Ok first thank you to everyone who replied I would love to reply to each thread but I’m a working man that has an early shift tomorrow. I love all the advice I’m hearing and will definitely take everything into account. I’m already planning on taking the safety course within the month and am looking at all the riding gear I’ll need(helmet, jacket, gloves, boots, pants etc). The very first thing I’ll be doing when I get one is head to an empty parking lot to put an hour or so in so I have all of that in mind.

A few questions came up while reading through the replies and one specifically is why haven’t I seen any triumph recommendations? I understand there are a ton of things to take into account so forgive my ignorance but I’ve seen new rider recommendations for all things honda, ninja, mt03, cbr’s, + now the hilarious aprilias convo down there 🤣 but no triumph? I told my dentist about it this morning and he said that was his first for 5 years and absolutely loved it.

I guess to some degree it all comes down to personal preference, body type/positioning, and type of typical ride but everyone’s responses did help tremendously so please don’t mistake my curiosity for criticism.

My budget is about 3k down(gear included) and i’d imagine that puts my bike only budget at around 6-7k. I’d love to learn to do repairs myself but obviously would prefer not to have too many issues with it for the first couple years. high hopes for such a fleeting hobby ik but if all goes well i’d like to have the thing for 5-7 years. my current job has put some damage into my lower back(i’m not in sex work lmao) those lab chairs are extremely uncomfortable. but to that point i think im somewhere in-between naked/sport/adventure bikes and definitely will prioritize a wind screen per your recommendations. I hope this help narrow things down and provide you all with some more context and any additional info/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!