No offense... but if you wasted thousands dollars trading around, then you have a lot more money than you do brains.

You should buy used, used, used, until you figure out what kind of bike you want. Get a bike at a decent used price... ride it for a few months/years/whatever and then sell it for what you paid for it (or more, as in the case with me and a friend of mine). The only way you'll lose money is if you:
1.Buy a new bike or a bike under 2 years old
2.Drop your bike or don't take care of it mechanically/cosmetically.
3.Sell it during the winter (duh).

I do agree with you that a power of a 600 is useful on the highway... but a 500 has just enough power to hang in the fast lane, and it will teach you better driving habits (having a lot less torque than
all the cars around you will make you be more careful about how you ride).

Following your reasoning, all bikes below 600cc are basically useless as street bikes. Most every other country in the world disagrees with you, which is why pretty much every country except the US has
tiered licensing (meaning you have to start out with a restricted license and ride a smaller bike for a year or two before you are allowed to ride a 600cc bike).

People who give the advice you give aren't quite honest. Instead of saying "This advice isn't the safest route, but I ...", they *instead* say "Just ride it as cautiously as you want". I don't fault you for having your opinion.... but you should make it clear to the person the good and the bad of the course you are reccomending.

Quote Originally Posted by lightspeed
If you are speed-addicted like most sportbike riders, dont waste your time or money on a slow, little bike, unless you really want a slow, little bike. In Atlanta, you need the power to get around stupid-ass SUV's who dont pay attention. I wouldnt get anything smaller than a 600. The newer 600's are so fast that you could probably be fully satisfied with that forever. I would not suggest anything smaller though.
My first bike was a cbr600f4, but within 6 months I bought a gsxr750, then a hyabusa in another 6 months (and no, not because I wrecked them...I had them at the same time, until I sold the others) I just got addicted to the speed and wanted more and more. I did get tired of the hyabusa quickly (too big, more clumsy handling,) but I stayed with liter bikes. Granted, a modern 600 is more bike than any rider can fully use, esp on the street, but you cant argue with displacement when it comes to modern sportbikes (in a straight line.)
If I was you, and you have the money, get a new gsxr750. Thats probably the best combination of speed and handling you are going to find.
The bike only goes as fast as you turn the throttle. As long as you can handle the way a sportbike feels, you dont have to haul ass all the time. Just ride it as cautiously as you want.
Take this from someone who spent a lot of f'ing money figuring this out on their own. Buy the biggest bike you can possible stand, and grow into it. Dont waste thousands of dollars trading around.