I taught my neighbor to ride and we started her on an SV650S and she did awsome. She is a big girl <200lbs and now she is doing track days and group rides with less than two yrs of riding under her belt. The 650 is a very good beginner bike, not too pricy and there is all kinds of stuff for it, and depending on your insurance since it does not have a lowed faring they do not consider it a sport bike so you dont get raped for the sportbike surcharge.