For people who do believe in (or do succumb to) those criteria as a guide for their 'progression' through their motorcycling journey, well ...that's their affair!
How many years have you been riding though, and how many bikes have you owned? It's easy for an experienced rider to say stick with the bike you've got now forever... but would you have stuck with your first ever bike forever?
I don't think it's unusual for a new rider to want to try a few different bikes is it?
But I don't mean that as a slight on the Glee at all... in fact, I've said more than once in this thread that I think it's quite possible that the Glee is the best all round bike ever made. If I did trade my Glee in for a bigger engined bike (and that's a big if... certainly won't be happening for another year or two) I wouldn't be seeing it as a 'progression' in the sense that I would be moving from an inferior to a superior bike. But I would see it as progressing my experience of motorcycling, different motorcycles, learning how to get the most from different machines etc.
I hear plenty of motorcyclists with 30 years experience say "my first bike was this, then I owned that, and I'll never forget my 3rd bike which I loved, then I owned one I didn't, but then I owned this other one that was pretty good..." which has given them a lifetime of memories of bikes, emotional attachments to some of them, funny stories to tell about the ones that weren't so good etc. etc.
I don't see why I should stick with my 1st bike (well, I consider it my 1st bike, briefly had a Yamaha XJ6 too which was a mistake) forever. Surely that's shutting myself off to lots of other possibilities?
I would say that just because a forum member buys a different bike they're not saying that they think they've moved up in the world, or think the V-Strom is a bad bike... in other words, it's not an insult to the V-Strom or V-Strom owners. It may just mean that they fancy a change and, who knows, may buy another V-Strom again one day.
If I one day sell my Glee, buy a GS and hate the experience, then sell it and buy another Glee again I will regret nothing. Because I will have learnt what it is like to own a GS and will have improved my experience of motorcycling, which is what it's all about. Plus, I'll probably then enjoy owning the Glee all the more for it. I think some of you blokes are forgetting that I'm brand new to motorcycling... I want to learn new things, ride to new places and, yes, ride new bikes... is that so bad?