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.