Just like anything else expense doesn't always equate to higher performance. Customization can be the biggest part of expense. A bike tailored made to exactly fit me may not work well for you.
Even though a great deal of money was spent building it. There's also sought after collectables and antiques. To answer your question though I helped a friend restore a whizzer bike which was valued close to $10,000.
The first motorcycles were bicycles with engines attached to them. Exciting but also scary to ride something valued that high. The most important thing is to get as close as possible to what you enjoy riding and can afford.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.