good beginner bike for highway drives- 250's, vulcan or S40?

[SoNew]

Hi, so I'm fresh out of the safety course, and getting all sorts of mixed advice about what is most important for safety for a beginner. I am currently very hesitant, but unfortunately I don't have the luxury of the back roads I learned to drive a car on...instead am in the middle of the city and highway driving is going to have to come into play sooner or later.

So what is it folks... light 250s for the beginner to learn maneuvering...or do you really need the speed of a larger bike for safe highway driving???

I read the forums, and it seems smaller bikes. But every time I go into a dealership they look at me like I'm signing my death warrant if I go with a small bike. Not that I'm not highly skeptical of dealers, but they make some convincing arguments...and no matter how I push the questions it always comes back to them recommending something in the 600/650 range for standard/cruisers (I really don't like sport bikes...but that also seems to be recommended more and more).

Here's the bikes I'm looking at based on recommendations:

virago 250 (indistinguishable I take it from the rebel 250 in performance?)
-websites say good,
- dealer says only around town. Wind will push me everywhere and will max out at 60 so won't be able to pass.

vulcan 500
-websites recommend, say better option for beg. highway.
- two dealers one said better choice than virago, but more recommends the suzuki s40. Other at same place said not much different than virago.

Now after talking to dealers:

Suzuki S40 is top in the running, did actually feel good and managable...dealer swears if I was his daughter this is what he'd want me on. However it goes against the size advice I'm getting from web forums.

Also feeling good, I like the more central pegs and felt balanced to me, hough I really don't particularly like aesthetically... are the SV650 and the ducati multistrada (the ducati being very convincingly argued, but double what I was looking to spend, plus again being much larger engine then web advice usually recommends).

Would people agree that these larger bikes are really beginner friendly, or are the dealers giving me the run around? Especially the S40??

What is people's experience with the 250/500 on highways?

also, I'm in the bay area, so hills are an issue... I don't want to be speeding everywhere, but also don't want to be dangerous because I can't keep up speed...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks!

[Wrider]

Quite honestly, for a cruiser style, you'll want more than 250 if you're going to be on the highway, anywhere above 60-65 MPH. The Vulcan 500 is a good bike too.
The Suzuki S40 is fine for beginners. It's light, well balanced, and handles well from what I've heard of it. It is a 650cc. The advice you've been getting is based off of sportbikes. For a beginner, a 650cc cruiser is plenty. I started on an 805cc V-twin cruiser, the 01 version of the Suzuki C50, the Volusia. I liked it, I'm a big guy, so the size was right and it felt good to me!

Anyway, any of those bikes are fine for city, but for highway, either the Vulcan or the Suzuki!
Wrider

[zed]

The Vulcan 500 is definitely highway friendly. I've had mine up to 130 kmh (80mph) and had throttle to spare. It tracks well and doesn't seem to get thrown around too much by the wind.
You shouldn't have any problem going up hills. Also getting started is easy thanks to the newb-friendly 1st gear ratio.

[Thumper]

I started out on a Rebel...fun bike, bulletproof, easy to learn on and its very forgiving about newby mistakes. But, if I had to go back and make the decision again, I'd get something a little bigger. (got one for sale, tho...!) You can certainly take it on the highway, but it's light enough that it can get blown around a bit, which can be terrifying until you have some miles under your belt. The Virago 250 would be pretty much equal to the Rebel.

On the plus side, you can get used 250 at a really good price, and sell it a year later for what you bought it for.

The Vulcan 500 is a very good bike and newby friendly, runs on the highway quite well. The Suzuki S40--good bike, but runs leans. The potential for backfiring would drive me nuts. You could get it rejetted, but you might as well get a bike that doesn't need carb work right off the bat, imnsho. And comparing the Vulcan to the S40, I think the Vulcan wins hands down.

You mentioned the SV650...that's what I'm riding now. Theoretically a beginner could ride it and be fine--I've talked to several people who got it as their starter bike--but it does have a lot of power for a beginner, and the throttle is a little twitchy. It'd be a much better choice than a liter bike, but unless you have *alot* of self control, it could get you into trouble.

That said, it's one wickedly fun bike and very well suited for the Bay Area roads...

[JC Viper]

My first bike was a Suzuki GZ250 and it was fine for the first few months of riding but it felt a bit stressed at highway speeds (NY no one goes 55). Then I started looking around for a used bigger bike and came down to the V-Star Classic 650 and a really cruddy looking Vulcan 500.

Since the Vulcan was cheaper I figured why not and when the shop was done prepping it it looked brand new. Once I started to make my way back home I immediately noticed how much power the bike got once the light turned green. It has been my bike for 3 1/2 years now and it still is quick enough to hang with the bigger cruisers.

A nice thing to know is that the parallel twin in the Vulcan is similar to the one in the Ninja. After some modifications on my engine I had her up around 112mph on a closed course.