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I hate to sound like your mom, but here goes:
Motorcycles are dangerous, be careful. DO NOT BY A FULL ON SPORTBIKE AS YOUR FIRST BIKE. DO NOT BY A FULL ON SPORTBIKE AS YOUR FIRST BIKE. DO NOT BY A FULL ON SPORTBIKE AS YOUR FIRST BIKE. DO NOT BY A FULL ON SPORTBIKE AS YOUR FIRST BIKE. Buy something cheap <$1000 that you don't mind crashing. You will crash your first bike. Buy the best hemet you can find. My last three have been used. One from being a new rider, one from killing a deer, and one from playing around with lean angles til I found the traction limit. Take the motorcycle safety course.
Ok, now that I am done telling you how to live your life, I'll answer your question. Any of the four big Japanese brands will do just fine. Reliablity is excelent and bang for the buck cannot be beat. If you want a Hayabusa(pictured) figure $11k for a new one, it will have be a few year old to meet the $8000 criteria. Also look at the Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird, not quite as fast(it'll only do 175) but used ones are cheaper. The Suzuki SV1000 and SV650 are nice, cheap and faster than any new rider needs. A used Yamaha R1 or Suzuki GSXR will have good value and will get you killed in a week. If you are buying used, look for one that has a pipe and chip since you will be putting one on anyway, let the first guy pay for it.
There is only one common known problem with sport bikes. New ones are mechanically sound, require little standard maintainace, have no handling quirks, and are designed to run thousands and thousands of trouble free miles. The only known problem with sportbikes is operator who don't know what they are in for. Buy a cheap bike, preferably a dirt bike, beat it around for a while and learn to ride.
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