Might as well chime in, no?
Shades of grey aplenty, parting out, say, an Italvega with a prosaic and generic NR gruppo and a Herse with original bits are two completely different things right? It still gives my the creeps to see a rare or significant (subjective, but you know what I mean) bike with rare parts stripped for $, it's just somehow sleazy to me personally. Also the thought of an exceptional vintage frame with modern parts fitted just creeps me out as well. Someone made an analogy to old British sports cars, sure a D-Type Jag would work better with a small block Chevy and a THM... but... but... it's just wrong. It just is.
Kurt Sperry
Bellingham WA