How important is originality to a vintage bike? Is it like a car or motorcycle in that every part that is not original detracts from the value in a big way? I have a 1973 CCM Silver Ghost that I am going to be fixing up as my winter project. I am the original owner. The godawful original nylon seat never made it out of the dealership. I also replaced the cheesy steel cage pedals with some aluminum Atom's in the first year I had it. It also came with an steel stick for a seatpost and one of those funky looking clamps that grabs the post and the seat rails. Seat posts like are common now were pretty darn pricey back then. The steel stick is now rusty and uglier than it used to be. Am I going to drop the value of my bike by putting a decent post on it or should I just clean up the steel one?