Vulcan 500 is my first bike. The guy at the showroom was very through about making sure the bike was for me. In the weigh of the bike in making sure I could handle it. He put me on an 800 and I could definitly feel the difference. He said that as I got more comfortable with the bike that I could then move up. I feel that the 500 is a good bike to start out with. Then if you want you can move up. It does really well on the highway with passing and just going down the road. Gas mileage is pretty good too.