Hey my name is Lucas, I'm 19 and in college, and I recently bought my first ever bike, having never ridden before. My interest in riding began a few weeks ago when I went to a Trials event to check and judge courses. I decided then and there that I must have a motorcycle. At first I was looking to get a dual-sport but being a little small, the only thing I would fit into would be a 250 or smaller. After careful consideration and thinking I probably wouldn't be doing too much offroad stuff, I started looking at sport bikes. My buddy was looking at the Suzuki GS500F and after reading up on it, I discovered that it was the perfect bike for a beginner. My local dealership happened to have an '04 in stock and after sitting on it, I decided I felt a lot safer on one of these than on a tall and narrow dual sport. My mind was made up and after being approved for financing I bought the bike and all the gear I needed, all under one financing unit. I can't believe 3 weeks after that trials event I actually had a bike of my own! I hope to find lots of great information and advice from the people on this forum! I'll put up a new post with the details of my first ride soon..