What to start on.

The best counsel for beginner bikes I know of is:

1. Get a small beater. Learn to ride.

2. Get a big beater. Learn to ride well.

3. Get a bike you like.

Folks tend to put much (usually too much) thought into the first motorcycle they buy. They overestimate the importance of the bike and underestimate the difficulty of learning to ride it.

Learning to ride and actually going somewhere are two astonishingly unrelated tasks. They require completely different machines.

It's possible to learn how to ride on almost anything, from a small trials bike (as I did) to a full-dress cruiser. Small bikes favor low-speed finesse, big bikes favor straight-line riding and are more comfortable at freeway speeds, not the best learning environment.

Small is easy. To my way of thinking that's good. A surprising number of people seem to think otherwise 8-)

Small bikes also favor experimentation; riding in gravel, climbing (and turning around) on steep grades, exploring unknown backroads. One thinks VERY hard before trying those with a big bike.

There probably isn't an optimal size for a first bike, but there are some bounds. The rider must be able to control the bike: smooth, gentle throttle and clutch, predictable brakes (not powerful, just easy to modulate), and it really helps if the rider is able to pick up the bike. The bike has to be able to cope with the riding environment between the garage and the practice area. I suggest choosing the very lightest machine able to go about 20-30% faster than prevailing traffic in your practice area.

Readers should beware that a "gentle" throttle will be dismissed as boring by many riders, wise and otherwise. One of the hardest skills (for me at least) was learning to keep unintended inputs out of the throttle. A smaller bike gives you a few extra milliseconds to catch mistakes before they put you in the weeds.

The real fun is in the curves, not the straights. Light machines have a considerable advantage in the corners.

When I started looking for a beginner bike in '99 (second actually, the very first was a Honda C70 Passport in '82) I was told "Get a 350 cc dualsport". Instead a 200 cc dualsport fell into my hands. My riding instructor thought it would be too small, but it turned out to be wonderfully appropriate given that my practice roads are very close and comprised of slow twisties. A 200 cc machine allows accurate speed control up to about 45 mph. It's usable on the freeway, but a beginner who must take freeway hops will want something bigger. The advice to get a 350 was definitely correct.

One valuable feature of dualsports is the soft suspension: On/off road machines cope exceptionally well with with the rough, dirty pavement common to the lightly-traveled roads that make the best practice routes.

I now have a water-cooled 400 cc dualsport, and it's probably the best beginner bike one could ask for subject to a very major constraint: the rider's inseam. It's tall, which is a distinct complication until one becomes accustomed to it. After that it's a minor nuisance.

The business of short riders and tall bikes is a special problem. From my own experience climbing on to my drz400s after over 40k miles on other bikes, size matters . Tall bikes feel scary, no question.

Take heart, they don't have to stay scary. If the bike feels too tall and you can start with benign riding environments skill will overcome fear and you'll learn to cope. If you must learn in a difficult area (big city, steep hills) don't mess with a bike that feels too big; go for something easy.

The most important thing to remember is that a well-chosen first bike WILL NOT be your last!