Ok, seeing as how I am a noob, I figure its worth it to give you all my 2 cents.
I get what each of the groups are trying to say, you DO have less of a chance, how ever mi-nute it might be, of crashing if you are a mature individual. If you realize what you can do and can not do, and what is safe. On the other side of the spectrum however, when other people look at you, in most cases they DONT know you, so they cant tell how mature you are. So their safest answer is to tell you to start small and work your way up. Which in most cases, is the right decision.
As for the aspects of the bike. I think that most who have ridden both would agree that a 250 is more forgiving and easier to ride than a full blown 600 racing bike (cbr600rr). In most people's mind however, they do not want to wait. Patience is one of the hardest things that a man can learn.
The experienced riders on this board have seen too many accidents and too many young kids try to squeeze in months what took them years to learn. They can not sit by idely and say nothing to someone thinking about getting a bike like that as their first bike. Maybe if they KNEW the person, had known them for years, knew how mature they were and what they would be likely to do, then they could perhaps suggest that the person would be fine on a 600. But its unlikely.
I AM a 17 year old pimply faced kid with a raging hard on for the Honda CBR600RR. And in my own mind I can convince myself all I want that it would be a fine bike for me to start on. There are many back roads around my house and miles of empty streets that I could learn on. But I still want to learn on a 2000$ 250. I do not want to be scared and intimidated by a 600cc engine under my balls. I feel that once I get on the populated streets, I would be much more comfortable on a 250. And when I lay in down in my driveway because Im a noob dumbass, I wont go crying because my new black/tribal paint scheme is ruined.
No one can tell you what type of bike to buy, there is no law that says a noob cant buy a liter bike, nor a 600. But the riders who have done this for most of they're lives can tell you what they think is and is not a good idea. And I dont know about you, but Im going to listen to them.
-g
