I just started riding last year, in April. Zero riding experience, in fact I hadn't even an inclination to buy a motorcycle most of my life. I started having dreams about buying one, something about the freedom it entails (in both a literal sense and the freedom from your life concerns because riding forces you to pay so much attention that you cannot be worried about your problems in life).
After watching The Place Beyond the Pines (which is a fantastic movie btw, Gosling uses a dual sport motorcycle in bank heists) it really sold me, it's just gdamn fun and thrilling unlike almost any other mundane activities in life.
The danger is very real and while people love to say the problem is other drivers, the problem is the riders. Sure, sometimes you can do everything right and still get an in accident, but the overwhelming majority of crashes, fatalities, etc are from retarded boomers (Harley riders) who ride drunk, without gear, have no real training or perceptual/anticipatory awareness, and can't swerve, uturn, or even lean to save their life (literally).
Anyway, I bought the bike new at a dealer and rode it right off the lot...maybe not the smartest decision. I didn't have any close calls or anything but I definitely struggled at slow speeds, but after tons of practicing with cones in parking lots I feel surpremely confident in both high speeds and slow speed.
I decided, after very little research, to buy a new '22 Kawsaki KLX 300SM, I wanted a versatile bike that I can use for anything other than long-range touring, and a supermoto/dual sport seems like the best type of bike for me. It's a great starter bike due to its 300lb weight and 300CC engine which prevents you from accidentally rolling the throttle too much when turning. I can hold the throttle down and it generally caps out around 85-95 in most conditions so even if you're going around a tight turn it's really not a big deal because it can easily handle it.
That said, I feel after 1.5 yrs and 12k miles I've already outgrown it. I love the bike for it's overall performance and handling, but the speed obviously leaves something to be desired. It's great around cities and twisty roads, even off roading it's pretty decent for a supermoto. It's perfectly doable on the highway, I once took it nearly 1000 mi round trip and the only real problem I have is the low fuel capacity and lack of wind protection but that could be modified if you were so inclined. But the biggest problem I have is definitely the speed/acceleration.
I haven't done a whole lot of research on what bike I want next but if they made this exact bike in 750CC+ it would be damn near perfect. I'm thinking something like a Yamaha Ténéré 700 would be a good bet.