I agree that it would be a shame (dare I say criminal?) to take a perfectly good, functional FW with a few nicks and scratches and refurbish it to another color. However, if it is completely trashed (cosmetically) I see no harm in repainting it in a non-traditional color. In fact, I would argue that to redo it in the tradtional black is asking for trouble. There are some out there who would no doubt try to pass off a refurbished black machine as a "pristine" original.
Me, I have a fire engine red one and a soft breast-cancer pink one. If and when I find a suitable machine (ie. mechanically sound but cosmetically trashed) I would love a dark purple with orange, yellow, and red flames!