[epbrown]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

The new Honda Rebel has been redesigned as a cruiser, low seat, comfortable seating position, 300cc fuel injected twin (I looked at the 500 but talked myself out of it)

https://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/2017-honda-rebel-300-cruiser-of-the-year

My sole con to the new Rebel's pros is it's brand new and there are few suckier experiences than damaging a new bike. The previous Honda Rebel and Kawasaki 250 are what tons of people learned on, especially if you took a safety course. You can find barely ridden examples of the Rebel 250 for ~$2000 on pretty much every Craiglist page in America (there are 25 listed near me), and the Ninja 250 is close behind (14 listings). Harley's beginner entry, the Buell Blast, is also pretty inexpensive. He can do like the previous owners, ride it a few thousand miles to get the hang of things then sell it for about what he paid and move up.

This minimal investment strategy also works out in case he doesn't like riding, which sometimes happens.