There is a lot of wisdom in your words.

There is definately a lot of lip service with the "Carbs can be fixed by a laymen using old rope and a camping spoon"

And of course, you'd be very unlucky for your new £10,000 Jap bike to seriously let you down away from home. Even a technical annoyance can usually be worked around or ignored.

However, bikes from the 90's, 00's WERE simpler. And simple is better when things don't work as they should.

So I think it's got little to do with the age. But simplicity.

No one is going to fix a canbus control unit without a modern workshop. Modern bikes are complicated. And daunting. Where do you even start on a modern bike when it doesn't work. I do this for a living and it doesn't really get any easier.

However, you can bodge up a traditional wiring loom fairly easily. A carb is easy to clean once you've done it once.. And they really are reliable if you don't feed them with shitty fuel.

I know id rather clean out a carb jet than have to deal with a faulty fuel pump or a servo valve controlled secondary throttle butterfly if I'm away from home.

A CDI ignition system is collection of simple easily replaced parts. Even a complete novice can keep swapping relatively inexpensive parts until it works again.

If you have a "No-spark" on a modern GS, you're pretty much f**ked. Although that is rare.

And then there is the romantisism with older bikes. No cruise control, no ABS, no power modes, no Hi-def 24" 4K monitor as a dashboard telling you your lean angle and average fart temperature.

Just plodding along down the road without feeling like you're riding an Iphone with wheels..

There is a lot of value in that alone.

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

The modern bikes are mostly quite reliable, but to service them is a real pita
Four years ago I sold my trusty R80GS with 200 k kms on the clock and still good for many more kms. For that I bought a „modern“ F650GS twin. Naturally, in comparison the little twin was much easier to ride, weighing less, having a proper suspension, more power and is much more economic on fuel. But to check the valves the old GS took less than 20 minutes, but the new twin takes hours. You have to strip the fairings, remove battery, airbox and spark plugs. And then there is hardly enough space to remove the valve cover.
IMO the bigger problem is to find an old bike that is still in a good condition and with low mileage for long distance travel. That is what makes them more expensive....

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Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

It's not the bikes getting more expensive, it's the money are getting cheaper since they printed it so much.

Also it is a known fact that during recession prices on used vehicles go up.