Thanks Andy. I appreciate your thoughts and insight. Concerning the electronics, I get the point that they are hardly needed on a touring bike and hopefully, they'll not be coming into play very often!
However, on the other hand, as a newbie I tend to think I need all the help I can get - and if an electronic gadget helps me to avoid locking a wheel or washing-out the front tyre, I guess I'd be better of with it than without it...
Having said all of that, I am beginning to wonder if I am suffering from "scope creep" in my bike search. Like everything else, it's always easy to convince yourself that you "need" slightly more than you actually need. I am sure we all relate to that from a watch point of view.
If I analyse what I need, I think almost any bike would do the job, and I should probably focus on something that is enjoyable to ride, rather than something is far more capable than what I need.
I think my current short-list is:
The BMW:
I like it a lot, but I think it may be overkill for what I need...
Ducati Scrambler:
Not sure an air-cooled bike is really sensible and I'm definitely not a hipster...
Triumph Street Scrambler:
Although I like the idea of buying British, it's probably naive to think there is much British content in these:
I think the scrambler/dual purpose design is what I want - even though I have no plans to go offroad.
Anyway, the next step is the training - using a BMW.