New Rider who needs advice

My name is Nicholas and I have wanted a motorcycle for some time now and now I'm reading through everything I can I've read almost evey post in the new rider forum and all the new rider skills guides and some of the regular skills guides, I also started to read the book proficient motorcycling. I realy lime the ducati 696 if I fan get around the expense. I have heard it mentioned a coue times as a tame leaning bike and I was wondering if it truly would be a good beginner bike. I have rode some dirt bikes, ect. But that is realy negligible at this point it has been a long time since I was seriously riding and I was never good with turns at higher speeds. I like the 696 becuase of the slighty lower seat becuease I'm just 5'4" and 165 lb. I do plan on taking a msf course but I was wondering how long after the msf course should I take a more advanced course.
Thanks in advance for the help. And sorry for the lack of punctuation in places I never get that right.  

The MSF has an Advanced RiderCourse that can be taken soon after the standard RiderCourse. Much of your learning curve will be made up of seat time, i.e. riding, as it's the only real way to build your confidence. How soon you build that confidence varies from rider to rider.

The Ducati Monster 696 is a good learner bike, albeit a tad expensive one.  

Thank you for the quick response and the information. I was skeptical about the bike having such a large displacement and still being a beginners bike, so if anyone has an experience with this being their first bike I would like to hear what it was like and if there is anything in particular about the bike that I should be careful of. thank you this is a great community and it has been very helpful with giving me a place to start.  

Hello.
May I suggest buying a very cool Kawa Ninja 250R? Great to learn all the basics and may save your life vs jumping onto a full size Sport Bike which may make you look and feel cool but when the time comes to know how to get out of the way of oncoming death you will know what to do.
I have ridden all brands of bikes since age 4 (now 50) and curently own a 08 Kawa Ninja ZX10R but it took years to feel safe and in control but still I/us much be on full guard against those fools who could care less about killing us. Before you spend big bucks, why not give a Kawa 250R before jumping on either a liter or a 600.
Take your time and stay alive.
Good luck and welcome.
PS-Those Kawa 250R Ninjas ROCK!  

Thank you for the advice I am thinking about the ninja 250 but I don't really want to change bikes quick i will be going to college next year so money will be tight and I don't want to have to worry about switching bikes then but I would still love to have a bike to ride around. but the flip side is the 250 is 4k cheaper.  

You would love and fully enjoy owing and riding the 250R and you will have plenty of time to hone your skills before moving up. Don't feel that we would look down on you for "Just" riding a Kawa 250R and there are many hop up kits on the market for you to get even more go and better handling from it.
I live in NE Nevada and must tralier my ZX10R to Las Vegas for competent work as while there is a Kawa dealer where I live, I would not let them near my baby as not one of them has any proper training to repair our high tech machines (it's an 08 and I do not expect and problems anytime soon or for accs and the last time I was at Carter  Motorsports, a very nice gal who assisted me in getting some new leather and  better spool help rear stand, she was so eager to show me the Kawa 600R that she was soon to own. I asked her how much time on or off road and her answer was no. Her macho boyfriend wanted her on that 600R and felt that she could handle it with no defensive training and so on. I mentioned the 250R to her and she felt that it would make her look like a newbie? What?

I tried to explain that riding a Sport Bike takes time to safely ride as with all of our two wheel joys and how to see trouble coming and how to avoid it but all was to no avail. I hope she is still alive or at least walking.

Like I stated above, I have been on some form of bike since age 4, now 50 and I still have one eye on the road surface and the other on the idiot who may kill me. Thank God the ZX10R has such potent and efective front brakes because even in our <3000 pop town I am almost killed each time I throw a leg over. Over the years I have been hit by three cars and when I was younger and a lot dumber (I still ride hard as that is what the bike is built for and Miller Raceway is only 200 miles away and they treat Sport riders with such respect that if you ever can get there for a race go for it), My spine has eight rods of titainium and so do both of my legs and for kicks I even have a handicap license plate on the tail. I rarely use the handicap parking spot but when I have I have been read the riot act )mostly by those lame Harley vibrators rider, oh they are so cool and their stock has nose dived 84% since 98 so their demise is a coming! I have been told that I should not be on a bike let alone a Super Sport but I just smile and know that I will never stop riding until my death.

I may have many years of experiance on two wheels and have been riding Sport Bikes ever since the 1st true Sport Bike, the Ninja 500 came out in 85 but as I stated, it is a very dangerous game we play each time we ride.

Whatever your choice, have fun, know when to push off if you are about to get hit and most of all, have a blast and really consider a ninja 250R. I know you would enjoy owning, learning and riding those very sweet 250s.

Take care and do let us know what you decide upon. Mark  

Thank you for all the advice and help. I think I will go with the 250 I have done my research and went and sat on it at a store close by and I like the feel. the will outperform my car any day so its more then enough power for me. plus in person it looks sick.  

Very Sick indeed! Great choice and do look into those Kawa and aftermarket hop up kits/pipes and yes it will smoke most cars/trucks out there.
Have fun! Mark  

Nicholas92:
Thank you for all the advice and help. I think I will go with the 250 I have done my research and went and sat on it at a store close by and I like the feel. the will outperform my car any day so its more then enough power for me. plus in person it looks sick.

Good choice with the 250. I have one and I love it. People always tell me that I'll outgrow it quickly, but I haven't yet and I've had it for almost a year. I don't think I'll outgrow it anytime soon.

Besides the flushmounts, my Ninja is stock. I have the older '04 model.

Enjoy the Ninja! Come back and post pics.  

Nicholas:

In the words of Keith Code. "A 250 is more than you will ever need for street riding".
Many people frown on small displacement motorcycles. I was one of those people until recently.

My wife, Suzanne informed me that she wanted to start riding motorcycles. She took the MSF course and we began to look for a bike for her.

She loves sport bikes, so her first choice was the 250 Ninja. I tried to talk her into something a little larger like a GS500F.

She really liked the feel and fit of the Ninja, so we decided to go with that bike.

It was a brand new 09. I decided to take care of the break-in period because she had never owned a motorcycle before.

I ride an 06 Honda CBR1000RR and a 02 Ducati 748. Well, now I have a new respect for smaller motorcycles.

They are very easy to ride, cost a lot less than most sport bikes, gets great gas mileage and is so much fun to ride and will do highway speeds without a problem. She has no intentions of upgrading to a bigger machine at this time.

If and when she does decide to upgrade, we will do it to the Ninja. It will cost a lot less and she will still be having a ball on that bike.  

The Kawa 250r is a great starter bike since your going to college soon it would be very efficient like 60 mpg give or take. You don't wanna start with a full blown sportbike where just a flick of the throttle and you will be doing 120 before you even know whats going on