But to discount the throttle/brake/clutch sensitivity is to have forgotten what it was like the very first time you got on a motorcycle. The first time I got a bike into 1st gear on the MSF parking lot, I couldn’t move the throttle subtly enough to not jerk the bike on every acceleration and deceleration. With almost 10 times the horsepower, each one of those jerks could have been a crash. Now that you have good throttle control you don’t judge a bike’s easiness to ride the same way you would have when you were just starting.
That’s why the longer someone has ridden, the worse that person’s advice becomes with respect to a beginner. They forget how hard it was and begin to think they could’ve done it just as well with something bigger. I think it’s important to remember how you felt and what was hard when you first started, and then stick to your guns later, regardless of your changing perspective.
Finally, as silly as it sounds, I know what you mean about the whole literbike thing. In the racing world, the 1000 is the defacto standard. The people on 600s are just on their way to 1000s and haven’t earned it yet. Every once in a while I’ll feel like I should get a literbike at some point, but it’s a stupid feeling. Until you get down within a small margin of the club-level course record at your local track, there’s no point. A 600 is more maneuverable and has the same traction and stability that a 1000 has. Unless you’re not losing any time in the corners (which is unlikely), the tiny fractions of a second you’d gain on straights won’t help you at all. I think you’re right that you shouldn’t get a particular bike until you’re ready for it, but I think that most people who own or want literbikes aren’t, and will never be.