Why are there no superbike takers yet?! ;-)
I toured on Yamaha sportbikes for years, my last being an FZR1000. Between the uncomfortable ride and chain maintenance it was do-able, but I knew better options were available. My friend and I rode from SoCal to Banff on a GSXR1100 and FZ750 back in the late '80s, so I know it can be done, or at least it was possible when I was a younger man. Now after 17 years riding the same ST, I've come to appreciate it as being not particularly good at any one thing, but its the most enjoyable bike to ride that I've ever owned. And now that I'm an old fart that isn't out carving canyons on the weekends, sportbikes have lost most of their appeal to me. Also, for me riding sportbikes always meant occasional crashing, and with the ST I'm less aggressive in my riding style, which is probably a good thing.
So bottom line for me on this question is I have plenty of spare cash laying around, but I'm still totally happy with my red '97 ST so I have no desire to replace it with anything at this point.