I don't agree with you at all Kelly, in fact I have an opposite view in some points.
If you have an older bike that you like and want to keep for whatever reason I am all for putting newer parts on it, as long as they improve performance/reduce weight/are more reliable, etc. And to me a well modded vehicle is always cooler than even the fanciest new stock Dukayasukati.
I personally don't really get the idea of staying with stock old parts unless we are really talking about a collectors item with value - in which case I probably wouldn't buy it anyway. If the drum brakes and the leaf spring/solid axle/etc suspension on my old car were shit, you can be sure that I would put on a set of big disc brakes with aluminum calipers and independent front and rear suspension with adjustable coilover shocks and adjustable sway-bars. In fact that's what I'm doing on my Cobra kit car.
And besides, nobody makes a good middle weight twin cylinder bike. The SE gobbles fuel and is not light enough, and Joe will probably build his bike for 1/5 of the investment of what a well used SE goes for in Australia.