You have to remember, most people in media struggle to justify their existence in the world to their corporate owners and advertisers. It's a world where information and opinions can travel at the speed of light (thanks to the internet and email), so the struggling world of media relies more on the money of their advertisers than their subscribers. The people writing the articles are doing all they can to justify to their companies that they are of some value and worthy of keeping on the payroll vs. the other writers that are getting laid-off due to a ever shrinking industry.
As far as the conclusions in the article (just my opinion based on the info listed in this thread). Obviously "value" was not a deciding factor in their decisions, with the BMW (which is probably the "best" bike in the evaluation) coming in at first place. It does have all the goodies, the power, etc.... but at $21k-$24k, it's "value" is severely depleted. I'd rather have the top of the line GS IMO.
The ST1300, well has allot of stuff going for it, but allot of stuff that hurts it. I really wanted to buy this bike, but it was a $5000 difference between a leftover 10' ABS ST1300 and a New 09 C14ABS, and the ST lacked severely when you compare the suspensions on both bikes. Not only does the C14 have allot "better" components, they are much more adjustable. Stack on lower hp, lower torque, 1yr vs. 3yr warranty, it's value is greatly depreciated.
Oh, the poor FJR. Great engine, good handling, just not refined. But, it's value is pretty good IMO when you compare current year models to one another. $10k less than the BMW, almost $5k less than the Honda. It has a certain amount of "Bang for the buck"