[redwing]

YES a 600 anything is a bad idea if your learning...

Kawasaki has a very nice and able 500, think its the ninja 500r ? not sure it was called the EX 500 when i got one in 88. this is a great bike, and it could easily last you a few years, when your ready to move up to a 600...

so, DO NOT go out and get a 600 sport bike,

DO go out and get in a MSF course

and read all the replies to this type of question in the new rider forum, others can explain it lots better then I....

and keep this in mind, nobody is out to ruin your fun... they/we just want you to learn to really have fun... you will see 99.9% of the people here are really good people and will hellp you out, so listen to em...theres lots of experiance here

feel free to PM me with any questions, i will do what i can to help ya