No question, F4i! Oddly enough, I live about 15 minutes from this guy and emailed him. I just started riding as well last year and my first bike has been a 2005 f4i. GREAT bike to not only start on but to simply keep for a long time due to its power/comfort/confidence qualities. I've been on it for about 5000 miles now and it's been awesome. I told him I'd show him all the best empty roads etc. to practice on to gain confidence and take it slowly. I've met some aweome CBR owners here in the PHX aread thanks to thi forum! He'll be fine!

 

Yeah too bad all the smaller cc bikes in the US get there styling cues from 1984.

 

I started out on a 1994 GSX600. AKA, the katana. It was old, heavy, and cheap, but as cheezy as my friends made it out to be, I rode it for a year. I would NEVER go back and change anything if I could. I learned so much on that bike, tore it up, and got all my noob stuff out of the way so that my newer bike, the CBR, will stay nice an perdy lookin. Nothing on that bike, less the motor, was over $100 to fix. I roughed it up, got "goin down" outta my system, and sold it for a couple hundred less. Now with this bike, I know how to ride, I know how to watch for dumbasses, and I am much less likely to have a major accident on new, expensive bike.

I'd start out older and cheaper. Get something carbureted; less responsive=more time to think. Easier to fix and less painful to fix when you do damage something. Face it, It's your first bike. It'll fall down in the driveway, or slide down on some gravel, or something, you know it will.

 

Like your avatar Black, pretty cool.

 

+1

 

First bikes rule! Haha, I had a '95 750cc Katana....well, that was my first street bike anyways. Had numerous dirt bikes/motocross that I had rode from the age of 5-19. Then decided to go street 4 years ago. Man that was crazy. I'm definitely glad I went with a carburated, older, heavier bike. That could just be me tho. I've had four friends now that road two different 600 kat's, one my old 750, and one that went the 250 route, all glad they did it. You learn quite a bit on your first bike. It will be a lot less heartache too if you don't rash up a brand new bike.

Good luck no matter what you decide tho! I suppose any will be good as long as you respect it. Just remember, the older ones are a bit more forgiving of mistakes!!!!!!!!!

 

There isn't much to say that hasn't been said already, but I figured I would throw in a couple pennies for ya. First off, I think the MSF course is a must. My first (and only) bike is an F4i and I love it. Before buying this bike off of a showroom floor, I had been around ONE block on my buddy's old Honda cruiser so I decided I wanted a bike of my own. Now you may think it is stupid for anyone to buy a brand new bike with no real experience - shoot I even think it was risky - but I did it anyways and I haven't regretted it one bit. I took the MSF class within 3 months of buying the bike and that helped me a lot more than riding around the neighborhood and teaching myself.

The F4i is probably the most comfortable of all the 600 bikes IMO. The rear sets aren't tucked as high as most of the race-inspired 600's and that means a little more comfort. I have ridden my bike almost 400 miles in one day and I wasn't nearly as sore/tired as I thought I would be. A Corbin seat would have been nice though! And there are so many modifications out there for an F4i that will bring the performance up a little bit that your need to upgrade to a bigger bike can wait while you get a few thousand miles of riding experience under your a$$.

Good luck with your decision... I don't think you can go wrong with the F4i. Just watch out for the people behind steering wheels!

 

Thanks for all the feedback. I just registered for the msf basic rider course on 5/29/06 on am narrowing down the choices of where to shop for bikes in phoenix. Any suggestions for shops in the Phoenix area? Western Honda is good but only if you're ready for some sticker shock. Here's a pic from western honda

[IMG]local://upfiles/7043/4F5760BCFC6D4F4CA3DE23FC7AEF6AA0.jpg[/IMG]

 

Gotta get a price on this sexy beast

[IMG]local://upfiles/7043/19847CD57A2445AF86A11B257AED50A8.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/7043/813353D10CB64AB4ABB95D14C98E1B64.jpg[/IMG]

 

Check out this link,---->>>Click Me<<<<-----if your wanting a brand new F4i. Been trying to let everyone know about there deals right now.
There is a ton of people hittingn the site right now, so you might try back occasionaly.

Happy shopping!