As long as the bike rides well, ...looks good,....and the more unique the better, then I'm a happy rider. I hate riding bikes that look identical to all the others on the road. The way I look at it, if a particular bike has held up well enough to last numerous decades, then I'll give it a few stars on sheer durability if nothing else and try my best to keep it on the road for years to come.

I've found that many older bikes (which is why a lot of people garage sale their old rides) can be dramatically improved by simple maintenance such as servicing ALL the bearings and adjusting the tension nuts. It's also amazing the way some people let gunk build up in their rear gear assembly to where it's pretty much a block of cement in the cogs! Using WD40 to clean out the old grease along with a bit of scraping can smooth the ride out to "like new" condition.