well i work at a jap bike shop and have worked on all six major major jap brands, two or the italians, a beamer and a few harleys. the rebel is what they use on training courses around here, im 5'9'' and i dont like the fact i have to put my leg on the other side of the bars to turn, and its a bicycle w/ a motor in it, itll beat the hell out of you. sv650 is entirely too much power for a beginner, it has more torque being a vtwin than a cbr600rr, and almost as much hp, not a good idea. ex250 (ninja 250) isnt a bad starter, just slow as hell and has the same bicycle w/ motor in it properties as a rebel. 250 virago is the same way, basically they are small ppl commuters and just a hair better than a 125cc scooter. dual purpose bikes arent that bad, ive rode some and they are nice. 650l honda is too tall but you may like the height due to your height, but still a lot of power. the smaller options (230L honda, xt250 and tw200 yamaha) are pegged out doing 55-60, 65 wide open, good for trails and city commutes, not interstate or other travel. drz400, good balance of power and speed is better for street but may be a lil torquey for a beginner. the xvs650 vstar is a good bike, and a vt600 vlx is as well. good balance of torque, speed and size plus reliability. the vstar may b a 650 but the torque number is real low which is good for beginners, just the clutch release is towards the end and a lil rpm is required for takeoff. honda vt600 is good for all around takeoff and performance, may be small but does a good job. vt750 is just a small stepup but a good one in my opinion a few more miles down the road. i dont really recommend the xvs1100 cuz of oil filter placement, unless you get the 300 dollar relocation kit, oil filter is behind the front header pipe, PITA. kawy ex500 is a good bike, not near the performance of its big brother the zx636, but good for around town and interstate romps. suzuki katana 500 or gs500 is about the same, 750 is a lil too much tho. your starter bike prob isnt going to be a bmw or a 690 duke ktm, they have more power output than an sv650, and aprilias are just expensive. ducati i think is out too for the price, 883 harley, not bad but still high. if you accidently drop the clutch it wont stall out as easy as the lower torque japs, but at the same time you have to throw some more weight around as we all know american iron has some weight to it. dont try to step into a 1200 even if you find one dirt cheap somewhere, not a good idea. i still wish i had my old xs500b, but thats a long story. in other words the 250cc bikes arent made as well as they used to be, and the dual purpose 250s dont go that fast, the exception to this is the new wr250r or wr250x, which will do the 80s and feel pretty good, that would be my recommendation for a dual purpose besides the drz400. sport style 500cc are good twin cylinders and cruisers you should look around at 600/650cc. the vn800 was a good starter but had a fair amount of reliability issues (cooling problems) and the 900 isnt bad but thats something to step up to. the suzuki 800 follows the path of the 900 kawy. hope that helps you out. remember this, the older the small bore bike, the more power it has, an 86 vt750 had more power than a current vt1100, had to step the bikes down for emissions, thus allowing larger bore cruisers to create the power they had out of larger displacements. some bikes however, 86 rebels and 90s ex/gz250s, are the same bike today as they were that many yrs ago.
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