Hey, I'm Joe from Lawrenceville, GA and I've never ridden before. I've been wanting to ride since I was in 3rd grade (I'll be 18 at the end of March). Wanting a bike to ride from home/work/school. Right now I drive an '04 Ford Ranger Edge. Definitly not fuel efficient and I'm hating the insurance for it right now (little more than $1400/yr, guess being I'm a teenage male

). I hope to take a motorcycle training program at my local DMV, then get my license and most likely take a beginner MSF course. I have State Farm and I hear that they don't give you a discount on insurance for the MSF course but the more training the better.
Been doing a lot of research now and starting to really get into it, being I'm getting to that age...it feels like the long awaited moment you've been dreaming about. I really like the Yamahas I've seen on the road and I want a bike that I could learn on but still keep after that basic learning process was complete. I heard about the FZ6R and thought I'd check it out at my local Yamaha dealer (thankfully less than 15 mins away). Went in, talked to the bored dude and he sat me down on an '11 raven FZ6R. I was expecting to feel uncomfortable but I was proved wrong almost immediatly. Very comfortable, my feet can touch the ground, and it was much lighter than I expected. Definitly a confidence booster. I asked if they have a used one and they have an '09 Yellow for about $4,800 with about 4,300 miles on it. I sat on the R1 and R6 just for the hell of it, also nice bikes but way too outta my league.
Also reading from this forum, it seems to me that a lot of the members have the FZ6R as their first bike and enjoy it and I've learned a lot from it.
The only thing left in the way is deciding to sell the truck and use the money for the bike or hold off and save up the money from the job, keeping the truck and get the bike as well (might not have enough money to pay for insurance on both vehicles though). Also I need to get a quote from State Farm for it. Obviously this is all after I get my license.
I hope to learn more from the forum and its members and I can't wait to start riding!