I can say that I agree with that. I hate to see them come apart too.
But I've taken a few apart that were pretty questionable. And I've taken a couple apart, Anni g to rebuild them...then time passes...years maybe...parts get robbed...still have the main bones actually.
I definitely have TRIED, over the years to keep bikes together. At least matching frame/engines. Some would say that bikes get sacrificed to save other bikes. But IMO, a LOT of parts end up lost or trashed when that happens. The scarcer that these parts get, the more likely that folks will try to save them, and the more likely that someone will reproduce them, etc.
But it seems to me that complete bikes...or even close to complete, are bringing some high prices. Seems like it's gotta be close to a wash to sell complete, or as parts. And it's far easier to sell complete.
Little story since I have some time to kill.
A while back I snatched up a CT70H engine lower end on eBay. Looked nice enough and was pretty cheap...easy to flip. Then, a couple hours later, I see the seller has listed up the matching frame too...equally nice, but NOT cheap. So NOW, I feel like I'm the one responsible for keeping this frame/engine combo together. So I bought the frame too, for more than I wanted to pay. Seller ended up listing up the entire, nice bike...HK0.
So now I have a nice matching #s combo that I would need to sell for a high price to make any money. I also have it during a time that I think it might be better to just build it...that should keep the combo together..? But I'd be using up my good parts stash to build it...probably $1500-2000 worth of them.
Or...if I just sit on it for a couple years...prices continue to rise...make some money then. Like playing the stock market...but old Honda's are a safer gamble.
I'm starting to ramble, but you get the idea. I'm a "recovering purist". I love, all original bikes. I'm also a parts peddler. I see both sides, and I like them both...but I don't see any advantage either way. It's just not worth it to strip down a good bike as a seller...too much work. And it's not worth it to build a bike, starting with only a frame/engine combo, as a buyer...too much money, and work.