yea, get a vulcan or sportster then....

 

You won't regret an SV650. It is not too much to handle for a first time rider as long as you don't do anything crazy like try to do clutch wheelies on your first day. It is great in the corners and plenty of low end torque for riding around town. Don't let the displacement fool you either, just because an SV650 has a larger displacement than say a GSX-R600 for instance does NOT make it faster.

 

Both the 250 and 500 will be sufficient for riding around town. A 500 will be more comfortable than a 250 if you find yourself getting on the highway. Based on your post, it sounds as though you'd be pretty happy on a GS500. I rode one around for a while and found it to be a lot of fun without being intimidating. You'll probably want to go sit on various bikes to get a better feeling for what you want.

The cruisers tend to have lower seats, which can do a lot to improve confidence for shorter riders. The SV650 is a relatively sporty bike while still retaining good comfort. SV650's are relatively desireable which causes them to hold their resale value pretty well, and even if you crash one, if the frame is straight, you should be able to sell it as a racebike pretty easily.

The GS500 has more of an upright riding position, with a relatively low seat. They're mostly unchanged from the early 90's until 2004 I think where they got some new plastics to make them look sportier. A used one should be reasonably easy to find for a good price.

 

+1 on the SV650! Very comfortable and not too much power but definately enough to get you down the rode pretty quick once you get some experiance!!

 

+2 on the SV650. It has the sport-cruiser feel. VTWIN sound, and it looks great as a sports naked! HOO RAH

--brandon

 

Pass on the 250. Iam only 5'3 and maybe 120 pounds. My first bike was, a Honda CBR 600 and after selling it I got another.. I have a friend who has a 250. Today I took it for a spin and it was like riding a scooter.

 

sv650 is a great bike.

 

How much are you willing to spend and how are you paying for it? If you have the cash then you should buy used so if you do grow tired of the 250/500 you can get rid of it without really losing on the deal. If you dont have the cash then id say go new only becuase used bike payments are killer most of the time. As far as the bike goes I started right into a ZX6-R and ive only been down once, (low speed, odd circumstance kind of thing).
Do yourself a favor and take the MSF class. They usually use Nighthawk 250's and if you take it you will A. Learn some seriously life saving and everyday riding techniques, B. you wont have to take the DMV test for your license and C. you get a good amount of riding time that will help you decide if you want to go with a bike like the nighthawk.

 

I started with a 600cc and I never regetted it. I do know a 250cc would of been boring for me in 2 days, they are very slow.


Learn with a 600 or 750 and control your wrist! Just because it has the power doesnt mean you have to use it, dont go over 1/2 throttle on the 600 for the first month or something

 

I used to own a 250 Ninja. I thought it was a ton of fun. My brother took it on North Runs back then cause he didn't have a bike & wanted to come out with me.

He wasn't bringing in the rear, a ZX9 & CBR900rr were & they couldn't believe it.

We often thought of how much fun it would be if we could get a group of 250's on a North Run.

If the damn thing had 17" wheels & better styling, I'd own 3 with what I spent on mine & be blowing away the minds of many out there.

My .02