Exactly.

Watching something like Antiques Roadshow showing 18th century Colonial furniture- the people proudly say they sanded off that dark gobby finish and refinished it with an oak or cherry stain, and find they've reduced the value by thousands of dollars, and seeing their faces drop.

My Mom has an antique crib- she thinks it looks ratty- it's got wear and the paint is falling off in place- but it's in nice original shape- if you were actually putting a baby in there, yeah- it would need to be totally refinished- if one would want to put their baby in what would now be considered a death trap.

The bike will outlive you. Yes, you "own" it, but at some point you won't.

The whole thing is that it does "depend." I think having a special bike in need of attention is different than having a special bike that you just want a different color on.

How many "mystery" bike threads are on here? And it inevitably comes to some person trying to make the bike into something it's not, and that person no longer owning the bike.