[QUOTE=Vince Canepa;15591911]
You really need to take this to Cirque du Cyclisme and enter it in the competition there. I'd love to see this in the flesh./QUOTE]
Unfortunately, I won't be in the area this year, otherwise I would attend. Not so sure about showing the bike though.
I'm a veteran of the classic car hobby too. I owned a 1967 Mercedes-Benz 250SL from 1971 to 2006. In 1974 a fellow made a suggestion similar to yours about the car. That got me on a slippery slope of prepping and showing the car, all the while driving and enjoying it. It was never restored and we won our last concours event with it in 2006 (and it had 148,000 miles on it then). It finally wore me down and I sold it. My plan for the Tour of Britain is to do what I've always done with it; ride it and enjoy it.
Since you're not in the area, it's a moot point. I can assure you that the majority of bikes that win at Cirque are riders, not garage queens. My Norman Rapide was filthy when I entered it, but the bike had cred because of the dirt and won despite the crusty bottom bracket shell, dirt all over the brake calipers and other signs of the bike having been ridden on a regular basis.
I'm with you on just enjoying the bike for what it is. If putting it into competitions makes it less enjoyable, then avoid it. I'm probably not going to enter anything this year myself, though I could get motivated and decide to finish something to take for the show.