Hi Paul: I've been following your thread and your journey back from the mishap with your ST1100. Please permit me to say that while I have never ridden an ST1100 and only have limited experience with the ST1300 (I just got mine in October 2015), I do know a fair bit about ABS and TCS technologies in general. I think that the most important things to keep in mind about antilock brake systems (and the Honda combined or linked brake systems and all traction control systems for that matter) are these:
1) ANY brake or traction control system should really be thought of as a friction management system. If there is NO friction (like on ice or wet leaves or if you are hydroplaning) - you will get nothing from any brake system. ABS, CBS and TCS can assist in managing the available friction as effectively as possible to keep the bike stable and bring you to a halt safely.
2) People who say they can do better than anti-lock brakes on the road are (sorry folks) simply kidding themselves - and numerous tests confirm that fact. Depending on the design of the system, ABS / TCS technology can examine vehicle conditions and cycle dozens, hundreds or more times per second - and nobody's hands could possibly move that fast. Watch the on-line videos and see for yourself. I'm sure there are situations on race tracks where a specific rider on a specific bike could do better - but on the road, nope.
3) ABS and TCS etc. etc. are driver / rider aids that will actuate when needed and can save your bacon - but you will never be able to anticipate exactly when that might occur because under normal motorcycle operation, they are inactive. CBS is different - it is there all the time on our ST bikes and it helps to prevent the types of fall-down accidents that happen when people nail just one of the pedal or the handle too hard. Overall, these systems will just wait quietly, just over the horizon, and (hopefully) they will swoop in to help when needed. If you're really lucky, you will never actually need or use these technologies at all - but I, for one, am damned glad I have them and would never buy another bike without them.
So, the basic point is that I would certainly advise you to go for an ABS bike and the more modern and advanced the system, the better. After that, ride with due care for conditions and maybe some day, you'll need that technology, and it will be there to help.
Cheers and best wishes for a continued recovery.
Pete