I don´t ride street bikes but i used to ride dirtbikes and its all about the rider.. any bike can kill you if you arn´t carefull.. just don´t go crazy on it and you should be just fine... a smaller displacement might be a good idea but i can understand you not wanting to waste money on something you really won´t like.. my advice would be to take it easy.. get the bike if you REALLY want it and just go easy on it.. learn and keep yourself humble.. this bike can go over 100mph in the first gear alone.. falling off at that speed alone will kill you.. so BE CAREFUL!!