in my head.
