These are minor point. I have a non abs o4 ST1300. It brakes just as good as an ABS. If your abs kicks in often, then your riding and braking habits need to change.
Agree if you are engaging ABS on a regular basis in normal riding, but that's not what ABS is really for. The value of ABS is in preventing a fall in a panic situation, there are darn few rider that are calm enough to never over-react at an unexpected event, no matter how much training. The other big advantage is the adaptability of ABS to changing surface conditions. The streets are littered with debris, a patch work of surface types, or can be at any stage of wetness. One may encounter two or more of these conditions in a single stop. In SoCal we are in a particularly tricky time of year when there as been no significant rain for months and in this case years. The first light rains/ drizzles of the season are especially treacherous. That light drizzle will wet the roads but there's not much run off so an extremely slick emulsion will form. I've had two instances of how slippery that can be.
First time was slowing down to a stop light, mostly just gentle coasting where you only really apply the brakes lightly at the very end just to make a complete stop. I was really surprised to see my front ABS activated on my '93 (obvious pulsations in the lever). I stopped a little ways into the cross walk and when I tried to leave at the green light my TCS lamp was winking at me about half way across the intersection. Probably would have gone down and been left wondering "Whisky Tango Foxtrot" without the ABS.
The second time was in my old Toyota pick up in an early season light rain. Managed to stop with no drama at the end of an off ramp. When the light turned green, I simply could not move forward. The open differential was just letting one of the rear wheels spin - no traction at all. I actually missed the light! I ended up letting the truck roll backward down the ramp a car length or so hoping to find more traction and that worked at the next cycle. Had I been on a bike I would have been glad to have ABS that day too.