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@yetidamo
@Brommers Another vote from me for not getting a 100+bhp bike as your first bike.
I'm about 18 months ahead of you, in that I passed my test as a novice Feb 2023 via Direct Access and thought I'd be OK on a high power bike that I could "grow into" (a Duke 890 in my case). Coz I'm 50 and sensible enough not to be reckless.
Without boring you to tears, the plan worked out for a few months and I was enjoying the bike, but one day the whole thing suddenly scared the life out of me. It wasn't even an overcooked corner or anything life threatening, it was just a bit of sidewind at speed on a dual carriageway. But the bike just felt like a scary place to be and I couldn't shake it.
I didn't want to give up entirely as when it was good I loved it, so dropped back down to a CRF300L which gave me a lot more confidence than the 890 and the chance to work on the basics and improve my motorcycle "muscle memory".
I'm now on an RC390 A2 compliant bike and absolutely loving it. It's still plenty quick enough for me and much more fun to occasionally wring it's neck (when it's safe to do so) than to be constantly babying the throttle on a bigger bike.
I have a friend who went to a 650 as first bike and another who went straight to a 1250GS and both seem happy and haven't had my experience, but as others have said, no amount of fast car experience or (in my case) decades of riding push bikes can prepare you for motorcycling. It's something else, and that's what makes it so fun.
But I've lost thousands of £££s I could ill afford to lose buying the wrong bike initially so thought I'd share my sorry tale. Good luck with your DA, and have fun.