Actually Jack, I'm going to somewhat disagree with you for once.
A LOT of people buying their first bike aren't out to go crazy ... they just don't know any better, and have few peers to offer good advice (i.e. get something small to learn on).
One of the BIG problems with a new rider being on a modern 600cc sportbike (or anything bigger) is how fast they react to rider input. One of the biggest mistakes new riders tend to make is grabbing a handfull of throttle while trying to hold onto the bike after making some mistake - lost balance, bad reaction to road surface, car pulling out, etc. Panic situations. Dropping 100+ hp to the rear wheel makes things go egg-shaped in a hurry. Nevermind the high center of gravity on sportbikes that makes them a bit unwieldy at slow speeds.
My first streetbike was a Virago 636 ... it had all of, oh, 45hp on a good day. I think the center of gravity was about 8 inches off the ground
Best decision I ever made as it suffered a bad rider without trying to kill him. I bought it brand new for $3k ... and rode it all over the place. Dropped it once in a parking lot, but that was it.
When I bought my first modern 600cc sportbike a decade later, it amazed the hell out of me in terms of how fast and responsive it was - and I had probably 70k miles under my belt on a motorcycle at that point! (I had a nighthawk cb700sc that I put 60k miles on ... THAT was a great bike)
- Roach
