For what it is worth hear is my two cents worth on this topic. For me it is all about who the designer of the bikes were. For example the Maisch family that started Maico were some what tall guys, Hans Maisch look to me to be about 6' 6" or so and thus they built the rider cock pit around the tall guy. I am 6' tall and find my 490 Maico just right, not because of how tall it is but because of the seat to foot peg measurement. About 22.5" I have found is just right for me, this little measurement for me means I will not be doing deep knee bends all the way through the moto using more energy than need be.
I rode Suzuki in 1979, it was an RM 400 and I loved the bike, it felt very much like the Maicos I had been riding. The only problem was, even though I was in great shape back then, it really fatigued me when I raced it. Back then Suzuki had a Factory Rider by the name of Darrell Shultz, he was a bit taller than I. and as I was checking his Works Suzuki over I noticed that he had lowered the pegs. I went right home lower my pegs giving it that 22.5"measurement I mentioned and totally changed that bike for me and increased my endurance by about 50 percent. Notice the designer for Suzuki was the short legged Roger DeCoster and the Suzuki RMZ 450 I have now... got its pegs lowered the minute I got it to my shop.
