Agree that the Ace would benefit from e.g a D9 treatment...
BTW, did you see the wrenchmonkees Thrux? http://www.bikeexif.com/triumph-thruxton-custom
Compared to the Norton for 20K, it doesn't hold a candle. It's a flash in the pan nothing more. Why would you pay 26K for a 9K Triumph with off the shelve parts and a paint job.
I've actually seen the bike in person and thought it was pretty cool. Yeah the price is rather high but one of a kind limited bikes tend to be due to the amount of R&D of time and parts tried and used takes money and someone with experience to put it together correctly. Why I have not ridden the bike I would say it was definitely built for speed and handling and not necissarily to impress the masses.