Originally Posted by
bikingshearer
What you say here is true. But, more to the point, it appears to be 100% irrelevant. If this woman was someone who "truly appreciates originality," she wouldn't be interested in repainting in the first place.
Unless there is more to this story than the OP and we have been given, she is not a collector. She has had the bike since it was new, has ridden and loved the heck out of it, and wants to keep on doing so (would that all nice bikes were so fortunate). Let her paint the damn thing if she wants. It's her bike, not ours. To carry on the art analogy, this is adding trees or clouds or more sea foam to a Thomas Kincaid, not painting a moustache on the Mona Lisa.
I do agree with the suggestions of doing a polish job on a portion of the frame to see if that satisfies her, not because of any inherent desire to keep it "all original," but because it may be a lower-cost way to get the lady what she wants.
True, but her entire desire to have it repainted could be simply because she may not understand what can be done to rejuvenate the original finish. Most people refuse to accept the idea that dulled paint has any potential until you enlighten them with a demonstration or before-and-after pictures. That's why some people are fixated on repaints.
In fact, I've yet to convince any layman without doing a bit of polishing for their own doubting eyes to see. You ought to see their expressions when they see this:
-Kurt