The "top CVO of all time" has not been manufactured yet. Do not figure on getting much agreement here, since most everyone knows the CVO they own/ride or used to own/ride was/is the best of the best ever as well as the best color ever produced. Except it is not. Old tech fails to perform to the new tech standards is one reason, and it's a big one. People will disagree. Also the sun will rise & set tomorrow. But yeah, old tech gets surpassed by new tech. Not all new tech, but enough to make a big difference. And some like the old tech better even when it's not as good. See: old conventional brakes vs ABS systems. Carb vs injected. And so on. New tech prevails because it's better. Otherwise we would all be riding around in buggys pulled by horses & arguing about which chrome buggy whip holder was best. Bikes in the next few years will be better than the bikes now. That includes CVOs.