First bike, help/opinions welcome

[Lezbert]

Take a class first, at least you will have a better idea what kind of bike you like. Because now, you don't.

This. A thousand times this! You have to try on bikes, just like you try on clothes. There are a ton of fashions I love, but after trying them on, I learned I cannot wear them. Better to try on a bike and find out it's actually not the one for when you're not paying for that bike.

[Repeater]

I haven't taken a course yet, but I am going to. Should I get the bike first, or take the class first? Cause I would rather not fail the course and have to pay to take it again

Hindsight is 20/20 with this one. I did it in the wrong order, but came out okay, by sheer luck. I signed up for my class, bought my first bike (2001 Ninja 250), then actually took the class a couple weeks aftewards. I took the class on a cruiser-ish Suzuki GZ250, which I loathed. I'm quite glad I'd gone with the EX250 as a first bike, instead, simply due to the seating position. So, while I got a certain level of vindication for my choice, it'd have been wiser to have competed the class first to help flesh out what I really wanted in a first bike.

It's the same reason I recommend a new or more recent (3-5 years old) bike over a 20-year-old bike as a first bike. A new rider doesn't have any reference point for what a well-maintained, perfectly-functioning motorcycle should feel, look, and sound like, and may very well ride around on a motorcycle with genuine issues, and not even know it.

Good luck, from another midwesterner!

[Shadow Shack]

MSF ranges never had the bike I always wanted when I started.

What they did have never would have changed my mind either.

[dave...]

I did the MSF first during which I rode a dual sport. I'm 5'5" and I barely fit on it but I owe a lot of my love of riding due to that bike I think. They might look the most bland but it was just so lightweight and nimble which made it incredibly fun to ride. Try to get on the lightest bike that you can. You'll be retraining yourself to ride the bike you buy anyway but having a lightweight training bike was incredibly confidence inspiring.

Edit: oops at the thread revival.