I learned to ride on an 81 Yamaha maxim 550. plenty fast, and lets you learn to respect the machine. after that I rode everything from a Harley to crotch rockets with enough confidence and respect to enjoy riding each one. I prefer the import bikes over Harleys. riding a Harley you have to physically make the bike do what you want, where as my old Yamaha I just kind of think of turning left or right and it just responded