I understand bike collecting to a certain extent, it is sort of like my mother's fine china, it only comes out on special occassions. Incidentally the frame and fork is currently sitting on top of the china cabinet, in my apartment though, not my mother's.

That said, if you take care of your bike, I think you can still ride it often. The thing that kills me about the idea of not riding it so that it stays pristine is who the hell am I keeping it pristine for? Am I keeping it pristine for the next guy who possibly won't appreciate it and then all the effort was for not. Anyhow, I think getting it to period correct will happen in stages since I am fairly certain that the bike is the right size for me, but won't be 100% positive until I ride it.