please i need your help with 1988 kuwahara sierra xt

[chillibiker]

Hey guys I need help with my sierra xt. The bike is in great all original shape. Now the question is do I replace the decals with new ones, re powder coat the stem, and re anodize the seatpost. OR should I keep the bike the way it is with the decals and stem all scratched up, and the seat post faded to keep the historical original value of the bike?
I just don't want to end up ruining the bike by refinishing the original parts considering the bike has survived for 25 years.
Here it is
Thanks for any opions you can give

 

[aardvarkash10]

clean it, lube it, ride it.

Rinse and repeat.

 

[DrJo]

sell it to me and then you don't have to worry at all!!

 

[TrevorKershaw]

You option is to clean it up, replace the decals (if you can find any) and get the frame lacquered to protect the original paintwork underneath.

 

[KermitGKona88]

Touch up the paint, clean, lube and love it as it is, I bet few of us can say we have come through the last 25 years as unscathed as this bike

 

[chillibiker]

Thank you for your opinons guys. After thinking about it I think I can get away with just touching up and buffing the scratches on the stem. As for the decals I have a friend at the local sign shop that said he can make me some for cheap that will match the originals. I'm thinking maybe I will try to put the new ones over the old ones incase I change my mind, maybe just de-stick them abit first so they don't rip off the old decals. My main problem is the seat post its quite chewed up and faded to multiple colors of brown. I'm just a bit freaked out about this bike I love it but would really like to refresh it. I have seen lots of more high end bike restos on this site of bikes of the same age where people have compleately stripped and repainted re decaled the bike but they seem like bikes you often see ( gt, kona Marin) not saying I want to repaint this one just that I have only seen 2 other kuwahara sierra xt's on the internet, witch leads me to believe they must be rare to find. Just don't want to change it and not beable to go back and compleatly ruin the whole thing like people who give their rusty old gun a polish and make people cry when they erase all the history in the peice