Thanks a bunch to both of you for some good advice...

Yes, I've seen that saying all over the place as I've been doing some reading on the subject lately. Certainly it is intimidating. My brother dated a girl who works at a local hospital and they call motorcyclists "organ donors". A guy who worked for my Dad wiped out on one, and despite nary a scratch on his helmet, he still sustained head injuries and was never quite right in the head afterward. Sadly, since they work in some dangerous places with high voltage and so forth, and since he was becoming a danger to himself and others, my Dad had no choice but to let him go. Just saw a post earlier today on a sportbike board of a guy whose face got a bad case of road rash and was crushed around the left eye socket. The guy hadn't learned much from it either. A guy I work with loves riding and just got a new bike, but he once crushed his pelvis. I know Joe Black from this board had a nasty crash once too. The stories are endless. I don't know why I'm drawn to this kind of stuff. I want to fly helicopters and ride motorcycles. I need help. LOL! And this would require me to lead a secret life. My mother would not sleep if she knew and would do everything in her power to stop it, and I mean that.

Funny thing is, my Mom is a preacher's daughter who dated a long-haired bad boy on a motorcycle and rode with him despite her father's strictly forbidding it. And the bad boy is my Dad, who had a Norton 750. He almost slid it under the church bus he was next to when he hit some sand once. He quit riding when he became a father.

Of course the faster you're going the scarier it can be, but I am amazed how many people have laid down bikes at 10 mph or just forgetting to put the stand down and dropping one. I would be very cautious and I'm definitely not someone interested in getting anywhere close to exploring my bike's top speed. Just about any of them will go crazy fast, and just moderate speeds on a bike are an entirely different thing than doing it in the VX. I am also blown away by how many people I see not wearing full protective gear. Around here, I may have seen one guy, ever. Usually the most I see is a helmet and armored jacket, but no boots, gloves, and just jeans. Most often it's less than that, many times no helmet, a t-shirt, and jeans or even shorts. That is insane. If it is too hot to wear what you should, then it is too hot to ride. Period.

I was reading a forum for local riders and so many people want to jump right on a hot bike. One person was talking about getting her first bike. A Suzuki GSX-R1000! Everyone was saying she should reconsider but she thought since she lifts weights and her husband has been riding for 20 years, she'd be fine. She was one of those that came on asking for advice but wouldn't heed a word of it. She will probably be a sad statistic sooner rather than later.

My dream bike, if I had the money and was comfortable riding one, would probably be a MV Agusta F4-1000S or one of the high-end Aprilias or Ducatis. In the case of the Agusta, I know that's about 165 hp. If I could afford it, would I start out on that? Heavens no!!! Motorcycles will try to kill you if they sense you don't know what you're doing. Besides, there's no sense dropping much money on your first bike, a bike you are almost guaranteed to lay down.

So far I'm mostly hearing that I should not go over 600cc's and the Ninja 500 or GS500 have been recommended. I've been told the CBR600F4i is a great starter bike, and also that it's not a good starter bike at all. I've heard that just about anything with the letter R in it is probably a bad idea. But I was also told by very respectable source that for my size I should maybe go with the SV650/SV650S, a V-twin which I would not outgrow as quickly and would have more low-end grunt for my size and a bit more comfortable riding position for me. I will certainly take all suggestions into consideration however. But I wouldn't go for a 750 at this point, and I have ruled out the GS500 because the Ninja 500 outclasses it in just about every way imaginable.

I'd never think of doing this without doing the safety course first. I don't even know if I'd want to do it yet, I just think I would. The gear is expensive, ditto for the insurance. It may freak me out. One step at a time, but I'm trying to educate myself in the meantime and get as much input from anyone who will talk to me as I can. Thanks!