I'm a form follows function guy. Ugly doesn't bother me if it works. Besides, ugliness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
Most of my bike repairs or changes return to stock or add fuctionality. My bikes aren't show bikes. But, I will add windshields or fairings luggage racks, saddle bags etc. to improve utillity and all weather capability to the bike. These are "practical" considerations. While I think it would be nice that someone else liked the changes or the stock bits on my bike, if someone else doesn't like the looks of my bike, I feel it's their probblem, not mine. My running bikes are "riders", not museum pieces. However, they can be returned to stock form and appearance as I make no changes that can't be reversed.
If I was making a museum exhibit, I would want original design tires and brake hoses on the bike. In my mind, such a bike is eye candy and gets driven around at low speed in parades and the parking lot, at most. All minimum risk endeavors. However, if I was risking my butt driving on public roads where obstacles are presented to avoid and/or manuever around, I would like to minimize the possibility of converting the machine and my anatomy into ground up and smashed refuse. Toward that end, I want the tires brakes and suspension to perform at the peak of their design capability.
If you are going to regularly risk life and limb on the machine, swapping originality for reliability and safety performance, seems a more than acceptable trade-off.
Ask yourself this question. Can you imagine laying in the hospital bed with plenty of time to think about the crash and saying to yourself, "I almost stopped in time" ? Or, "If I only could have slowed down another 10MPH before impact". How would you feel about the "original type" rubber hoses on your brakes, then?
I've ridden the same SOHC4 with old rubber hoses, new rubber hoses, and SS brake lines. I don't care if the brake lines were covered with pink and purple fur, as long as they behaved like SS lines.
Cheers,
