To ride or stow away? Someone correctly stated that this issue remains - and will remain - unresolved in a number of other quarters including auto collecting. To wit, the zenith gathering of ultra-fine vintage and antique autos - the 100 pointers - maybe the several Concours d' Elegance events held each year in the U.S., Pebble Beach top among them. The cars show up here each year in their custom carriages, many shrink-wrapped, and hailing from nationwide, South America and throughout Europe. 100 points means just what it sounds like, mint and unbelievably so. Most commonly cars are restored or refurbished to attain and sustain this condition, or at least to aspire to it.
But, one class is always wildly applauded and drooled over, the almost mythological 'Preservation Class.' Points are meaningless with respect to, e.g., a barn-found 1926 Hispano Suiza saloon or 1938 Roller in 'original' (ratty or fine) condition, and better yet with provenance and photos. These are the archival cars that restorers must see for glimpses of, say the true and authentic upholstery nap or stuffing content. One must be careful even to clean the packrat crap out of the glove box or chauffeur's talking tube lest some last and bitten-sized vestige of original leather or canvas is bound up in the rat mat. Recognizing that one has a car worthy of the drool is the first step; knowing what or what not to do with is the crucial decision to make. Unmatched and priceless in it current state, or begging for a 10-year $2+ million full tilt resto-job?
Up to just a few years ago it would have been a minority of owners of 100 point cars that would drive them, except for the compulsory self-propelled drive from the turf area to the announcer's stand: that's all, about 100 feet and its wiped down again of pesky grass blades and dust specks. However, a new bit has been added, the Tour d' Elegance, a 50 mile jaunt on public roads, two days before the judging. Here is the kicker, IF one elects to participate in the tour your car then is eligible for bonus points to be considered in the final judging. Folks were trepiditous [?] at first, but the fun has caught on and now the concept of driving a big dog car is spreading among the owners. Not all, or course, but enough to have fanned the popularity of the famously snooty event among the tank-top and flip-flop crowd.
Where was I going with this? It is a private decision to make. And, if wont, certainly all the more reason to own several bikes, at least one to preserve as found when incredible, NOS or not, one to restore and suspend in animation, and one to ride and sweat and bleed upon like so many shown in Aldo's vintage racing pics. Freedom is never having to apologize for having your head where someone may accuse as being your butt, or however that went.
"I never thrust my nose into other men's porridge. It is no bread and butter of mine; every man for himself, and God for us all." Miguel de Cervantes, 'Don Quixote'
JB Froke
Pebble Beach, CA