First Bike Recommendations
My first bike:
1974 Harley Electroglide (Hog). A guy gave it to me in 1975 to settle the year's worth of rent he owed me. It had 400 miles on it. He wrecked it a little, broke off the windshield, clutch and brake levers, scuffed up the top of the bags and seat a little and was afraid to ride it again. But it was in great condition.
This was a really good first bike because:
It constantly needed some sort of attention and was a great education. If you rode it 30 miles, you had to stop and run back a ways and pick up the parts that had vibrated loose and fell off by then.
It vibrated so bad you couldn't see the mirrors, much less see in them if anything was behind you, but it did give you a nice tingly feeling.

Was super easy to work on, minimum of tools required. Leaked oil out the bottom, sides, front, back, top and probably into other dimensions.
Was a little heavy for short rides around town, but was very maneuverable. Could pull up to a stop and sit through a light change without putting a foot down. Or lay it over on one of the pegs and make a very tight turn.
It was a great first bike, but eventually I decided I was ready for one to ride instead of spending my time working on it and putting pieces back on it that had vibrated off.
2nd Bike:
Honda Silverwing, 1979, 500cc twin, shaft drive, water cooled. A wonderful bike. Perfect for a first bike. Perfect for a dd around town and short rides. No / low maintenance. Easy to work on. Not too bad on the highway with 1 average size rider. But with my wife and I (400#of people) and 50# of stuff we just HAD to take along, (her hair dryer,etc.) it was just too small. That was the only fault, otherwise a great machine.
3rd Bike:
Honda Goldwing, 1978 1000cc, flat 4, shaft drive, water cooled. It was everything the Silverwing was and never noticed if there were 450# of load on it. It was perhaps just a little big and heavy for dd short rides around town, but quite usable nonetheless. The 1978 was particularly good because it had a big heavy rear end. In 1979 then began using the same rear end as the Silverwing 500 and upped the engine to 1200 and then 1500 and then 1700 and then..... It was very easy to work on. Tuning, adjusting, synchronizing, and casting spells on the 4 carbs was challenging in the beginning, but not too bad to learn. The absolute best road cruiser out there. Just hop on, set the cruise control and 1,000 miles later, get off feeling fine. Wife and I went 7,500 miles in 10 days on a vacation trip of a lifetime. I had it for years and years, until wife couldn't ride a bike with me any more. It was a wonderful first bike, but be sensible with it. It was just as happy doing 140 mph as 70 mph, with 2 big people on it.
Good luck with your first bike.
Tips:
1) Never, never, EVER ride in the center of the lane you're in.
2) Other drivers think they look to see if there is anything coming. NOT TRUE! They actually look to see if there is anything coming that would hurt them. They will see a car or a semi, but they will make eye contact with you, perhaps even nod and smile, then pull out in front of you because they honestly didn't "see" you.
3) NEVER trust other drivers to do what they should or are signaling. Assume they are going to do something stupid and you will have to take evasive action. CONSTANTLY figure out where your escape path is.
4) NEVER relax for a second. Continuously watch to see where the worst danger is coming from.
Richard Nixon was very right - "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you."