I ended up passing on the ST1300. If I was willing to spend the $$$ on a second bike, it would be a no-brainer. But when it came down to it, I just could walk away from the V-Strom as an every-day work horse. I may regret my decision here in another month when there's frost on the bike every morning. I can always go back and get it if nobody else has bought it.
I think you left a 'not' out of the above sentence - "as in I could not just walk away..."
Anyway, you are not likely to get an unbiased opinion here - we are all very passionate about ST's. I'm a short guy too, and I'm surprised you found the height of the bike ok. But that depends on inseam. Anyway, the bike is just about too tall and too heavy for me, but I dearly love it. Once it is rolling, I'm fine. So I plan ahead, circle parking lots to find the right spot to park in, stop on the side of the road when fellow riders are going to stop and scout ahead, etc. Planning is everything. I do have to practice slow speed u-turns in a parking lot some more so I can turn around on narrow roads but all in all, I can handle the bike and have found it better than any other bike I've ever been on. (Not a lot of experience on BMW's , but the ST makes up for any shortcomings in this comparison with its reliability and low parts cost).