Well, if she really wants, a SV650S is faired, will do track days wihtout any mods, and is more than fast enough to keep up with an 600cc bike on the streets. It is used at the FAST ( http://www.fastridingschool.com/english/index.html ) riding school for sport bike training.
Better, a GS500F. It looks like a GSXR to non riders (personal taste on weather or not it looks good, just don’t tell ShannonG if Lauren doesn’t like the looks). It will keep up with bigger bikes in the real world. This bike will out accelerate any BMW she has driven and most likely any Porsche she has driven. She will not feel the need to upgrade it within a year.
And if she really wants a Ducati, and money isn’t an issue, tell her to get a 695 Monster. Very similar bike (from a rider’s perspective) to the faired SV650. Still not a gentle bike to learn on by any stretch, but it would give her poser cred.
Has she ever rode pillion with her squidly friends?
If she has, remind her that the GS500 will be as fast (quiet possibly faster if the guy driving had any sense about him) as the super sport she rode on the back of – simply because with the extra weight, only a really good rider, or a really stupid one, can push a two-up (where the pillion doesn’t know how to lean, etc) supersport to the limits of a 500cc sportbike with only one person on it.
Also has she ever been in an accident (or almost in an accident) in one of her BMWs? Remind her that learning to bike is the same as learning to drive all over again, only this time, any mistakes she made before that simply ended with her heart racing could end with a trip to the ER. Any mistakes that banged up her Bimmer will almost certainly put her in the Hospital for a week or more.
My 1.9 cents
—
“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”