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at least not until I'm confident I can handle wet leaves and loose gravel
Not to burst your bubble, there really is no 'handling' it. When you deal with stuff like that (and I know from experience, I went down this past friday, pics to come soon) there are two ways it goes: Good, and bad, good is mostly luck from what I've seen. The rear tire will come out from under you in a heartbeat.
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I will be in the "first five months" period(time when most riders fall) when I do get a bike so I won't be getting anything over 600cc
Not that I'm telling you rush out and buy a 'Busa, but keep in mind, the bikes your talking are all designed and perfectly capable of doing 150 mph, 0-6 in less time than most high performance cars, and can wheelie in first gear just by opening up the throttle. Engine. Size. Doesnt. Matter.
The real difference starts to come when you look into cornering ability, and straightline performance. A 600 weighs less, so can take corners faster, while a liter bike easily make up for lost time in the corners with pure displacement. However, there is one common denominator, keeping in mind (and Suzuki says it best) most sportbikes litterally are race bikes with turn signals, you. You. YOU. Need to be a RESPONSIBLE RIDER!!!! (Key word there, responsible, that doesnt mean dont do 125 down a road, or dont pull wheelies, it just means know WHEN to do them).
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Second I want a frame cage?
Not really, go with a good set of frame sliders. Keep in mind, you are somewhat contradicting yourself, your talking about buying a brand new bike (or close to it). As Rylinkus said, a gem of a bike, and yet you want a cage designed to protect said bike in case of falling? I'm telling you, you will kick yourself all over town when you drop the bike even just at a stoplight and have to drop 400 bucks for a new left fairing. Get an older bike, their values are already depreciated as much as they will after about 4-6 years, parts tend to be readily available. Ride it for a year or two, after that, then move into a new bike. Hell, for my 21st birthday (granted thats 3 years away, but meh) I'm going to buy a brand new bike. The GSX-R I have now will officially become a project bike, most likely to become a streched street fighter. But anyways.
Also, if you ride for 2 years, then the '06 will be 3 years old (kind of), plenty of parts, relatively good prices, and still plenty of them around to find mint ones.
As far as frame sliders, dont get metal ones, get some factory OEM type plastic ones. I know this sounds nuts, but plastic > metal. Keep in mind that frame sliders mount to the motor through the frame. Look at it this way (and I know this first hand when I hit the gravel on Friday), if you slide on the ground, the slider keeps most of the plastics off the ground. But if you hit something soft, like wet grass, gravel, dirt, the slider (a metal one) will just bend thereby fucking up your slider, but probably also your frame, and a slight chance of the motor mount. When I hit the gravel the frame slider snapped right off, yeah, it messed up the plastic, but I'll take a repainted plastic fairing over a messed up frame and mounting point on the heads ANY DAY.
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which should help if I do have a wheelie.
You wont ever accidentally pull the front wheel up unless you just open the throttle, and even then just you (which will most likely happen naturally) shifting your body weight forward will put the bike back down. Dont get me wrong, I'm not trying to discourage you from any mods you wanna do, it is/will be your bike and you are free to do what you want with, just saying.
Sorry, I kinda rambled on, I just remember buying my bike and making a lot of similar decisions (I wouldnt call em mistakes, but they certainly lean towards bad judgement calls), thankfully I had my dad, various internet forums (including this one, no less), and many freinds slap me around and help guide me. To sum everything up:
Buy an older used bike
Buy a nice helmet
Buy.. well... gear first, I recomend everything, helment, jacket, pants, gloves, and boots
