bikes

gixxer750 is a good bike - it's a ton of power, especially for starting out, but if you ride it carefully and safely (and can afford insurance for a 750 with plastic) then it'll do fine. Is 5500 miles for a '99 really that low? - lots of people buy bikes (esp sport bikes) and only ride a couple days a week, with not much highway - shouldn't be hard to find '99s with 2000-3000 miles on 'em. If a bike is broken in right, milage shouldn't be much of a concern anyway.

I disagree with Racing Rice - once you're moving, the stability is much more related to rake than weight - e.g. any sport bike will feel basically equivalently stable. A heavier bike is more difficult when you're riding slowly (as you learned in msf.... riding fast is easy, slow is not) because you can't muscle it around. Regardless, if you take it easy, practise the tough stuff and don't abuse the power (oh, so easy to do...) a 750 won't kill you.

~shroom
'00 SV650